Retirement Care Solutions (RCS) – Unbiased, Tailored Services for The Aged
Savannah Falzon – Retirement and Aged Care Specialist
Savannah Falzon launched Retirement Care Solutions (RCS) at the end of 2015. For the past five years, she and her team have been providing comprehensive downsizing, retirement care and aged care support solutions for ageing consumers and their families predominantly in South East QLD, but also interstate. As an independently owned and operated service, she takes no referral fees or commission from retirement living or aged care providers. This means that her team can take pride in offering unbiased, tailored and holistic services that keeps their client’s best interests, needs and wishes at the absolute centre of all decision-making.
‘The business concept grew from my own experiences with the passing of my father and my ageing mother, as well as from my work as a real estate agent’, she explains. ’I recognised and regularly witnessed the confusion and distress experienced by older people needing to downsize and sell, or by family members transiting a loved one to aged care. Wanting to ease the stress and help simplify the minefield of choices, options and decisions ahead for clients and others, I established a service focused on providing practical and informative support for transitioning from owner-occupied to retirement or aged care living.’
She and her team are passionate about helping clients overcome the confusion or fear they feel in taking that next step in their ageing journey.
Their services are affordable, compassionate and client-centric, which takes away the hassle and gives retirees, older seniors and their families peace of mind, knowing they have made the best decision for themselves or their loved ones.
‘We know what our clients expect of us based on our personal experiences and our knowledge of the ageing sector because we ASK them! Our quality metric is customer satisfaction. My business continues to grow from referrals from past and current clients.’
Savannah is an exceptionally caring person, which is reflected in the many services her company offers those who are looking to make critical elder care decisions. When you or a loved one are facing old age, there are so many concerns that seem overwhelming at first.
Where is the best place for an aged retiree to live? RCS matches requirements, financial situation, personal preferences, location and level of care needed with each individual client, so the very best choice is made for each individual client.
How can you downsize a lifetime of belongings, furniture and cherished possessions in order to move into a retirement home or transition to a new living arrangement? RCS simplifies the entire process.
Need to sell a home? RCS also manages real estate sales with their network of tradesmen, stylists, agents and legal experts who can assist with every step along the way, from preparation of the home for sale through to formalsing contracts. Their experienced consultants attend auctions and negotiations of private sales, providing expert advice and support along the way.
Have a house that is in a mess and needs decluttering? RCS conducts a personal inventory and decluttering plan collaboratively with each client, helping them to identify things to retain or remove, maintaining the greatest respect for treasured items collected over a lifetime. All unwanted items are then sold, donated, recycled or disposed of.
‘Our aim is to turn overwhelm into clear, purposeful and supported action for each client’, she says.
Navigating the aged care system can be a nightmare, but RCS also assists clients by helping find aged care funding options and organising Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) assessment to simplify the process. Estate planning support and member care solutions are also part of what RCS offers.
Although Savannah seems like the kind of person who has every detail covered, under control and managed, as she undoubtedly does in her business, her personal life has suffered through some ups and downs along the way. Her first marriage of twelve years fell apart in 2003, and she became a single mother overnight. She was left shattered, and unfortunately met her second husband on the rebound only eight months from the split. Her self-esteem and self-confidence were left destroyed, but it was to be the second marriage that saw her fall to the lowest times in her life, as her second husband turned out to be an alcoholic with a toxic personality.
After seven years of marriage with three separations during that period, she and her children were delivered a final blow when she had to seek a Domestic Violence Order in order to protect themselves. It was the most harrowing and frightening thing she ever had to do in her life, and it meant they had to move three times in order to find a safe place to live.
‘After all the drama and finally after three years of living in fear, the lightbulb moment occurred. I was no longer the victim; I was the survivor. I found the lioness within me, and my feminine power to live life to the fullest and I chose to no longer live in shame for my past. It may be part of my story, that I cannot deny, however it does not define me nor inhibit me from soaring to great heights.’
‘I think my feminine side is nurturing, empathetic, passionate and compassionate. It is these values and qualities that have helped develop my business and given me the strength to grow the business and continue to have the foresight to develop new services where I see there is a gap in the market that needs filling. It’s my feminine side that enables me to make a difference in the lives of our clients which for me as a woman comes naturally’, says Savannah.
‘I never really understood the potential that lay within me and how to utilise it for the greater good, until about eight years ago when a sales manager described my values and qualities as unique. He told me that I possessed something quite unusual – the ability to sell with empathy. I believe my listening and communication skills enable me to connect to others in a natural way and bring the best out of them. Men usually sell for the dollar, to close the deal without the emotional side taken into consideration. Women listen and can sell empathetically.’
‘I have always been true to myself, my family, my friends and, just as importantly, my clients. My clients, stakeholders and referral partners are treated with equality and respect. As a woman, a mother and a daughter, I feel I have an innate ability to love, to nurture, and find solutions with compassion, yet have the skills to negotiate effectively and communicate what I need and want for myself and my clients to ensure our outcomes are satisfied.’
Savannah’s clients echo her empathetic, compassionate and feminine approach to business. She treats them like family, nurtures and takes care of them – and yes, takes them from overwhelm to a clear, purposeful and structured plan.
‘Words cannot properly express how much your assistance, expertise, and thoughtfulness were appreciated when I had to recently find an aged care facility for my aunt and to then sell her home.’
‘Savannah of Retirement Care Solutions was employed by my mum to help her move from her home to independent living in December. I have nothing but praise for Savannah who has bent over backwards to helping Mum’s transition run smoothly. She has, from day one, helped Mum understand the paperwork she has had to do with selling her home, advised her on what retirement homes were in the vicinity and made the various appointments. Savannah has driven Mum to the villages that she wanted to look at, doing all this in times that suited us. She explained the differences between each village visited and the costs, services provided, and paperwork… In doing this it eased Mum’s stress levels immensely, and OURS!”
In caring for those who are nearing the end of their lives, Savannah has come to understand and realise the power of her own true feminessence.
