Will my savings be taken to pay for my husband's care? - Ask Susan

Got questions? RNZ has a podcast, 'No Stupid Questions', with Susan Edmunds.We'd love to hear more of your questions about money and the economy. You can send through written questions, like these ones, but even better, you can drop us a voice memo to our email questions@rnz.co.nz.You can also sign up to RNZ's new money newsletter, 'Money with Susan Edmunds'.My husband and I have a freehold home. We both receive superannuation. He has, in his name, approximately $300,000 in terms deposits. He has sundowner dementia, and contributes nothing to our daily living costs, so I am still working full-time and contributing to KiwiSaver. I have several term deposits in my name, I received two small inheritances and an employment settlement.My question is eventually my husband may need rest home care, once he has exhausted his savings, will they be able to take my money? It's a real concern as I have worked hard all my life and it does not seem fair I may not be able to have the benefit of using my savings to travel as planned.Yes, if you're in a relationship, then both of your assets are assessed when it comes to deciding whether he will qualify for the rest home subsidy. The threshold amount is adjusted regularly but at the moment if someone is 65 or older with a partner who is not in long-term residential care, they can have combined assets of $164,731 or less not including the family home and car or $300,811 or less including the family home and car, and receive support to pay for rest home care.So you'd be limited to that lower amount on top of the value of your house. In the past we've been asked about things like contracting out agreements, but they would not apply in this situation.Are there any banking institutions still wholly NZ owned, without support from parent banks here or overseas?The NZ-owned banks are TSB, SBS, Co-operative, Kiwibank and Heartland. There are other financial institutions like building societies, credit unions and finance companies.I have medical insurance with Southern Cross Healthcare and their premiums keep going up and up each year as we age. I have just had their annual report sent through and the email says: "Our claims cost escalation reduced to 7.1 percent in FY26, down from 12.2 percent the previous year, considerably lower than the rest of the health insurance sector. This matters because lower claims cost growth helps reduce pressure on premiums and supports the long-term affordability of cover for members."What I read from this is that we should be expecting lower premiums as this will reduce pressure and they are a not-for-profit society. Am I right in thinking this?I think it's probably more accurate to think premiums won't rise as fast as they might otherwise have, rather than actually being lower.I went to Southern Cross, who said: "The 7.1 percent figure shows the year-on-year increase in our claims costs, which comprises three things: the amount of procedures we fund, the number of procedures we fund, and the mix of procedures members claim for."The reduction … is positive for members. It doesn't mean premiums will fall however, but because claims costs are the biggest driver of premiums, lower claims cost escalation will contribute to a lower level of premium increases."Southern Cross is a Friendly Society, which means we don't have external shareholders to pay dividends to. However, we still need to make a surplus so we can pay future claims, maintain our financial strength and invest in services for members."We have two uni students and another teenager, who won't go to uni. Eventually both sets of our parents will die. We have a $400,000 mortgage on a $1 million-ish 1970s home in Auckland. When the parents die, do we pay off the kids' student loans? We earn too much for them to get student allowance. Both will end up owing about $30,000 or $40,000 at the end of their degrees.Liz Koh, founder of Enrich Retirement, said when student loans were interest -free then it was usually better to invest the money and earn a return, rather than paying off the loan."You could still give a lump sum to each child, including the one not going to university, for fairness, but advise them to invest it until such time as they wish to buy a house or go overseas - in which case there will be interest on the student loan."Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.