Beatitudes Community

Money

Money. Even under the best of circumstances, it’s a subject few people want to discuss…even with individuals in their own family. But as people age, it becomes important—and sometimes necessary—that the senior’s adult children or another trusted person has an understanding of their financial situation—what is sometimes referred to as “financial caregiving.”

It happens too often that an older person suffers a sudden serious health event, and no one knows how or is able to access the person’s money in order to do things like pay household bills, taxes, or medical expenses. Where is mom’s checkbook? Where’s the safe deposit key? What company is the custodian for her IRA? Oh wait, my name isn’t on any of mom’s accounts, so I can’t even access the funds. It’s a difficult situation to navigate, especially on top of the stress of dealing with your loved one’s health crisis.

Another all-too-common scenario: a senior, perhaps in the early stages of dementia or even with normal age-related cognitive decline, begins forgetting to pay their bills. Or it could be that they can’t recall where they put their checkbook and the stamps. Or worse, maybe they have been taken advantage of by a scam artist of some type. Such situations can result in utilities being turned off or a foreclosure on their home, ruin a senior’s credit rating, and even drain the savings they have worked so hard to build up over their lifetime.

These example situations are just a few of the reasons why it’s important for adult children to initiate a conversation with their aging parent(s) about their finances and then take steps to put a plan in place to handle such scenarios where financial caregiving may be necessary. And if your parents are of an advanced age, there really is no time like the present to broach this topic.

But oftentimes, both parties—parent and adult child—put off this crucial discussion. As with most topics that deal with the realities of getting older and even dying, it is human nature to want to avoid these taboo subjects.

Aging parents may be in denial about their level of cognitive and/or physical decline, adamant that they are still perfectly capable of remaining independent, both with their living arrangements and their finances. Adult children may struggle with seeing their parents deteriorate with age and thus want to avoid the misperception that they are “meddling” in their parents’ business.

But the important point for all parties to keep in mind is that this is really just one of the steps that everyone should take in order to prepare for the unknowns of the future. Just as you create a will, save money for retirement, or purchase insurance coverage, taking steps to plan for handling a senior’s finances if they are no longer able to do it themselves should be on the list of things to do before a crisis arises.

Speaking to adult children here: in order to initiate the conversation with your aging parent(s) about putting a plan in place to manage household finances if needed, it is often best simply to find your moment, and dive into the subject. A gentle way to start might go something like this:

“Dad, you know how as most people get older, they may need a little extra help with things like yardwork or chores around the house? Well, I wanted to talk with you about how I might be able to help lift some of the burden off of you when it comes to managing your household finances, just in case it should ever become a challenge for you to do it on your own. I know you and mom worked hard to financially prepare for your retirement and future care needs, and I want to be sure that we have a plan in place so that, if the time comes, we are able to easily access those funds to help take the very best care of you and mom.”

Those of you reading this who are the elders with children, please think of the gift that you can give your children by having this conversation without it being a crisis. 

Many of you know that my own mother passed away this summer, so I am able to tell you with specific reference, here are a few of the specific tasks you will want to consider completing:

Create power of attorney documents, designating someone who will have the ability to make important decisions—including financial decisions—for the senior should they become incapacitated.

Get yourself or another trusted loved one added as an authorized signatory on the banking accounts and the safe deposit box.

Contact the individual retirement account (IRA) custodian company to determine if they have their own specific power of attorney documents that must be completed in order for a loved one to access the IRA’s funds.

If you live far from your parents but still want to prepare for the “what ifs” of their future, you can explore hiring a professional daily money manager—a person who will sit down with your loved one and help them pay bills, file insurance paperwork, balance their checkbook, and much more. Visit American Association of Daily Money Managers to find an insured, bonded money manager in whom you feel confident.

Taking these steps now, before an issue arises, can save you and your loved ones a lot of heartache and headaches down the road should something happen that prevents the senior from being able to attend to their own finances.

Sons, daughters, decision makers: if you’re still feeling unsure or overwhelmed by the prospect of assisting your aging parent with the management of their household finances, there are a number of places you can turn for help.

Visit the National Caregivers Library site and search for “financial caregiving,” or go to “Money Matters” in the navigation. You’ll find an extensive array of articles on the topic.

Similarly, visit org and search their site for the phrase “financial caregiving.” For example, they have an informative whitepaper entitled, “Family Financial Caregiving: Rewards, Stresses, and Responsibilities.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has several guides on managing someone else’s money, which can help financial caregivers navigate the process and their responsibilities.*

Are You ALTCS Curious?

The Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) is designed to help people pay for long term care. Part of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, AHCCCS (pronounced “access”), ALTCS (pronounced “all-tex”) provides support for both children with substantial needs as well as older adults. ALTCS is part of the Medicaid system, and it has very specific medical and financial qualifying guidelines.

To qualify medically, applicants will be interviewed by a nurse or social worker who will come to your apartment. The interviewer will ask for a list of current medications and recent medical records. Questions are designed to evaluate activities of daily living (“Can you dress yourself? How long does it take?”). They may ask about recent falls, as well as orientation to time and place. In order to qualify medically an applicant’s level of need must be determined to be at or near a nursing home level of care. I often observe these interviews on Campus and have found the interviewers to be friendly and helpful.

