6 Tips for Talking to Your Aging Parents About Their Future Finances

Blog Category: Finance

If you are wondering when to talk to your parents about their future and finances, now’s the perfect time! Here are some tips for starting the conversation about your parents’ future.

6 Tips for Talking to Your Aging Parents About Their Future Finances

How and When to Have the Conversation

Schedule a date when you can sit down with your parents to discuss their future finances. Choose something preferably after a holiday so you can enjoy it and when your siblings are around for extra support and decision-making in the conversation. Consider the following when trying to start the conversation:

  • Using a story from the news or someone you know about future finances.
  • Creating “what if” scenarios about handling future finances.
  • Asking your parents for advice on planning your own future finances and suggesting you tackle them together.

Stay Alert to Scams

When your parents start to take care of their future finances and talk to banking and legal specialists, they may be very active in their emails and receive multiple phone calls. And as modern technology gets smarter, so do the bad guys. Scammers take advantage of older adults who may not be as tech-savvy more and more every day, and it’s important your parents are aware of these scams. Remind them to never provide personal details and Social Security Numbers through unsolicited emails and phone calls.

How your parents plan for their financial future can also affect you. In the United States alone, there are billions of dollars worth of unclaimed property like IRS funds, unredeemed savings bonds, uncollected life insurance payments, and uncashed retirement and Social Security checks because heirs are unaware of their deceased loved one’s policy. You can avoid this scenario by having your parents make a file folder of policies and important documents, including:

  • Banking records
  • Birth certificates
  • Contact information for attorneys, doctors, executors of the wills, family members, financial advisors, and life insurance agents
  • Each parent’s will
  • Health and supplemental insurance documentation
  • Information on financial accounts, safety deposit boxes, and prescriptions and medications
  • Life and other insurance policies
  • Marriage certificates
  • Military records
  • Power of attorney (POA) and other healthcare proxies
  • Tax returns
  • Titles to properties
  • Trust documents

Stay abreast of your parents’ end-of-life wishes by ensuring their living wills and any powers of attorney (POA) are up to date. Make sure their life insurance policies cover estate taxes, funeral expenses, mortgage and auto loans, and any debts left behind after death. If they don’t have the above information set up, now’s the time for you to help them tackle it so it’s not a problem later on.

Explore Healthcare and Long-term Care

Many couples assume one of them will always be able to care for the other as they get older, but that’s not always the case. Your parents must decide where they want to age in the future, and they’ll need your help. Make sure you all evaluate what to do with their house, long-term care and healthcare options available to them, senior living communities that fit their needs, and the cost.

Establishing Financial Responsibility

Your parents might continue to hold responsibility for their own finances for a longer period of time. Check in with them about whether they pay their bills through checks or if they need to set up automatic bill pay, which can alleviate everyone’s stress. If you have siblings or other trusted family members, you may want to come to an agreement on splitting up responsibilities and level of involvement when mapping out your parents’ future.

Your parents may want to protect themselves with a POA agreement to give you or a trusted family member authority to oversee and manage their financial accounts. This allows them to keep ownership of their assets while their designated agent handles transactions on their behalf.

If you’re going to be responsible for your parents’ finances, you’ll need to get a sense of what you’re working with by walking through their bank, investment, and retirement accounts and debts.

Get Professional Advice

You can also carry on this conversation with your parents as you all make a family trip to their POA or lawyers to discuss their future and ensure it’s secure. Consider speaking with a lawyer who specializes in elder law and estate matters if you want further confirmation of your decisions.

Look to a brighter future with your finances when you read our free ebook, 6 Money Planning Tips for Your Senior Living.

At Life Enriching Communities (LEC), we’re committed to ensuring patrons feel well-equipped to plan their future and age how they wish. Explore more resources on senior living or contact us today to learn more about our legacy of services and programs that bring meaning and purpose to every stage of life.