Tag: phone scams dementia

Simple Ways to Protect Finances.

While likely under-reported, the National Council on Aging estimates elder financial abuse and fraud costs to older Americans range from $2.9 billion to $36.5 billion annually. Older American’s that have been abused have a 300% higher risk of death when compared to those who have not been mistreated.

After caring for two parents with dementia, I remind myself how much the checkbook meant to my mother. She had always managed the household finances and pointing out to her that she was failing to manage the finances was something that needed to be left unsaid. If you are concerned, first work with the person to support their efforts before suggesting they hand over the checkbook and finances. Some easy ways to help may be:

  • Create a monthly schedule of bills and maintenance due dates
  • Log in to the banking websites and credit card sites to monitor spending and confirm no fraudulent or suspicious transactions and fill in the bill pay gaps
  • Set up a checking account they can use that has a minimal balance to keep in their purse or wallet for writing checks and use a different account for bill pay needs

My mother kept losing her purse that included her checkbook. So dealing with that was very time consuming. My Dad recognized this and took me to the bank to set up a new checking account for my Mom. We funded it as she needed money but no longer had to worry that the account that received their retirement funds and paid for the mortgage was at risk. We automated many of the home bills (mortgage, utilities) and I would monitor the spending behind the scenes.

Utimately, I wanted to help but not be invasive or diminish my parent’s ability to manage their finances.

Some other tools to consider include:

  • Get a tile and insert it into the wallet so you can easily find it if it get’s misplaced. You can use their online portal to track it’s location.  
  • Set up a TrueLink card. It is basically a pre-funded credit card where you can set up limits on how much can be charged as well as products and services that it won’t fund. There is a fee for it, but the small expense is worth the money it will most likely save in potential losses.

If you have a variety of personal care assistants coming into the home, or your loved one is in a community, I hope you will consider some of these options.

I have worked with families both at home and living in communities that have been a victim of caregiver exploitation. One got my client to write her a small check, one purchased some face cream for my client and asked her for repayment of $85, and another apparently kept asking for gas money. Most agencies and communities require their caregivers agree to never accept money or gifts from clients. Should a client give them money, it needs to be reported to the community or agency. In one month, I had to report three caregivers for violating this condition of employment. Sadly, I know they will just turn up at another agency.

Managing the finances for many may be one of the few remaining freedoms that offer a sense of control. Some are giving up car keys, volunteer activities they love, hobbies they can no longer maintain and the checkbook can offer an empowered sense of self.

If you have been diagnosed, or are a family member and unable to do this for your loved one, you can contact a Daily Money Manager who can fill this roll.

With billions at risk, take some time to ensure someone is minding the finances. I hope these options help you and your loved ones. Suggested.

Managing Giving and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Early on, I started to notice a lot of mail waiting to be posted to a variety of charities every time I visited my parents. This was unusual since it was a different pattern of giving than the habits my parent’s held for the decades leading up to this shift.

When I read the mail, I started to see that charities were using language that said “Thank you for your pledge!” or “Can we count on you again this year?” Being of the greatest generation, my parent’s were going to follow up on what they perceived to be an obligation. Unfortunately, they didn’t remember if they did or did not pledge and just believed what they read.

I did start to realize that I was getting very similar donation requests at my own home from charities I never gave to or pledged money to previously. It is actual exploitation because they are using misleading language to trick people into giving them money. Some estimates put this figure at over $36 Billion annually. YUP, that is with a B for Billions.

I see this with the clients I work with when we sit down to pay bills. They enjoy writing checks and giving to charities. However, when I ask, they typically can’t tell me anything about how the charity will use their money, and when we look at prior giving never previously gave to them.

I addressed this with my Mom by giving her a check book that had a limited amount of cash in it so she could write checks and give to the charities she choose. Within a few months the check writing stopped. After a while she just got overwhelmed trying to manage the register and balance the checkbook. We continued to give annually each January using Charity Navigator as had been their giving habit. We recycled all the donation requests that came in the mail.

For individuals that continue to enjoy writing the checks that we work with, we build a master charity roster. We make it easy for them to see when and how much they already have given.

In general, once you give to a charity, they send you solicitation requests monthly. They also sell your name to affiliated charities. Sadly, there is no real way to stop the mail. The Do Not Mail list never worked for me, my parents, or any of my clients. Now they actually charge a $2 fee if you want to get added. The only effective way to have them stop is to no longer give. They will eventually drop your name from the list.

For charities those charities to which you want to contribute, contact them directly to give. Make your giving contingent on that fact that they won’t sell your name which is your right.

For many who are starting to feel the loss of their memory, helping them enjoy the things they can do is positive for everyone. Given.

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving.

Don’t Answer Calls You Don’t Recognize – Healthy Habit #4

ringingphone

Yeah. I am suggesting this is a habit you form now so that you don’t find yourself answering a phone when you are hanging at home alone in your retirement.

Many of us already have developed this habit because we know how many of the calls that look local are just cloaked telemarketers selling us an extended warranty on a car, offering us a loan, or threatening police action if we don’t return their call immediately.

However, for the adults I work with who are aging in place and often live alone, the ringing phone is a siren call and they immediately jump up to answer it even if they are in the middle of a conversation.

Legitimate callers trying to reach you will leave a message so you can decide if you want to call them back.

For those of you assisting a loved one, I recommend you implement a call screening service like NoMoRobo. It won’t catch them all, so you can also put some reminders by the phone that I offered in my earlier post on The Allure of a Ringing Phone.

These aren’t all hard habits to form, but what you do now can last you a lifetime.  Proposed.

Giving Back the Checkbook

You know the feeling of helplessness when you don’t have any cash in your pocket and the thing you want requires cash? Well imagine if your loved ones took away your ability to buy things when you feel like you are making good choices.

In my job as a Daily Money Manager, I work for individuals who have usually been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or even a specific form of dementia. Usually, at the request of a family member they call and invite me to come meet. They don’t understand why the family is concerned.

I start by asking them how they feel things are going. The response is usually more of “I am managing” and then they usually confess they know they have made “a few over/under payments.” I explain how my job is to help them feel confident in their bill payments and cash flow management. Ultimately, I work to help them feel empowered by continuing to pay bills together.

If I see there is a big concern over exposure to fraud or predatory service providers, I will set up a new checking account. It allows the individual to have a checkbook but the amount of money that is at risk is limited to the money in the account. NOTE: Do not set up overdraft protection but allow the checks to bounce.

A second option is the TrueLink Card. It is basically a funded gift card that you can apply protections to like turning off the ability to charge fees for jewelry, liquor, or phone charges (there are over 20 categories you can tweak). You can see what has been purchased. It does have some complications and limitations as I have seen. One client has had the card fail when he was trying to buy a watch battery (deemed as jewelry) as well as was not able to get his favorite local cheese at the Farmer’s Market because they were using a portable pay device (deemed as a phone charge). I have been able to customize the options and pre-approve that favorite cheese vendor, but when he is at the market, he needs the card to work and it doesn’t always.

At the end of the day, what we want is for our loved one to have meaning and purpose and often, taking away the money can strip them of some independence they deserve.

Is there a way for you to give back that power to a loved one and help them regain a sense of self? Hoped.