Just because there is no family “inthe area” doesn’t mean they might not be able to manage this. With online banking, paying bills and writing checks can be done from anywhere. I have paid my parents’ bills from the time my dad’s parkinson’s progressed till today for my now widowed mom...and I do it from anywhere I am, most recently Indonesia. I also took this on for a dear aunt who lost her eyesight. In her case I was able to put all her utility bills on autopay and handle checkwriting through the billpay service at Bank of America. Balancing checkbooks by hand is a thing you really no longer need to do if you access your accounts online. Just some food for thought.
I switched to online banking years ago. The only check I write regularly is to my every-other-week cleaning service, as they charge extra for credit cards! My 57 year old daughter is still living in the pre-computer days and writes checks for everything she does, or uses credit card.
Contact RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteers). They have retired CPA’s, bankers, accountants who will do these. My aunt who is retired bank VP does this for 10 seniors in her area. They can also be contacted thru the Area Agency on Aging. In my area the accountants group comes to local center once a month to assist. They also have bonded, county approved financial guardians/advocates.
AARP is another resource. Check if the AARP chapter in their area has the "money minders" program, or something similar. A trained and supervised AARP volunteer is matched with an elder client. The volunteer visits the client at least monthly to help keep track of income and expenses and make sure bills are paid on time. AARP also offers free tax preparation services for elderly and low income people; those tax services aren't in the home but in a public venue such as library or senior center
I agree with Barb. Are there other parts of this couple's life where they are having difficulty?
My parents got to a point where my Mom, the keeper of the checkbook, could no longer do the math mainly due to eyesight issues. Dad was never good at regular math but was a whiz at physics [go figure, sorry for the pun]. Just normal age decline.
After my Mom has passed, Dad's caregiver noticed my Dad was tossing away current bills into the recycling, and Dad was more than happy to hand me that chore. Oh great, now I need to balance a checkbook :P
Relssek, I noticed in your title you mentioned one of the senior is disabled. Disabled in what respect? Should they be living in a senior facility?
Relseek, who is the financial Power of Attorney for this couple? If there is one, that person has the responsiblity. All the bills, bank statements, etc. can be re-directed to the Power of Attorney. I did that with my Dad.
You may be able to have someone at the bank do it. My mother has a personal banker. She has a good bit in the bank so not sure what the limits are. I’ve set up all medical bills and accounts online with automatic payments. Once in a while I check to make sure it’s all going smoothly but so much easier. It’s easy to do
Obviously they need some oversight, but as well, unless wealthy I'd be concerned about the risk of overdrawing on the account and then watching those fees add up making matters worse. More often than not with the systems in place the bank is usually right and the on-line ability to see transactions and balance the book can be done by someone at a distance if they want. I'd ask the bank manager for their suggestions as well. If not only to let them know what was going on. In retrospect my mother's challenges with bill paying were a sign of the brewing dementia.
If they or one of them can manage a trip to the bank once a month...A friend of mine brings her checkbook to the bank and one of the employees will balance it for her. (costs her a loaf of banana bread each time) Some of this could be done on line, you could access the account and balance. It will not show what checks are outstanding but it will give you a good idea week to week what is going on. If possible can auto payments be done for routine bills such as Gas, Electric, Cable, Sewer and water, garbage. Other bills could also be done on a charge card and that could be set up as an auto payment as well. All this is pretty easy to see with on line banking. You could also check with local Senior Services and ask if they have a CPA that volunteers to do things like this.
Can this couple manage their day to day finances? Does someone have financial POA?
My parents got to a point where my Mom, the keeper of the checkbook, could no longer do the math mainly due to eyesight issues. Dad was never good at regular math but was a whiz at physics [go figure, sorry for the pun]. Just normal age decline.
After my Mom has passed, Dad's caregiver noticed my Dad was tossing away current bills into the recycling, and Dad was more than happy to hand me that chore. Oh great, now I need to balance a checkbook :P
Relssek, I noticed in your title you mentioned one of the senior is disabled. Disabled in what respect? Should they be living in a senior facility?
I’ve set up all medical bills and accounts online with automatic payments. Once in a while I check to make sure it’s all going smoothly but so much easier. It’s easy to do
Some of this could be done on line, you could access the account and balance. It will not show what checks are outstanding but it will give you a good idea week to week what is going on.
If possible can auto payments be done for routine bills such as Gas, Electric, Cable, Sewer and water, garbage. Other bills could also be done on a charge card and that could be set up as an auto payment as well. All this is pretty easy to see with on line banking.
You could also check with local Senior Services and ask if they have a CPA that volunteers to do things like this.
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