Helping Mom with her Finances

As your mom ages, the discussion of helping to take care of her finances needs to come to the forefront. It’s important to have a plan in place for when she is no longer able to make decisions about her finances on her own. This might be a difficult conversation to have, and there are ways to make it an easier transition for both of you.

Gather Important Documents

The first step in helping your mom to take care of her finances is to gather important documents and keep them in one place. If she doesn’t have a will, powers of attorney (financial and health), living will, life insurance policies, and statements of assets, they need to be created and then kept in a safe place. As far as powers of attorney and living will, those decisions need to be made when everyone is calm and in the right frame of mind. Your mom needs to feel confident that her interests are taken care of and in good hands when she can no longer take care of them herself.

List for Emergencies

It’s a good idea to have a list that is either kept with you or your mom but you also know where to locate it. You should also have another copy with a third party such as her attorney. This list should include the location of all important documents, name of her attorney, and also bills and the checkbook so that things can continue to be paid if something were to happen.

Review Annually

At the end of the year, all of the financial documents should be reviewed not only for tax purposes but also to keep all the financial information up to date. This is a good opportunity to review what you have in place and make any changes that may have occurred in the past year.

Although this can be an uncomfortable discussion, the importance outweighs the discomfort. The more you talk about it, the easier it will become and the discussion will be pertinent and keep everyone at ease. Carolina Money minders is here to help, contact us today!