You live in a city far from your 75-year-old mother. In telephone conversations during the past year, you’ve begun to suspect she’s growing increasingly forgetful, but she assures you everything is fine. Now a neighbor has called to say your mother hasn’t paid her utility bills in three months and the utility company is threatening to cut off the power. What should you do?

If your parent is having trouble managing money, he or she is not alone. An estimated 500,000 older people in the United States need help with their financial affairs. As a result, a new field is evolving to provide daily money management services on a fee-for-service basis.

Daily money managers offer a variety of services:

* Organizing and keeping track of financial and medical insurance records;
* Establishing a budget;
* Helping with check writing and checkbook balancing; and,
* Serving as a representative payee or fiduciary with authority to administer the benefits of people who can’t manage their own financial affairs.

Some money managers also make medical appointments for older clients and help arrange for other assistance, such as locating necessary in-home care. Money managers do not provide financial planning or investment counseling services.

Daily money managers typically charge $25 to $100 an hour, depending on the client’s locale and the complexity of their financial affairs. While it is difficult to generalize the total cost, many clients require only a few hours of services each month to keep on top of their finances. Some local governments and community organizations also offer reduced-fee or free services for low-income clients.

Unfortunately, many people do not turn to a daily money manager until after a crisis, such as a threatened eviction or utility cut-off. However, there are ways to tell whether an older person needs a money manager before an emergency occurs. Here’s how:

With your parent’s help or permission, review his or her checkbook, bank statements and canceled checks. Look for:

* Inappropriate payments, such as payments for medical bills that already have been paid;
* Numerous payments to credit card companies, home shopping networks, sweepstakes or other contests;
* Unusually large donations to charitable or fraternal organizations;
* Failure to list or otherwise track deposits and income;
* Failure to record checks or otherwise track expenditures;
* Lost checkbooks or bank statements;
* Numerous transfers from savings to checking accounts;
* Consistent or unusual payments to a person unknown to you, a possible sign that your parent is being exploited financially.

Then review bills and correspondence, watching for letters from creditors or past-due notices. The review may indicate that a daily money manager is needed.

If you and your parent decide that a daily money manager would be helpful, interview several candidates. Get references and talk with their clients. Also contact the local Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, local consumer protection agency or area agency on aging. Ask if they have any unresolved consumer complaints on file. One caveat: No record of complaints against a particular provider doesn’t necessarily mean no previous consumer problems. It may be that problems exist, but have not yet been reported, or that the money manger is doing business under several different names. In addition, ask the providers you interview for their company’s financial statement to make sure the provider you choose has a solid financial history. Make sure the provider is familiar with the special needs of older people.

For More Information

The Eldercare Locator — a nationwide, toll-free assistance directory sponsored by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging — will refer you to the area agency on aging nearest to your parent or other older adult. (800) 677-1116.

American Association of Daily Money Managers
P.O. Box 755
Silver Spring, MD 20918
(301) 593-5462

The association can provide names of daily money managers in an older person’s community or nearby. The association also publishes Daily Money Management: What It Is and How Can It Help Me?

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
801 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20434-0001
(800) 276-6003 or (202) 416-6940
fax: (202) 416-2076
e-mail: publicinfo@fdic.gov

The FDIC publishes Financial Caregiving: A Survival Guide.

Prepared by the American Association of Retired Persons