Financial planning for your parents as they age
Collaborative Post
As your parents or loved ones get older, their financial landscapes will start to look dramatically different and so will their needs change too.
It’s never easy to see our parents age. With age comes a whole new body of challenges and issues that extend past healthcare and general aches and pains.
Helping our loved ones live their best lives, even as they enter their golden years, is the best thing that any of us can do. So, in this post, we’re going to discuss a few simple things that you can do to make your parents’ lives as easy and hassle-free as possible as they move on into this next phase of their lives.
Financial considerations
Our financial needs change as we get older and certainly, for our parents the image looks very different to what it did when we were children. So, as ageing starts, we see things differently and what we want and expect out of our lives changes too.
The earlier you start the conversation with your parents the better. This is especially true if a loved one has been lost, but is also true at any stage. If you happen to notice that their mental health may be deteriorating or they’re showing other signs of ageing that may have an impact on their decision making, then it’s a good time to start talking.
Consult with their financial planners, lawyers and doctors as delaying these conversations may result in not being able to make difficult decisions later on, without a hard time from the law.
Make gradual financial changes
No one likes to be rushed into anything, so if you can implement changes over a course of time, these won’t be as noticeable or appear as difficult as they might have otherwise.
Revisit bills, contracts and financial tasks
Make some time to sit with your folks and go through their financial commitments and bills. See if you can save money on credit cards or loans by renegotiating interest and perhaps consider that appointing yourself as power of attorney could be a major source of relief for your parents. There are many interactions that one engages with every day, where without the proper authority, a bank or lawyer or local council will simply not be permitted to engage with you on someone else’s behalf. So speak to a solicitor about your options.
If you can take over the management of their finances, at least for the simple, naggy day-to-day elements of it, then do so. Paying bills and keeping the lights on, should not have to be a worry when we get older.
Property matters
Managing property. If your parents have made a smart property investment or they’re planning on using some cash to acquire a property to secure a monthly income, then you need to get the right advice for them. Take care to find the right partner based on what it is they’re planning on doing and then make sure that you check all references and reviews.
Growing old does present some challenges, but it doesn’t have to be a cause of unnecessary stress and hardship and some smart and robust planning will help alleviate many of these concerns.
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