11 Financial Tips to Make Caregiving Easier

Becoming a caregiver to a family member or loved one may occur at some point in your life, whether due to unexpected circumstances or old age. If you already are a caregiver or know someone who is, you may have some stories about how overwhelming it can be—emotionally and otherwise. Caregiving requires love, time, and patience, but the financial aspect of caregiving often doesn't get the proper attention it needs.

Discuss this side of caregiving with your financial professional, who can offer you various resources and guidance to make things easier. These 11 tips can also help you manage your loved one's finances more effectively.

1. Talk About It Now Before It’s Too Late

We must prepare for the unexpected, which means having a financial discussion with the person you are caring for in advance. While discussing money with them can seem complicated, it doesn't have to be. As a current or future caregiver, you need answers to some key questions. Let your loved one know that it's in their best interest to address these things now:

• Has your loved one saved money? If so, how much?
• What's their source of income?
• Do they have investments or insurance policies?
• Who is their financial professional/attorney/CPA?
• Do they want to live in an assisted living home or prefer to live at home?
• Have they planned for elder care (or can they pay for it)?
• Do they have long-term care insurance?
  
  

Discussing these things when the aging parent is healthier and able to make decisions can make it easier for you to take action when the time comes.

2. Review Estate Planning Documents

Find out if your loved one has prepared estate planning documents, and ensure that their will and power of attorney are current.

A living will and health care proxy are critical estate planning documents to take care of immediately. They entail how you should handle medical treatment while your loved one is still living but can no longer express their health care wishes or make medical decisions on their own.

Again, the best time to do this is while all parties are healthy and of sound mind. But if that time passes, it should still be a priority; it's never too late to get these in order.

3. Keep Financial Documents Organized and Accessible

Necessary documents, such as wills, powers of attorney, investment statements, insurance policies, and bank account statements, should be reviewed, updated, and kept in a secure, accessible place. Ensure they are all kept together in one place with relevant passwords.

4. Know What’s Important to Your Loved One

Generally, a caregiver's top priority should be to do what their loved one wants. For that reason, take the time to talk with them about their preferences for receiving care. Is it important to them to not be a burden on their children? Are they okay with living in an assisted living or nursing home? Would they rather live at home?

Another option is to ask your loved one to write a letter expressing their desires and reasons. While living wills or health care proxies often cover wishes and instructions, they don't cover feelings. A personal letter can remind you of the sentiment behind your loved one's wishes.

While you, as a caregiver, may not be able to fulfill all their wishes, you can still make the best possible decisions for them. Knowing what your loved one wants also helps you understand and empathize with them.

5. Seek Professional Advice

When planning for your loved one, you should seek two types of professional advice – financial and legal. Ask your financial professional to recommend an attorney for legal consultation (and a tax professional for tax advice, if necessary).

6. Look Into Public Benefits

Public benefits are available to assist with the care of older adults. Veterans and their spouses may qualify for certain government programs like Medicare and Social Security. However, some veteran benefits are unknown to the average person.

For instance, a Vietnam veteran was diagnosed with a type of cancer linked to a chemical used by the military in Vietnam called "Agent Orange." As a result, this veteran could get pension benefits for becoming a disabled veteran, even though his disability occurred more than 40 years later. As a disabled veteran, he was also eligible for a discount on his property taxes.

Medicaid may also be available for those over age 65 or under the federal poverty limit. You can check your loved one's eligibility at BenefitsCheckUp.org.

7. Supervise Finances (Even While the Loved One Still Can)

Since an elderly parent's ability to manage their finances may begin to deteriorate at any time (sometimes as early as age 60), start monitoring their spending and bank accounts the minute, there are any signs of confusion or struggle; this is especially important to protect against fraud and late fees resulting from missed bill payments.

8. Keep Them Safe From Scams

We are seeing an increasing number of older adults targeted by online, email, and telephone scams. Recently, a wave of IRS imposters have used aggressive measures to attempt (and often succeed) to collect unpaid taxes from the vulnerable and unknowing elderly.

There's a real possibility that your elderly parent might be taken advantage of, so be proactive in preventing such events. One of the best ways to do this is to constantly remind your parent or family member of potential scams. Give them examples. Tell them never to click on links in unfamiliar emails, avoid social media strangers, never answer personal security questions from an incoming caller, and always use hard-to-guess passwords. If your loved one is unsure, encourage them to call you for advice.

9. Consider the Impact on Your Lifestyle and Finances

Caregiving can be taxing, so consider how this role may affect your life personally, professionally, and financially. For instance, you may miss work often for doctor appointments and other caregiving obligations. Additionally, your personal and family finances may be affected. Maintain active communication with your spouse, siblings, and other family members regarding potential costs and plans to avoid conflicts.

10. Work and Communicate With Your Colleagues

The last thing a caregiver should do is allow their role to become a full-time job. While it may often feel like one, do your best to keep working if possible. A job will maintain a source of income that will no doubt ease the strain of financially supporting the loved one, if necessary. More than that, keeping a job will give you an escape needed to maintain a well-balanced life—as much as possible.

Many companies offer benefits to employees who become caregivers. For instance, they may offer paid time off when caregiving responsibilities arise, as well as other flexibility that would allow for arriving late or leaving early. Juggling work with caregiving can become extremely difficult, especially if someone hasn't communicated their situation to their employer. In some cases, employers even offer dependent care assistance programs, which allow employees to pay for eligible care expenses on a pretax basis.

Review your Employee Handbook for possible benefits (like flextime benefits) and discuss your caregiving responsibilities with your employer. An open discussion could result in the employer offering options that are not part of the organization's typical procedures.

11. Take Care of Yourself and Get Support!

Last but certainly not least, take care of yourself and get support if needed. Caregiving is challenging and can easily cause a person to forget about themselves. When someone spends their days worrying about someone else, they quickly forget their basic needs. It's common for caregivers to eat less or eat less healthily, lose sleep, and feel too tired to exercise or even do their daily tasks, like house cleaning.

Take time for yourself and be mindful of your emotional needs. Local support groups exist where you can feel a sense of community and talk about your feelings with people who will understand. Websites like www.caring.com can also help create a sense of community.

There's no sugar-coating it: Caregiving isn't easy. However, proper preparation and planning will make it easier, less stressful, and less time-consuming. Your financial professional can help you implement some caregiving tips and functions.

Work With Clayton Financial Group

At Clayton Financial Group, we help our clients achieve their plans for life and take their growth and security seriously. We are an independent boutique advisory firm with national coverage and decades of industry experience.



Contact us today if you need help with investment, tax, risk management, estate, or other planning.