Caring for Aging Parents: Streamlining Finances (Part 1)

Dec 6

As you may have observed, old age has a way of sneaking up on people. . . when they and their family members least expect it.

Last Thursday morning, my Dad who’s nearing 93, called me while I was at the office.

“Arthur, I have to go to Town Hall to pay the property taxes.”

I replied, “When were the property taxes due?”

“Last week I think.” Which really means six weeks earlier given the grace period.

I asked, “Dad, how much do you owe?”

“I don’t have the bill. I’m not sure, but when I get to Town Hall, they’ll tell me.”

“Well how much money do you have in your checking account?”

“I’m not sure.”

I retorted, “Well, we’re not paying the property taxes today. We’ll work on it on Saturday.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Welcome to my year!

This year, I’ve spent nearly 400 hours organizing and reorganizing Dad’s finances and setting up automatic bill payment. I figure that at least half that time, ~200 hours, was a waste of time.

And the scary part is that on numerous occasions he swore that he was organized and couldn’t understand why this was so difficult.

It was only in April that he gave my brother and me the green light to set up automatic bill payment. Yikes.

Can you imagine?

To be candid, this whole process was maddening, exasperating. When I solved one problem or thought I did, another one popped up. I just couldn’t get ahead of this.

For example, a few weeks ago I took off Friday afternoon.

After I left the office, I met my friend Richie Sharratt for coffee – he’s the cofounder and President of the charity Mentality Matters – helping stop veteran suicide.

No sooner do I get home when my stepmother calls me from their landline, “Verizon cut off our cell service.”

OMG! I swear I had automated the bill payment. So my noble attempt to get a break from it all was consumed by having to spend 45 minutes on the phone with my Dad and Verizon customer service. As I said, “Maddening!”

So, we’ve created this blog post series, “Caring for Aging Parents: Streamlining Finances and Household Management” to give you a roadmap to streamline the journey, gain control over your parents’ and grandparents’ money, financial life and household management.

My Dad, although he’s still pretty sharp, gets foggy sometimes.

And the decline has accelerated starting a year ago – at 93, a very good run I’d say. And the decline curve steepens.

Aging parents and grandparents face a number of common challenges – including financial complexity and financial strain; health issues; and technology issues – to get your arms around right now.

By getting organized and proactively taking these steps, you can streamline their finances and household management. These steps can simplify their lives and make your life easier too. Believe me!

In this blog post series, we’ll be covering how to handle aging parents:

Health issues and declining health
Organizing Finances
Personal Budgeting
Getting their legal house in order; and,
Managing the household and keeping the lights on.

Before we get started, gather these documents:

Health and Healthcare

Family history
Inventory of medicines, vitamins and supplements in the house
List of medicines, vitamins and supplements their doctors prescribe and recommend
Date of last physical

Financial Documents and Financial Statements:

Bank statements – checking account statements and savings account statements
Credit card statements – gather three months and the most recent annual summary
Investment account statements
Brokerage account statements
Mutual fund statements
Retirement account statements – 401(k), 403(b) and IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts)
Pension plan statements
Insurance – long-term care insurance, life insurance, property & casualty insurance (homeowners insurance, renters insurance, automobile insurance, collectibles and jewelry riders and special insurance policies, umbrella liability insurance, cyber security insurance)
Statement of Net Worth – statement of assets and liabilities; and,
Income tax returns and other tax returns.

Government Benefits

Social Security benefits
Medicare
Medicaid; and,
VA benefits.

Funeral Arrangements

Burial arrangements; and,
Cemetery plot / mausoleum including the deed.

Legal Documents

Last will and testament
Trust agreements
Power of Attorney or powers of attorney
Healthcare Proxy
DNR – do not resuscitate
Advance Directives; and,
Letter of Wishes – although this is not a legally binding document.

Create or update a complete list of online accounts and offline accounts including user names and passwords.

Special resources to help you get organized:

Handy Account Password Grid – click here.
Budget and Grow Rich® comprehensive personal budgeting guide – click here.

In upcoming Budget and Grow Rich® blog posts, we’ll be sharing strategies, tips and tactics to streamline finances and household management.

See you next week.

Arthur V.

Disclaimer: OH and Please Remember, we are Not financial advisors, financial planners, attorneys or accountants and are Not providing any specific financial, tax or legal advice here. Be sure to conduct your own due diligence and consult your own professional advisors to get sound professional advice that’s specific to your financial and personal circumstances, risk tolerance, time horizon and investment goals and objectives among other key factors!