Managing aging parents’ finances
I talk about it lot, but, it is so important to be familiar with your aging parents’ (or other family member) finances.
I know it’s a tough thing to talk about because I’m sure many of us were raised to believe that money matters are an intensely personal and private matter. But, the fact is, that any of us could be called upon at any time to be in charge of, or, assist with the finances of someone else.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has a good article, Be Prepared to Manage Older Parents’ Finances, that summarizes some of the issues to consider:
•Income – How much money comes in to your parents and from where? Do they have company pensions, government pensions or Social Security benefits?
•Assets – Get a list of checking and savings accounts and investments such as 401(k) accounts, stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit and life insurance polices. Don’t overlook other assets such as residential and commercial real estate.
•Stored assets and valuable documents – Do your parents have safe deposit boxes? Where are they? Where are the keys? Whose names are on the signature cards? Where are their important documents stored? What about valuables such as jewelry, antiques and collectibles? How about birth certificates and their Social Security and driver’s license numbers?
•Insurance – How much and what types of medical, life and long-term care insurance do your parents have? Specifically, what do their policies cover? Do they have supplemental insurance? How are the payments made – a fact you’ll want to know to prevent coverage termination due to a payment lapse.
•Wills – Do your parents have wills? Who have your parents named as executors, trustees and powers of attorney? If your parents don’t have wills, urge them to work with an attorney and create them so they can avoid potentially huge tax consequences.
Even if you can’t relate to needing this type of information about your parents because they are young and in good health, it’s still a good idea to broach the subject with them from a “what if there was an emergency?” approach.
Perhaps it is information they could prepare and store in a safe deposit box or with a lawyer if the discussion is deemed too awkward.
Additionally, do you have this type of information on hand for your own finances? In an emergency, or, under stress this type of important information may be too difficult to remember.
1 opinion for Managing aging parents’ finances
Lynne
Apr 20, 2007 at 8:25 am
I’ve been helping my dad with his finances since my mom passed away. He couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t able to keep his cheque book up to date.
I set it up so I could check his account online, and low and behold found the gas and electric board were taking out their bill twice a month for 4 months.
He’d double paid both bills for 4 friggin months. The poor man was beside himself.
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