Give The Gift of Financial Management To Your Aging Loved One

It’s a new year and what better way to kick start it off than by organizing our finances. Bonus points if we can share this practice with our loved ones too, especially those who have come before us that may need some extra assistance now. Because as years pass by, we grow older and our parents or guardians do too. So why not extend a helping hand and take care of them in ways that they might need and would probably very much appreciate like managing their finances.

Giving the gift of financial management to our aging loved ones can be a very practical way of showing our love for them and giving back for everything that they have done for us. But of course, even though we want to be proactive at doing these things as they are important and essential, we still need to know how to approach them in ways that won’t feel intrusive or invasive, since money matters are or can be a sensitive topic for these folks.

How do we open up these topics? How can we help them without making them feel uncomfortable and defensive? What are the right steps to take to proceed? Here are some tips on how you can get started.

Start a conversation

Open up the topic so you can see and gauge their initial reactions. Are they welcome to the idea of you helping them or do they have their reservations? From there, you will be able to determine how you can go about it in the most comfortable way for them.

Gather and organize

Once they agree to your propositions, then you can start organizing their documents, statements, and files. Some of the typical types of documents would be as follows:

• Bank and brokerage statements

• Wills

• Insurance policies

• Pension records

• Home mortgage or reverse mortgage

• Car title

• Social Security payments

• Safe deposit boxes

Also, check on how bills’ payments are being made and how you can make the processes easier for them.

Keeping their best interests as a priority

Even though you are there to help and you know in yourself that you only want what is best for them. You may still have created a bias in your processes that may clash with what they truly wish to achieve. Always keep in mind that you have to respect their wishes and that you have to act in their best interests because, at the end of the day, it is their money.

Keep them updated

Help them keep up with what’s going on, especially with regards to scams. Usually, these scammers take advantage of technology and use it for theft schemes, and they target older people. Share best practices with them in a way that they would be able to easily understand and apply on their own when they are out and about doing their own thing.

Prepare for the future

Apart from thinking about managing what’s present, you should also work on creating a comfortable future for them. Plus you will never know when an emergency will arise so it’s always better to be prepared. Make sure to organize important information and plan on how you can easily refer to them when needed.

It may take a lot to process and go through everything financially with our older loved ones. But it is one surefire way to keep them comfortable and to continue living with a lot fewer worries. And even if you find some tasks daunting and a bit overwhelming, you can always seek the advice of your trusted professionals for guidance and assistance.