The same day I read of Bruce Willis' recent di
agnosis of dementia, I heard an NPR segment that mentioned that financial trouble can often be the first symptoms of the disease's onset. If you, like my wife and I, have aging parents in their seventies and eighties, and haven't given this much thought, now is a good time.
A 2020 study of Medicare beneficiaries showed that financial troubles - like missed payments and drops in credit rating - showed up almost six years before an actual diagnosis of dementia. Well before more obvious signs like poor motor function and memory loss came subtle effects like poor cognition, confusion and wavering attention. Seemingly healthy seniors can suffer serious financial losses to both error and outright fraud. The problem is massive; almost one in six Americans older than 71 have some form of dementia, and nearly a third older than 85 have Alzheimer's. Almost 1 in 10 seniors will experience some type of financial fraud, which then goes under-reported. Falling for a scam can be a deeply embarrassing experience. Only 16% of cases are actually reported.
So, what can you do about it? A lot. Take wealth-care as seriously as health-care.
Start the conversation. There is so much to discuss and decide. Don't put it off.
Help them with the elements of a good estate plan - a power of attorney, healthcare directives, a will, a living trust if it makes sense, long-term care etc. Importantly, help them simplify their finances.
Make sure they have a trusted contact designated for all their financial accounts. Banks use these contacts to verify suspicious transactions.
Get your parents' authorization to monitor their bank accounts, credit cards and other financial accounts. Setting up a service like Mint or YNAB, and getting access to all their financial accounts in one place is a good start.
Companies like EverSafe have built sophisticated tools to automatically alert you if your senior parent's finances show anomalies like missed payments or unusual purchases.
Get them to lock their credit profile with all three credit bureaus.
Hire a financial advisor who can help with consolidating financial accounts, safely storing digital copies of important documents, monitoring accounts and serving as a reliable sounding board for important financial decisions.
Finally, stay involved. Talk to them about developments in their life, new friends, new activities, new caregivers. Scams are usually confidence jobs.
The best time to get started on this is when your parent is in perfect health - with seemingly many years of productive life ahead of them. An early dose of careful planning can avoid serious financial setbacks when you can least afford them.
This material is intended to be of general interest, not personal financial advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security or adopt a particular investment strategy. Your circumstances and attitudes toward risk matter, and only an advisor working with you can give you specific advice. All investments carry the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Stock and bond prices can be volatile. Past performance is not an indicator or guarantee of future results. Diversification does not guarantee profit or protect against risk of loss. This material may not be reproduced, distributed or published without prior written permission from Sanjay Pamurthy/Artham Advisors LLC. Data from third party sources quoted here has not independently verified, validated or audited. Although information has been obtained from sources that Artham believes to be reliable, no guarantee can be given as to its accuracy and such information may be incomplete or condensed and may be subject to change at any time without notice. Artham accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss arising from use of this information and reliance upon the comments, opinions and analyses in the material is at the sole discretion of the user.
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