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One of the couple is losing math skills, and the other doesn't seem to be able to grasp it. No family or close friends in area.

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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.
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This is a lot to ask, for certain. Becky has wonderful advice below. Also get advice in any senior center nearby. I would say church group might have advice, but I think I would not leave this in the hands of anyone not qualified, and it may be a service that must be hired. There are fiduciaries who do only this sort of thing, and they will handle for a fee anything from this simple need to something like paying bills and so on.
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While I like Becky's suggestion, there may be a bigger issue here.

Can this couple manage their day to day finances? Does someone have financial POA?
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freqflyer Aug 2019
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?
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All RSVP volunteers are bonded and approved by court. Many will help on other issues. My aunt is financial POA and does bill paying for some.
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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
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AlvaDeer Aug 2019
I had no idea this existed. Thanks so much NewbieWife.
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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.
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Arleeda Aug 2019
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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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I would say get Quickbooks on the computer, because that makes balancing things a breeze. However, it's only as good as the input, and in my dad's case, it was a disaster because he didn't type things in correctly.
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Try the local senior center. Perhaps one of the volunteers that does taxes would be if assistance.
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Look into hiring an accountant to balance the monthly accounts and file the tax return at year end. Ideally the accountant should be a licensed CPA. They have professional obligations to be trustworthy. A bookkeeper could also do the monthly checkbook balancing, but they don't have the same level of professional obligations.
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Intherecliner Aug 2019
For whatever it's worth, I have adamantly refused to use personal checks or to put up with checking accounts ever since I got out of college.

They always had obnoxious little service charge and they do set people up for theft.

I always resented the requirement to balance my checkbook and resented having to lug a checkbook around.

I get a money order check or certified bank check out of my savings account.
The balance is automatically done for me and the bank has a record of the check.

This has made my life easier.
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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.
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Have you tried the bank where they have the account?
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Daily, or twice a week, or anytime I need info 24/7, I call the automated phone at my credit union for balance information, which includes recent ATM transactions, checks cleared, etc. It is the best "recent" activity without a service charge, it is free.
1) to see if I have much in my checking account for my use at the end of the month;
2) to monitor the electronic payments if the money is available or has been deducted.
3) The checks I write are usually only two, not hard to see if they have cleared at the first of the month;
4) The recent ATM transactions are almost immediate to post;
5) There is a balance plus feature that goes on my credit card if overdrawn.
6) I keep all receipts, f o r e v e r.
Then, at the end of the month, I review my bank statement.

Often, I have heard it advised to use gift cards and some cash to manage funds.
So I have used that method also.

The daily maintenance of my accounts are still up to me.
Getting ready to hire a bookkeeper, but not just yet. I know from experience that hiring help (financial manager, bookkeeper, CPA, tax attorney) has always cost me more time and effort, (almost like working for them!), and they make routine errors!

Because NO ONE cares as much as I do about our own finances. But I would trust my bank to help me balance my statement.

A family member can help, but not my family. My friend in her 80's only recently asked her daughter to take care of her accounting. That is working great.

Losing math ability....go to classes to retain that ability when the time comes.
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Okay so my mother's town had a bookkeeper on staff who balanced my mother'vs checkbook. NOT! She was $859 off - FOR EIGHT MONTHS! AND my mother said "she'll get it right on month #9." I said - "No, she WILL NOT. "SHE IS DONE AS SHE EITHER BALANCES ON MONTH #1 OR NOT."

For you, oftentimes financial institutions will help an elder balance their checkbook.
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