While the majority of people who receive ALTCS services do live in assisted living or higher level of care, an ALTCS designation does not mandate setting.  If an individual lives at large in the community, or in an independent living apartment here on Campus, they can still qualify for ALTCS services. However, in these cases ALTCS will provide (pay for) caregivers to assist with needs; these caregivers can be from an agency or someone of your own choosing, including your spouse. If you are in independent living, ALTCS will not help pay for rent. If you live in assisted living, they will.

The second qualifying category is financial. Income and assets are evaluated to see if a person meets the qualifying standard. If you have over $2,000 in a checking account, or earn more than $2,250 per month (these numbers change for married couples) you will not appear to be financially eligible. However, the financial guidelines can get complicated. For example, if you earn over the monthly limit, but meet other criteria, you can have an income-only trust set up that will allow you to qualify. It can pay in the long run to have your application handled by experienced ALTCS planning professionals or elder law attorneys. Please feel free to contact me at x16117 if you have questions about ALTCS.*

Duet Caregiver Symposium to Offer Critical Skills for Family Caregivers

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Clara Graham, Caregiver

Are you taking care of a loved one? You are not alone! About twenty million unpaid caregivers take care of almost ten million adults ages 65 and older in the United States, according to a 2014 study from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Alzheimer’s Association has determined that in Arizona, 130,000 adults ages 65 and older have Alzheimer’s disease and that about 800,000 residents provide unpaid care for their loved ones with disabling conditions.

Support for family caregivers is critical for them to stay healthy so they can keep helping their loved ones and have an improved quality of life, yet most of our community’s caregivers do not know that help is available.

Duet, a non-profit interfaith organization, is offering a Caregiver Symposium: How to Find Hope while Coping with Stress and Grief on October 6 at Church of the Beatitudes, 555 W. Glendale Ave., Phoenix. Renowned researcher, educator and therapist, Dr. Pauline, Boss will share proven techniques to help caregivers deal with losses and how to reclaim hope amidst grief. Duet very much appreciates the support of Beatitudes Campus, Beatitudes at Home and Church of the Beatitudes in making this event possible.  Beatitudes at Home is actually providing respite caregivers for those who wish to attend the conference.

Dr. Boss is best known for her groundbreaking research on a form of prolonged grief known as “ambiguous loss.” For over four decades, much of her work has focused on helping family caregivers successfully navigate this unique type of grief in which their loved ones are physically alive but not the person the caregivers once knew.

Her session for family caregivers will take place from 9AM to 1:30PM (includes lunch) and her session for professionals and students will be from 1:30 to 3:30PM.

Clara Graham, an 80-year-old caregiver whose husband has Alzheimer’s disease, appreciates the support she receives at Duet’s family caregivers support group.  “It has been like going from day to night,” Clara said. “He was diagnosed with early onset dementia, and within a year he couldn’t remember what day it was. “Duet is my salvation,” she adds. “It gives me hope.”

After the Symposium, Duet will use a three-year, $460,000 grant from the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to pay for the creation of a series of videos based on Dr. Boss’s book, as well as expand other caregiver services. The videos will offer tools to help caregivers navigate losses as well as support a caregiver-to-caregiver volunteer program to better serve isolated and overwhelmed caregivers and expand services for caregivers from diverse, underserved communities.

“We’re extremely grateful to the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust for helping us further support family caregivers, who need to preserve their own well-being in their challenging roles,” said Ann Wheat, Duet’s Director of Caregiver Services.

The Reverend Dr. Dosia Carlson and Church of the Beatitudes founded Duet in 1981 as part of Dosia’s vision to provide innovative solutions to community needs. Besides assisting family caregivers, Duet also helps homebound adults, faith communities and grandparents raising grandchildren. To register for the symposium or ask for help visit www.duetaz.org or call 602-274-5022. *

Online Education: Dementia Dialogues Webinars

As a caregiver of someone with dementia, your time is precious and sometimes traveling to receive ongoing education is simply not possible. Join us for Dementia Dialogues, where we bring dementia education to you online! Dementia Dialogues offers a different, pertinent webinar topic each month. Tune in from the comfort of your home or office and learn from experts in dementia care!

Dementia Dialogues are meant to provide a caregiver with helpful information and tools to better understand and care for loved ones living with dementia. The series will be fully accessible from anywhere at any time with full lecture information available online and in accompanying audio versions.

Webinars will be hosted on the third Wednesday of each month from Noon to 1PM in the Admin Conference room. Every month, a new topic surrounding Alzheimer’s and dementia care will be discussed by experts and guest caregivers. Limited space is available in the Conference Room so please come early, if we outgrow the space we will look to move to a bigger area.

The Topics that will be covered on the Webinar are:

  • Planning for Care Across the Stages of Dementia (March 18th);
  • Alzheimer’s Medications: What They Are, What They Aren’t and What You Need to Know (April 15th);
  • Planning Successful Travel (May 20th);
  • Men as Caregivers (June 17th);
  • Understanding Psychosis (July 15th);
  • Maintaining Realistic Expectations as Dementia Progresses (August 19th);
  • Best Lessons from Powerful Tools for Caregiving (September 16th);
  • How and When to Execute Powers of Attorney (October 21st);
  • Preparing for Holidays (November 18th);
  • The Gift of Presence (December 16th).