Stay On Top Of Your Finances

Question: I recently visited my elderly mother to help her gather information for her taxes. I was shocked that she had unpaid bills and her checkbook wasn’t reconciled. I am only able to visit every few months. Is there any help available to assist seniors with keeping track of their finances?

Answer: People of all ages are forced to deal with endless paperwork these days. It’s easy to confuse important documents with junk mail. Some elders, overwhelmed with the volume of correspondence, simply stop reading all of their mail. Clearly, this is a problem because bank statements and bills are overlooked.

As your example shows, tax time is a great opportunity to ensure that your elderly parent’s finances are in order. Take the opportunity to make sure that all bills are paid in full. This is especially important with credit card bills since their finance charges are typically very high. Help your mother set up direct deposit for Social Security checks and any pension funds she may receive. Direct deposit saves having to go to the bank. For regularly occurring bills such as cable or telephone, try to set up automatic withdrawal so that the money is automatically withdrawn from your mother’s account each month. This will ensure bills are paid, but your mother and you should always review statements to see that the right amounts are withdrawn.

Make mail less burdensome. Talk with your mother and acknowledge that the stack of mail can be intimidating. Suggest that she go through the mail each day so that it doesn’t pile up and become an enormous task to tackle. Make a list of all the bills that she should expect to receive and post it where she places her mail. Encourage her to refer to the list if she has a question about a piece of mail.

It’s best for many reasons that you visit your mother as much as possible. However, if you can only visit every several months, consider getting some help for your mother. Efforts like the Money Management Program help elders organize important documents and pay bills on time. The Money Management Program is staffed by trained and insured volunteers in your mother’s area. To learn more about the Money Management Program, call Mystic Valley Elder Services at 781-324-7705. With your help and the Money Management Program, your mother will be sure to pay her bills on time.