Managing Your Aging Parents' Finances

Stepping in to help your aging parent(s) manage their finances can feel like a really odd role, especially if your parents have always been on the ball financially. Here are a few tips to get you through the transition:

• 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!
• But remember, it's still their money and they have the right to choose, make mistakes, and retain their independence as long as possible.

The National Council on Aging suggests that planning for this situation should begin in your parent's early 60s with a family council meeting. But for many, that time has passed without that meeting and it is up to family caregivers to provide the best safety net we can.

_____________________________

Dementia Signage

     


     


     



Gift Shop