One of the most difficult challenges for aging parents is recognizing the necessity for help with money matters. Finances are both highly personal and a representation of your autonomy, and adult children specifically are met with resistance when stepping into the financial arena with regards to their senior parents.
Nevertheless, for many reasons, including the ever-increasing occurrence of senior scams and cognitive decline, it’s crucial that you make sure that the assets your senior loved ones have accrued over time are protected, and that expenses are paid correctly and on time. It is an issue that should be handled delicately and with diplomacy. Consider these tips for a simple transition to helping a loved one with managing elderly finances:
- The initial conversation. Approaching a parent concerning the importance of help with personal finances can be overwhelming. Keeping respect for the older adult during the process is a must, making it evident that your objectives are not to “take over,” but to work alongside the older adult to generate an approach for effectively managing finances.
- Organizing documents. As soon as you’ve established a workable financial plan with your loved one, place copies of all important documents into one conveniently-accessible place, including bank/brokerage statements, insurance policies, mortgage/reverse mortgage paperwork, Social Security payments, wills, etc.
- Accessing accounts. Work with an established and reliable financial planner or elder law attorney to obtain access to a senior loved one’s financial accounts to enable you to write checks on his/her behalf and facilitate any other necessary transactions.
- Include other members of the family. Regular meetings with other family members who may have a vested involvement in the older adult’s financial matters makes sure everyone is well informed and on the same page, and can assist in preventing future conflict. Designate someone to take notes about any decisions made, and provide each family member with a copy.
- Planning for the future. As a senior loved one’s health or cognitive ability change in time, it’ll be important to have a plan in position for additional actions that could be needed, such as becoming Power of Attorney for the senior, as well as end-of-life decisions, such as asset distribution.
If your loved one is resistant to your assistance with his or her finances, it can sometimes help to bring in a reliable third party professional, such as a financial advisor – and on occasion even the older adult’s primary care physician – who will be able to help your parent comprehend the need for getting financial affairs in order now. You might also have to shelve the discussion for a little while and revisit the subject down the road.
Email Independence-4-Seniors Home Care, the top providers of Hinsdale home care, for additional guidelines to help ease challenging conversations such as managing elderly finances, and to find out about our trusted in-home care solutions for older adults.