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The onset of Alzheimer’s Disease or Dementia reduces brain function, which can in turn lead to making poor financial decisions on your own behalf. If you are 50 years old or greater, having easy access to your financial assets – like stocks and bonds, checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, and other assets – can lead to loss of these funds if an unauthorized person gains access to them, or if they are mismanaged. Family members are often unaware their loved one needs help before the unintentionally mismanaged assets,… Read More

Your parent recently had a stroke and is returning home after a long stay in the hospital and in-patient rehabilitation. The care providers assure you that your parent will be fine returning home, but you still worry. How can you make sure your parent is safe at home? A medical alert system is a device that can connect the user with help when activated, either at the press of a button or if a fall is detected. These devices can be lifesaving in case of emergency, and can give seniors… Read More

Your last will and testament is a set of legal instructions that communicates your wishes regarding your dependents and how to dispose of your property when you die. If you have people who you love and care for, then creating a will for your peace of mind and their protection is the right thing to do. Though crafting your will can make you face some uncomfortable topics, like mortality, it does not compare to the difficulty your loved ones will face trying to handle the logistics problems in the absence… Read More

Millennials include fiscally conservative, savings oriented, and future planners seeking financial freedom as core attributes. A large part of millennials’ formative years was influenced by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis beginning in 2007, shortly followed by an international banking crisis, which led to what became known as the Great Recession. The millennial generation would have ranged from ages 11 – 26 years of age when this economic downturn began. Living through this economic volatility, not seen since the Great Depression, gave rise to the fiscally conservative millennial mindset. The other… Read More

There are very few individuals without a digital footprint anymore. From social networks like Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitch.tv and Twitter, blogs and licensed domain names, email, music, photos, seller accounts on eBay, Amazon, or Itsy, gaming accounts, even your financial, utility, and medical accounts are all part of your digital footprint. When most of us created these accounts, we blithely accepted the End User License Agreement (EULA) without much thought to when we would no longer be around to manage their content and activity. However, a EULA designates in detail… Read More

The US Social Security Administrations funding trusts are known as the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund. In their 2019 annual report to Congress, the Board of Trustees released some startling detail about projected insolvency for the Social Security Program by the year 2035. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been dipping into its “trust fund” to meet scheduled benefit payouts. Social Security program costs continue to exceed non-interest income. The OASI has no authority to borrow money, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the American workforce is… Read More

As many state officials now begin to ease current Covid-19 restrictions, the May 10th Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is considering likewise for nursing-home residents and their families. Since March 13, visitors and communal activities have been banned under CMS restrictions. WSJ obtained a leaked draft of CMS guidelines under which visitors might, at some future time, begin to be admitted to nursing homes. The guidelines reportedly set forth a phased procedure, in which elder facilities able to show lessened or no infection… Read More

Family members have a natural desire to step up to provide health care to their aging relatives. The love and care many adult children receive growing up become reciprocal, particularly in the case of their aging parents. But with the advent of longer lives, it is not atypical that a senior parent may still be caring for their parents or spouse. More than 16 percent of adult Americans are unpaid caregivers to someone age 50 or more according to Right at Home, a leader in the in-home senior care industry, and… Read More

Many of us are facing unprecedented challenges during this coronavirus crisis in America, and it has increased anxiety and fear levels in all of us. The reactive part of your brain called the amygdala, a human physiological response when faced with fear, takes control of your actions, and you enter what is known as the fight-flight-freeze response. This stress response induces your body to produce a steroid called cortisol to handle the feelings of fear. Unfortunately, cortisol has another effect on your physiology; it weakens your immune system. This effect makes you… Read More

It is essential that as your parents’ age, you have conversations with them about their finances and estate plans. To broach the topic, you might bring up current events like the coronavirus pandemic, its effect on economic conditions, and how it relates to the security of their financial future. The conversation should come from a calming place of love and concern. Speak to them respectfully about how the coronavirus pandemic has you thinking about the importance of their planning and preparedness. Once you begin the conversation, move away from the… Read More