How to Talk to Your Aging Parents About Money

As your parents age, their financial needs and their ability to manage their money may change. It may be hard to ask your aging parents how you can help with finances, but it’s important to have ongoing conversations. 

After all, you may have to step in and take over at some point. That could happen suddenly, after an accident or health crisis. If the unexpected happens, you’ll want to know their preferences and how to access their information. Follow this advice for talking with them about money. 

Whether you’re helping your parents with their finances, trying to understand life insurance or figuring out retirement planning, talk to Farm Bureau. Professional guidance and support can make it easier.

Start With Honesty and Respect

It can be hard to have this discussion. As you imagine about the time when your parents aren’t able to care for themselves, your parents may struggle with the role reversal, where you’re caring for them instead of them caring for you.

Make it clear that you want to be prepared if anything happens, and you want to follow their preferences for managing their finances. Explain honestly why this discussion is important and respect their thoughts and perspectives.

Checklist for Taking Over Parents’ Finances

To prepare to manage your parents’ money, ask them if they can share this information:

• What estate planning they have done, including a will, power of attorney, health care power of attorney, living will or advanced directive, and where these documents are located
• What long-term care insurance they have, if any, and what preferences they have for long-term care
• Whether they plan to stay in their current home, and what modifications it might need as they age
• Whether they expect to need financial support as they get older
• What their out-of-pocket costs for health care are, including dental, vision and hearing
• Where their financial accounts are
• Login information for their accounts
• How they pay their bills
• What income they have
• If they have a safe deposit box and, if so, where it’s located

You may want to ask them to include you as a trusted person on their accounts. That way, you can watch for unusual activity. It can be a step toward helping your elderly parents with finances, and it can also help you become more aware of their income and spending habits.

Keep the Conversation Going

You don’t need to ask your parents everything about their finances in one marathon meeting. Maybe in your first conversation, you talk about why these discussions are important and gently ask what their estate plans are. If it starts to feel overwhelming for any of you, take a break and return to the topic later. 

The most important thing is to get started. You can get into the details about accounts and amounts as you get more comfortable having these discussions.

Turn Your Questions into Confident Decisions

From estate planning to health insurance to money management, these conversations cover a lot. You may have questions. Turn to Farm Bureau for answers that make the process easier for you and your family.