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Why Aging Parents With Memory Loss Should Stop Managing Money

A new study published in the New York Times demonstrates some startling findings about loss of ability to make money decisions in older people. The study approaches the issue by looking at debt accumulation and reduced credit scores in elders long before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias.…

Carolyn RosenblattJuly 8, 2024

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Will Your Aging Parent Give Up The Too-Large Family Home?

The battle goes on with aging parents who are living alone or without family nearby and their adult children. From the kids’ point of view, their parent is just not safe in that big house anymore, with the declines that often come with aging. Perhaps the elder has lost a…

Carolyn RosenblattMarch 26, 2024

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Know This: Your Aging Parent Living At A Distance May Be At Risk

American families are often scattered across the country. Kids grow up, find opportunities they like in other places and move away from home. The parents may stay put, happy to remain where they’ve lived most of their lives. Then aging happens. And with it, risks no one really thought about.…

Carolyn RosenblattNovember 15, 2023

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What To Do When Your Stubborn Aging Parent Makes Bad Financial Decisions

Do you have a stubborn aging parent? Are you worried that he or she is doing unsafe or just plain dumb things? You’re not alone. Here at AgingParents.com, we see this scenario often, and it’s frequently about control over the family finances. Here’s an example, based on a real case…

Carolyn RosenblattApril 24, 2023

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How This 89-Year-Old Managed Transparency With Unequal Distribution Of Her Estate To Her Heir

Gertie is a sharp 89, with a history of being well organized in her life. She is widowed, and was living alone. During Covid, one of her four daughters and her husband moved in with her, a plan that was supposed to be temporary. Gertie needed a little help with…

Carolyn RosenblattFebruary 28, 2023

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What To Do When An Aging Parent Takes In A Homeless Friend

Roger, 90 and Mark, 85 have been off and on friends for 50 years. Mark has no family of his own. Roger’s adult kids call him “Uncle Mark”, as he’s shown up for family events for decades. He once had plenty of money, or so it seemed. There was the…

Carolyn RosenblattJanuary 27, 2023

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What Decisions Can An Aging Parent Make After A Dementia Diagnosis?

When an aging parent is diagnosed with dementia of any kind, it can be devastating and confusing to the family. For some, there is denial: “It’s not that bad, I don’t see anything wrong with her, and let’s just let things stay the same for now.” For others, there is…

Carolyn RosenblattNovember 23, 2022

Advance Healthcare Directive Finances For Aging Parents Power of Attorney for finances

Help Your Aging Parents Avoid This Common Mistake

Parents often want to be fair with their adult kids and may want to appoint them together on legal documents when they do their estate planning. That means that the adult children will have “equal decision-making ability” on things like the Power of Attorney for finances or the Advance Healthcare…

Carolyn RosenblattJune 19, 2022

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Aging Parents and The Blended Family — That Never Blended.

Aging Parents And The Blended Family That Never Blended Second marriages, third ones, step-siblings and the issues we see at AgingParents.com are a heads-up for everyone with divorced aging parents. Those rivalries among step-siblings and the lack of cohesion in decision making can go very wrong as parents age and…

Carolyn RosenblattJune 2, 2022

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The Inner Struggle: An Abusive Aging Parent Needs Help—Will You Give It?

The Inner Struggle: An Abusive Aging Parent Needs Help—Will You Give It? Over years of consulting with adult children’s struggles with their aging parents, some issues stand out to me. Some of the hardest ones are about an adult child who was abused, neglected or both by a messed-up parent.…

Carolyn RosenblattMay 15, 2022

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