How to Help Older Adults with Dementia Manage Their Finances

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Helping Seniors with Dementia Manage Their Money in Edmonton, AB

A dementia diagnosis can devastate an entire family, but it can also be a rallying cry. Typically, a senior’s family members come together to provide care as his or her cognitive abilities decrease. The more advanced the condition is, the more help your aging loved one may need, especially when it comes to important tasks like managing finances. While taking on someone’s financial matters can be an overwhelming responsibility, you can adopt the following strategies to make the task easier.

Add a Cosigner

Consider becoming a cosigner on your loved one’s bank and credit card accounts. You can also have your name added to your parent’s bills so companies will accept payments from you when he or she is unable to pay.

Aging in place can present a few challenges for seniors living with dementia. However, they can still live independently at home with the help of professional dementia care. Edmonton families can rely on Home Care Assistance to provide their elderly loved ones with mental and social stimulation, timely medication reminders, assistance with meal prep, and much more. Our caregivers are available around the clock to help your loved one live a happier and healthier life.

Take Steps to Prevent Scams

Many older adults fall for scams relating to everything from mortgages to life insurance. As dementia progresses, your loved one is likely to provide the wrong information to the wrong person. While you can’t prevent scamming completely, consider taking a few steps that may help. Add your loved one to registries that prevent telemarketers from calling him or her, set up a PO box, monitor credit reports, and set up withdrawal and spending alerts on bank accounts and credit cards.

Consider Automatic Bill Pay Programs

Older adults with dementia often forget to pay the bills, which can lead to utility companies cutting off the water or power, credit cards going to collections, repossession of a car, loss of insurance, a foreclosure on a home, or countless other unfavorable situations. Signing up for automatic bill payment is a good way to prevent these issues. In many cases, you can do it through your loved one’s bank. Otherwise, you may need to check if each individual company has an automated pay program. 

Caring for an aging parent with dementia can be a challenging task, especially when you have other important tasks to tend to. If you’re the primary caregiver for a senior loved one in Edmonton, respite care is available when you need time away from your important caregiving duties. At Home Care Assistance, our respite caregivers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help your loved one manage everyday tasks in the comfort of home while you have the chance to take a much-needed break.

Create a Space for Important Documents

It’s a good idea to have your loved one’s important documents in one safe central location, whether it’s a safety deposit box or a filing cabinet in the home. Some of the documents you need to store in a safe location include your loved one’s deeds, bills of sale, mortgage documents, tax returns, investment statements, wills, car titles, receipts for major purchases, birth certificate, marriage certificate, and passports. You may also want to make copies for your own records.

Know When to Completely Take Over Your Parent’s Finances

In the early stages of dementia, it may be enough to simply help your loved one manage his or her finances. However, there are some signs that may alert you when it’s time for you to take over. Unpaid bills, frequent collection calls, losing money, not understanding how much to pay for a purchase, piles of mail, unusual purchases, and calls from the bank about unusual spending habits or overdrawn accounts may all be signs your loved one is no longer fit to handle financial matters.

Dementia can make it difficult for older adults to manage a wide variety of activities. If your elderly loved one is living with a serious medical condition and needs help managing the tasks of daily living, reach out to Home Care Assistance, an Edmonton elder care agency you can trust. Our caregivers are available 24/7, there are no hidden fees in our contracts, and we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all of our in-home care services. To learn about our high-quality in-home care plans, give us a call at (780) 490-7337 today.

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