With 35% of the nation’s wealth held by those over age 65, being aware of how your aging loved one manages his or her finances is important. Financial problems can result from financial abuse or money mistakes from the elder themselves.

The Face of Financial Abuse
Older Americans lose $2.9 billion a year from financial abuse. Half of elder financial abuse comes from cons and robbery by strangers. Sadly, 34% of the culprits are family, friends, and neighbors. The most common crimes are check forgery, stolen credit cards, and asset transfers without consent. Rounding out the perpetrators are the business sector (12%) and Medicare & Medicaid fraud (4%).

Women tend to be more vulnerable and are twice as likely to be victims. The common profile is older adults ages 80 to 89 who live alone and require health or home maintenance.

Just a Mistake?
While one-time oversights can be innocent, multiple mistakes with finances can be warning signs of a bigger problem. Difficulty with financial management can indicate mild cognitive impairment or the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Common problems include forgetting to pay bills, paying bills twice, difficulty with simple math, new interest in get-rich-quick schemes, and inability to understand concepts such as interest rates.

Ways to Protect Finances

• Automatic bill pay and deposit of checks
• Protection on bank accounts against transfers exceeding a certain amount without a co-signer
• Overdraft protection
• Durable power of attorney for finances and medical needs
• Living trust to pay the person’s living expenses 

When addressing the issues, join with other family members for a united approach. Explain to your loved ones that you want the best for them and to keep their finances safe. Since older adults are not in a position to replace their lost money, have the conversation sooner rather than later. Your vigilance can protect your loved ones from the deceit of financial abuse and keep them focused on enjoying their later years.

In the past, doctors typically took the lead and the patient followed. Today, a good patient-doctor relationship is more of a partnership.

When you’re older, it becomes even more important to talk comfortably with your doctor. That’s partly because you may have more health conditions and treatments to discuss. Health has a big impact on your quality of life.

Ask questions if the doctor’s explanations are unclear, bring up problems even if the doctor doesn’t ask, and let the doctor know if you have concerns about a particular treatment or change in your daily life. Taking an active role in your health care puts the responsibility for good communication on both you and your doctor.

Learn about Medical Tests 
Running tests help your doctor find out what is wrong or learn more about your medical condition.

• Why is this test being done?
• Are there any dangers or side effects?
• What will we know after the test?

Discuss Your Diagnosis
If you understand your medical condition, you can make better decisions about treatment.

• How is this condition treated and managed?
• What will be the long-term effects on my life?
• How can I learn more? 

Find Out about Your Medications
Sometimes medications affect older adults differently than younger people.

• What side effects should I pay attention to?
• When will the medicine begin to work?
• Are there foods or activities to avoid when taking this medicine? 

Understand Prescriptions
Doctors and pharmacies can use abbreviations that may not be familiar. Here is a list of common abbreviations.

Asking questions fosters good communication with your doctor. Don’t wait for the doctor to raise a specific question or subject because he or she may not know it’s important to you. Be proactive.