Managing Daily Financial Affairs

In the early stages of Alzheimer's  Disease, your parent(s) may need help managing their daily financial affairs. Here area few suggestions:

• Be observant and listen. Try to recognize subtle changes.
• Encourage your mother and father to use professional advisors for taxes and investments, especially if you don’t live nearby.
• Know who they talk to or see. Friends, relatives and caregivers can be abusive both physically and financially.
• Put your elderly parents on the No-call lists for telemarketers (visit the National Do Not Call registry at http://www.donotcall.gov/)
• Make yourself available. If you don’t manage your own money well, you might avoid the issue otherwise.
• Offer to take care of home repairs or major purchases so they don’t get scammed.
• See if mail gets opened or piles up or if they send out responses to contests.
• Watch for inappropriate purchases – like beauty and health products, subscriptions or 21 sets of sheets!
• Remember, it’s still their money and they have the right to choose, make mistakes, and retain their independence as long as possible.
• Encourage your parents to stay organized by keeping important financial documents, such as their will, in one location so it can be easily located if need be.