How to Empower Your Adult Children to Make Financial Decisions for You

financial decisions

How to Empower Your Adult Children to Make Financial Decisions for You

There comes a time as parents age when they realize it may be time to ask their children to help make decisions about finances. These decisions may involve something as significant as investments or retirement planning or as simple as bill paying management. Regardless of what kind of assistance is needed, it can be a challenge knowing how to empower your adult children to make financial decisions on your behalf, but the following insights should help make the process easier.

How to determine it’s time for help

More and more older adults are deciding to age in place, meaning they’re seeking to stay in their homes and live independently for as long as possible. In-home assistance may start with more simple responsibilities such as hiring a gardener, pool cleaner, or housecleaner, but as the years go by, the need for additional help may become obvious. If you as an aging adult start feeling overwhelmed with bill paying tasks, have missed bill payments, or even fallen victim to financial fraud, it may be time to ask your adult children to step in to make financial decisions. If you’re ready to take this step, it’s important to decide who should be responsible for your finances and to what extent. If you have more than one adult child, you’ll want to decide if only one will handle finances or if all will be involved. You’ll also want to determine if the spouses of your children will be involved in any way.

Starting the conversation about finances

It’s typically somewhat awkward to discuss your finances with your children. You may be embarrassed that you’ve let your financial situation deteriorate and waited too long for help. Or, you may have substantial financial stakes and are worried that access to substantial finances may cause a rift in your relationship with your children. It’s important to keep in mind that regardless of your situation, it’s important to have a conversation with your children while you still have control of your finances. Oftentimes, adult children are completely unaware of their parent’s finances until a health circumstance forces the issue. Once you’ve determined which child/children will be empowered to handle your finances, have a conversation with them first. You want to make sure they’re willing and able to handle the responsibility. It’s important that they understand the extent of that responsibility as well. If applicable, it’s then important to alert the other children of your decision. You’ll also want to alert your financial advisor, accountant, or other persons involved with your finances to they know these are your wishes to follow.

Delegating responsibilities

If you’re still in full control of your finances but wish to start empowering your adult children to handle your finances slowly, a good place to start is with bill paying. Often a point of confusion with aging adults, delegating bill paying responsibilities to adult children not only can protect you but also gives them an adequate insight into your finances until you’re comfortable giving them more access. Unfortunately, for many adult children, responsibilities with work, children, etc. can make bill management challenging to take on. Many adult children of aging parents have found the ideal solution to this is to hire a professional bill management service such as Bill Simplicity. It allows the responsible adult children to make financial decisions and oversee the bill paying process without having to be burdened with the day-to-day minutia of paying bills. Parents are protected from fraud and late or missed bills, and the adult children ensure all the bill paying is handled. As the need continues to grow for more financial empowerment, adult children will already be familiar with your day-to-day finances, making the transition to more substantial financial oversight easier.

Aging adults today are fortunate to have options when it comes to how long they want to age in place and live independently. Working with a company like Bill Simplicity can help make that process easier when empowering your adult children to handle your finances.

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