February 19, 2024
Question:
My parents are still going strong and don’t need any help with their finances right now. I am thinking about what happens down the road. I don’t want to wait until it’s too late. Where do I start?
Answer:
I’ll begin by asking if your parents have an estate plan including a power of attorney and living will.
If they don’t, I would start there.
If they have taken care of that, a good place to begin is understanding how they pay their monthly bills. That will be one of your immediate concerns when the time comes.
Are they paying online or by check?
Do they get bills in the mail or are they paperless.
If they are still paying by check and get bills in the mail, please encourage them to pay online and offer to help them with that transition. Paying by check is just too risky these days for anyone. Check washing (Google that one!) is increasingly common. Paying online is more secure.
If they are already paying online, it’s ok to put certain bills on autopay. Bills that don’t vary too much month to month are perfect candidates. Think of your utility bills, wireless and cable bills.
Note: I don’t advocate putting streaming bills on autopay as you’ll want some control when you turn them on and off. Same with credit card bills. It’s always a good idea to review the bill every month before you authorize payment.
Part and parcel of this process is to become an authorized user on these accounts.
Do your friends ask you financial questions?
Pass those questions on to us at AskRPG@rootedpg.com and we will feature them in our future newsletters.