Being responsible for aging parents means free time as an adult has been altered, whether you have children still at home or an empty nest. Everyone in the sandwich generation quickly discovers the burdens of caretaking are emotional and mental, but especially financial. Provide for aging parents while protecting your own assets and using your parents’ resources wisely through financial planning.
Convince Aging Parents to Invest in Financial Planning
Helping aging parents plan for what may come to pass in their lifetime is overwhelming. If they are in good health now, it’s hard to imagine disease, mobility problems, memory issues, or difficulties caring for their home, meals, or personal hygiene. None of you want to think about these realities, but you must talk about them.
We all age, if we’re lucky, and getting a financial plan in place early makes life easier for you and your parents so you can make the most of resources built over a lifetime without draining them quickly. It’s your job to convince your parents of the importance of this conversation if they haven’t already figured it out themselves.
Don’t Drain Your Assets Through Caregiving
Whether you like it or not, your own resources will come into play when your parents’ caregiving demands increase, and the nature of your financial picture and obligations, which includes your own retirement or kids’ educational costs or standard of living. Even if you have siblings to share the burden, you will feel the squeeze.
- Talk to your parents: A discussion about the future with your parents is one of the most difficult conversations you will have – your “interference” may be resented, they may not be open to imagining themselves as old. You need to be honest about what you are willing and able to provide and help with when it comes to their concerns, wishes, and non-negotiables.
- Gather information: If your parents are unwilling to make their caregiving easy, or if their health and safety are at risk, you will be forced to step in as a caregiver or hire someone to do so. You will need personal data and access to estate planning documents, healthcare directives, and the location of important records, just to start.
- Conduct financial planning: It’s important to have financial planning in place for yourself with an arm dedicated to eldercare. Talk to a financial planner about your own assets and be clear about what you know about your parents’ assets, including real estate, cars, and insurance policies.
Protect Your Own Future
It is incredibly difficult to work with an aging parent who is intractable about their position. At some point, you will need to tap into financial resources that support you in providing care, especially when you need to take care of your own family and yourself – the question is, will it be your money or your parents’?
Schedule a consultation with a financial planning advisor at Hollander Lone Maxbauer to discuss all matters related to the costs of aging parents’ needs, including housing, healthcare, finances, estate planning, and financial and tax considerations. Contact Hollander Lone Maxbauer in Southfield, MI, to discuss your family’s generational needs.
