Managing finance is never easy, especially for the elderly who struggle with their financial capability. When managing your finance, you would have to make tough financial decisions that will benefit you. Here is a guide on money management for seniors.
Keep It Simple
It’s important to simplify your finances. Complicated investments and a jumble of bank, retirement accounts, and brokerage increase the chances of you or someone managing on your behalf making costly financial errors. You should examine your accounts carefully and try to summarize their purpose in a single statement. Ask yourself questions such as:
- Is the account intended to generate income for your day-to-day expenses?
- Is it an emergency fund?
- Is it something you want to leave your child as a legacy?
Putting these sentences on each of your recent account statements can assist you and anyone else who is assisting you to determine how to allocate and rebalance those accounts.
A Helping Hand
You should think about who you could entrust with all of the information you’ve just gathered. Which family members, acquaintances, or experts might be able to assist you in managing your finances as you get older? If your spouse tends to avoid all things financial, it’s time to involve them.
Next, think about including a trusted family member or friend with your finances. This does not imply handing over control of your finances, instead, you’re teaching them how to manage money so that they can control it if they must in the future. You’re also gaining another set of eyes to keep a check on overdue bills and suspicious activities.
You can opt to use online services that consolidate all your financial data and can designate your family members or friends to receive alerts while having ‘read only’ access to your accounts.
Planning Ahead
Adding a relative’s name to your bank account so that they can help pay the bills may work as a temporary fix, but it shouldn’t be your long-term strategy as you may potentially risk financial capacity. Joint accounts are prone to disagreements about money issues, inheritance, and other difficulties.
Rather than depending on such arrangements, you should acquire a durable financial power of attorney where you appoint someone you trust as your ‘agent’ to manage your finances.
Watch for Warning Signs
You should rope in your trusted family members to keep a lookout for signs that your financial capacity is slipping. This could be an indication that you should speed up your planning or enlist the support of reliable family members.
Such signs include you taking longer to pay your bills, experiencing problems with calculation, or obvious signs like the pile of unopened mail on your desk. These are only serious if they notice a change in your behavior. However, you shouldn’t ignore these signs and continue monitoring them so that you can act quickly if necessary.
Choose Independent Living at Discovery Commons At College Park
If you find yourself struggling to keep up with your daily tasks, you should consider Independent Living at Discovery Commons At College Park. As part of our senior living option, independent living allows you to live your life stress-free! With our wide range of amenities and exclusive senior living programs, you’ll get to socialize with your peers and gather for meals. To find out more, do contact us today!
