We ARE old people!

Seniors – An issue we will all face today or in the future

A friend of mine got a call from his Pickleball buddy asking if he wanted to play on Saturday morning. He replied, “Don’t all the old people play on Saturday morning?”

His friend retorted, “Joe, we ARE old people!”

A subject coming up for discussion frequently with my clients is about elderly parents and how we can assist them to have their best life possible while we still have them in our lives. Both my mom and mother-in-law are still living and are in their 90s, needing some sort of assistance as they age.

Obviously, there is no formula that works for everyone, as circumstances can be vastly different for each family. There are so many variables to consider such as:

• Financial assets and income level
• Cognitive ability
• Physical ability to take care of themselves.
• Any need for caregivers
• Who will assist in shopping, cleaning, and laundry?
• Transportation and mobility
• Do they have a Will and Trust and who is the Trustee?
• Meals and nutrition
• Medication and doctor visits
• Is there a Power of Attorney set up for both medical and other decisions?
• Are there other members of the family that could assist financially or with caregiving if necessary and who should oversee the day-to-day responsibilities?

As a Financial Advisor, it is part of my duty to watch out for possible “Red Flags” in order to protect my clients.

Elder Financial abuse is not as uncommon as we would hope. If we are charged with assisting our parents, there are certain things that we should look out for.

Elder financial abuse is a pervasive problem that is often not reported and thus highlighted in any ongoing education for financial advisors.

Certain factors increase the risk of our elders being victimized, including isolation, depression, cognitive impairment, and alcohol or drug abuse.

One of the most shocking facts is that not only strangers tend to exploit the elderly, but in many cases the very people that are most trusted like family members, caregivers, and people who become friends for the purpose of exploitation.

Unfortunately, statistics show that many “Trusted Persons” are the Most Likely to financially exploit the elderly. We would hope it not to be so for our parents.

Some of the common schemes include charity, lottery scams, Ponzi schemes, cyber and telemarketing fraud, home maintenance and construction and people selling fraudulent investment products that are not suitable for the targeted person.

Here are some of the things that I would encourage all of us to do for ourselves and our parents:

• Plan ahead to protect assets and put financial decisions in writing.
• Choose a trustworthy person to act as an agent in estate planning and financial matters.
• Obtain credit reports once a year to ensure accuracy.
• Do not share account numbers and passwords with third parties.
• Limit the use of cash and encourage credit cards instead, to leave a paper trail and protection.
• Consult with an advisor first before signing documents that you don’t understand.
• Don’t rush into financial decisions and first ask for details in writing and get a second opinion.
• Never give personal information or other financial information over the phone, unless you initiated the call to a number that you know.
• Trust your instincts – if something feels wrong, don’t hesitate to say “no” and check it out before making a decision.

As our generation deals with many of these issues for our parents, we should also plan ahead and do what we can to make it easier for our kids to navigate our care as we age. Let’s talk about making decisions about how we would like things to be as we get to the stage of needing assistance in many of these areas.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to chat about this and review your own plan so that we make it as easy as possible for our family as we grow older – whether we like it or not, we will someday say “We ARE old people”

Let’s Talk

What is the biggest mistake that most people make? They ASSUME that they cannot be helped. We have no idea whether we can help a family or not until we have a personal discussion with them to see what their unique circumstances are and then develop a personalized plan that is unique for their circumstances.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss how we can help you with your family’s plan either in person, over the phone, or on Zoom

About Dave

Dave Coen is a Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®) and Financial Advisor with SageView Advisory, and CEO of College Planning America. Along with his retirement financial industry experience, he is a College Planning Specialist. He works closely with individuals and families to provide comprehensive financial planning that addresses all elements of their financial picture. Learn more by connecting with Dave on LinkedIn.