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She has gotten herself into financial trouble by ordering wrinkle cream and just paying shipping and handling. She never reads any further.

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She must be competent if able to pay her bills and operate the internet. She has the right to spend money she has or does not have any way she wants. Subscriptions to anti aging creams can be cancelled. Read the terms of the agreement, then if MIL wants to cancel help her do that, if she wants to.
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What makes me nervous is an elder with memory problems having access to on-line banking... yikes, a financial accident waiting to happen.
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There's Trouble, and then there's TROUBLE! First off, you only listed the one item, wrinkle cream, and then went on to say that she does her own online banking, and she does pays her own bills, so if it is only her getting into trouble the one time, or perhaps she buys a little here and there on TV shopping channels, I don't see this as a huge problem, in fact it may be much easier for her to get her birthday and holiday shopping done this way. There is frivolous, and then there is Excessive!

I checked into one of those Wrinkle Creams, as supposedly recommended by Dr Oz, and thousands of people have been duped by misunderstanding the very confusing advertisement, the whole buy one, get one free, but then you have to commit by agreeing to receive additional monthly shipments, and can "CANCEL ANYTIME YOU LIKE", but it isn't always as simple as this, as there aren't enough company employees there answering the phones, and you end up on hold for 3 hours!, plus, you have to ship back the containers, because they keep mailing them out, month after month, many are a just a rip off! There are a lot of articles written of their poor reviews for this very reason! I could see her needing your help to get her out of them repeatedly charging her credit card every month, as this is how they make their money! Its confusing!

If you can, have a calm and informative conversation with her about those Adveritsements that are geared to fleece people of their hard earned cash, and that there is buying to avoid driving and the mall and due to physical restrictions, versus buying out of lonliness and not nessesity, the main thing is to reinforce how she, like everyone else, needs to make sure that her monies last as long as possible into retirement, and to save too, for those pesky unexpected expenditures, and then then it is up to her to decide. It is, after all, her money! Now if you find, that she is being targeted by elderly scam artists, or that she herself has poor judgment making skills from dementia or othe health reasons, then that is a totally different scenario, and you may need to bring in reinforcements like her Son and other family members or her POA, and decide if more drastic measures need to be set in place, like a CC, with a low spending limit, or the even more drastic measures of totally restricting her access, but that would be drastic! In the end, Think about how you would like to be treated and proceed with that in mind. Its good you are looking out for her!
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Unplug the internet. Lose the credit/debit cards.
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Your profile says that your mother has Alzheimers and is living with you. In that case, why would she have access to card info? Are you the Durable POA? If her judgment is poor and she is at risk for financial harm by being online, I'd take steps to limit her access. Without supervision, she could just as easily order very expensive items too, right? It would make me nervous.
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Is it possible that a limit can be placed on the card that she is using for on line or phone transactions?
If she is competent then there really is nothing you can do it is her money to do with as she pleases. If this will put a financial burden on her then possibly it is time to have her evaluated to determine if she should be doing her own banking, her own charging on credit cards that possibly should be restricted.
Are you are concerned that she is spending your husbands inheritance or are you concerned that she may need Assisted Living and will not have funds to pay for it? If it is that you are concerned about inheritance..it is her money to do with as she pleases until the day she dies. No one should EXPECT an inheritance, the money that is saved through our lives should be spent keeping us in the best way possible until we pass. Great if there is money left to pass on but if not that just means we planned right. Came in with nothing and left nothing.
If you are concerned about Assisted Living and she has NO resources, no funds then there is the Medicaid route, while not great that is the choice she is making by spending her money..If she is competent you can try to explain this. If she does not understand then time to take away the credit cards and become POA.
Wow I sound a little harsh....
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How competent is your mother? But if she has gotten into financial trouble because of this, I would look at ways to limit her access to the internet and credit cards. It's so easy to get in over your head with ordering stuff online.
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She does all her banking online and pays the bills too.
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