If your parent or grandparent is having trouble managing their daily finances, they are far from being alone. It is estimated that 500,000 senior citizens in the United States need assistance to manage their financial affairs properly. To meet these needs, a new field of Daily Money Managers is appearing. While you will want to weigh the pros and cons of using these fee based services, finding a reputable service provider may protect your aging parents from the growing phenomenon of financial exploitation that is happening across the U.S.
Services offered by Daily Money Managers include:
- Organizing and keeping track of financial and medical insurance records
- Developing a budget
- Write checks and balance checkbooks
Unfortunately, most people don’t think to hire a money manager until after a serious financial problem happens. The best way to approach the subject is to get your elder family member’s permission to review his or her finances together. Look for the following red flags:
- Inappropriate payments, such as paying bills twice.
- Unexpected purchases from home shopping club networks, sweepstakes contests or multiple credit card companies.
- Unusually large donations to charitable organizations
- Failure to list deposits and income
- Failure to record checks and expenses
- Abnormally large numbers of transfers between savings and checking
- Payments to people you don’t know.
If you see past-due notices, disconnect notices or disconnected utilities, or notice basic necessities are not being paid for that your elderly loved one should be able to afford, it’s probably time to step in and handle the finances or hire a Daily Money Manager.
