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Thread: Senior Finances

  1. #1
    Senior Member Greg44's Avatar
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    Senior Finances

    The time has come when I need to step in and do my parent's finances. I am set up at the bank to pay their bills, can review their investment accounts, etc.

    I personally have always used Basic Quicken - entered everything manually, each a.m. to balance against the bank, etc. What I would like is to be able to set them up the same way to either do it online so I can go to their house and pull it up on their computer, pay bills, etc. Or maybe save to a jump drive and take that to their house?
    Last edited by Greg44; 9-22-20 at 10:51pm.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Are they able to handle technology well enough to do this?

    Frankly, it sounds like maybe they shouldn't have access as they might not be able to handle it and would massively mess it up.

    Why don't you just keep it on your laptop and take that with you when you visit? They can see you do it, but don't have access themselves.

  3. #3
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    That trick of printing the important information on the brightly colored paper is massively brilliant!

    you are going to have to have to do this work. I think it’s a whole lot simpler for you to just do it then to try to involve them in doing it. They are going to fail soon enough and you’re gonna have to take it over and straighten out the mess anyway.

    The next thing you need to be worrying about : are they going to be giving money to a Nigerian prince.? Hopefully both of them have enough skepticism of new people and products that they won’t be sending out money.

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    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Would it be wise to have a visit with the bank and the lawyer/acct to give clear direction that you have power of attorney for personal and financial while they are reasonably able to do this. It may make life easier down the road when end of life issues arise as well.

    My late DH and I had this conversation a number of time over years about end of life and finances and included our two daughters. Everyone was at peace. It is all clearly set with my lawyer, accountant and funeral director regarding me and I plan on living for another 25 years.

    Sidebar - Have you planned for your later years as you are seeing the need with your parents?
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  5. #5
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    +2 on this being your job, not theirs. Especially since the skill/custom of properly tracking expenses and paperwork is not well established.

    I like Tradd's laptop idea (if, in fact, you have a laptop). I believe Quicken also can run on a tablet though I don't know what differences exist in the feature set. You could use a jump drive to keep the data, too, though you'd want to keep track of generations of jump drives since they can just frizzle out on their own for various reasons.

    If I had to do this for my mom, I'd be bringing over my own laptop and making sure things were entered correctly/consistently and backed up appropriately. DW does the finances for her mother; that system is 100% paper. When they can figure out where DM put the paper. The only backup for that system is statements from the bank and the investment manager; not nearly enough but it will have to do.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

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    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    What about automating the tracking with something like Mint. Once you get all the account information entered then everytime you log in it automatically updates everything by logging into the financial institutions for you and downloading any transactions.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Greg44's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tradd View Post
    Are they able to handle technology well enough to do this?

    Frankly, it sounds like maybe they shouldn't have access as they might not be able to handle it and would massively mess it up.

    Why don't you just keep it on your laptop and take that with you when you visit? They can see you do it, but don't have access themselves.
    We don't have a laptop, but had been talking about getting one, that would make it much simpler. No, at this point my mom pays for a unused dead cell
    phone that sits at the bottom of her purse (maybe). They previously used their computer, but I think they have given up on it. They can never remember their passwords or where is the little piece of paper they write them on.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Greg44's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    That trick of printing the important information on the brightly colored paper is massively brilliant!

    you are going to have to have to do this work. I think it’s a whole lot simpler for you to just do it then to try to involve them in doing it. They are going to fail soon enough and you’re gonna have to take it over and straighten out the mess anyway.

    The next thing you need to be worrying about : are they going to be giving money to a Nigerian prince.? Hopefully both of them have enough skepticism of new people and products that they won’t be sending out money.
    I don't know if it was a Nigerian Prince but they were victims of phone fraud.
    Last edited by Greg44; 9-22-20 at 10:53pm.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Greg44's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by razz View Post
    Would it be wise to have a visit with the bank and the lawyer/acct to give clear direction that you have power of attorney for personal and financial while they are reasonably able to do this. It may make life easier down the road when end of life issues arise as well.

    My late DH and I had this conversation a number of time over years about end of life and finances and included our two daughters. Everyone was at peace. It is all clearly set with my lawyer, accountant and funeral director regarding me and I plan on living for another 25 years.

    Sidebar - Have you planned for your later years as you are seeing the need with your parents?
    No we need to have that conversation - sooner than later.
    Last edited by Greg44; 9-22-20 at 10:52pm.

  10. #10
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    Have you and your elderly parents considered a trust as a legal device to hold their assets and pay their bills?

    One way to prevent elder scams is to administer the trust for legitimate expenses and replace credit cards and personal checkbook with a debit card, such as True Link. http://www.truelinkfinancial.com

    I have not personally dealt with True Link, so this not an endorsement. In 15-20 years, I may be ready to depend on a fiduciary though.

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