Most people have no idea that they should plan ahead because one day they will become incapacitated and unable to look after their own affairs. But eventually, maybe not for 80 years, but eventually it happens to all of us. And if we haven’t left a list of our passwords in a place where someone can get to it, it’s a mess. Most of us don’t think about that.
Besides our passwords, here are things other people, sometimes including spouses, don’t know about us:
- For all of the banks where we have accounts and the account numbers, do any statements come by mail, or are they just electronic?
- What email address do bills go to if they arrive electronically?
- All of the credit cards we have and the account numbers
- Whose name is on our utility bills, phone bills, internet and cable bills, the due dates, the account numbers
- Our health insurance information
- Our other insurance policies, such as car and homeowners insurance
- Whether bills are paid automatically, withdrawn from our bank account, or we receive bills that have to be manually paid
- Whether we have any life insurance and with what company
- Whether we own any stocks, businesses, or real estate investments, and who manages those things
These are things we may not know about our parents. In the best situations, your parents know these things about themselves. But, you know what? Sometimes people forget about some of these things. There are stock certificates buried in a sock drawer and bank accounts that are no longer used and were forgotten about. And the forgetting or confusion that can come with cognitive decline is of a much greater magnitude. You may not be aware of cognitive decline in your parents, or you may not know of its severity, particularly if you haven’t stayed under the same roof with them for several days in a row recently..
How do you know if someone needs assistance with their financial paperwork?
You may notice that bills are past due, or the same bill may have been paid five times.
Checks for charities you’ve never heard of may be being written every day. Seniors get swamped with requests for charitable donations and magazine subscription renewals.
Or, you may find that no papers or checks are leaving the house at all. Everything is getting stacked up. That you can spot – you can see piles of papers where your parents didn’t ever have piles of papers before.
If you are noticing cognitive decline in any aspect of your loved one’s functioning, you should think: I wonder what is happening to their ability to stay on top of their bills, cash flow, and insurance claims? And you should also think – we need to talk about this and have a plan.
If someone no longer has the capacity to talk about their cash flow and bill paying, then the opportunity to plan has been missed, and providing assistance will be more difficult and time-consuming.
If you and your loved ones have the ability to talk about finances and who will take care of them should one of you become incapacitated, please do so. It may be uncomfortable to get started, but it will be much easier than trying to put together the puzzle of another person’s life if that person can’t participate in the conversation.
Make your plan
Get assistance with your financial paperwork. Call Vera today, or just fill out the contact form below and click Send.