Mature Life Features

. . .I never do:

I don’t stand

in front of elevator doors

= = = = =

Alzheimer’s Toll Also Economic

Call it what you will: senior moments, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or any of several other descriptions of mental and memory meltdown. It still boils down to the emotionally loaded tearing down of a connection with a loved one. And it can take with it a sizeable economic loss that overwrought and overworked caregivers can easily overlook.

Adults who have paid their bills regularly as they matured will become addled by arithmetic if they fall victim to Alzheimer’s so it’s up to the family or friends near him or her to be alert to signs of faltering financial know-how. If a parent, sibling or spouse who’s handled household expenses or investment portfolios over the years begins showing signs of senior slippage, it’s time to move quickly to save the savings accumulated over the years.

Mail and bills piling up is an immediate signal of trouble.

You can conduct a simple test on your own. Go to lunch with the person and suggest you each pay for your own meal. Then observe how much difficulty he or she has figuring out what each owes, how to make change, and how much to leave as a tip. Another warning sign is the inability to recognize and address basic economic terms, such as interest, the difference between checking and savings accounts, and minimum credit-card payments.

Any of these can be signs of diminishing capabilities that can lead to increased dangers, such as a loss of credit standing and being victimized by scam artists by mail, phone, the Internet, or a knock at the door. Whether you’re in the will or not, you should take steps, or alert family members empowered to so do, to protect the slipping senior’s assets.

Recommendations should be discussed with the individual showing signs of shortcomings. He or she can be part of the process during lucid moments and outline his or her wants and likes. One simple step to take is to maintain a small checking account in his or her name so checks can be written on it to purchase Christmas gifts for the grandchildren or pay a bill. This protects the bulk of the assets while giving the person a feeling that he or she still has some financial control.

A team that includes members of the family and an attorney and financial advisor can protect both the economic and emotional, as well as the medical, needs of the person whose memory is being addled by the aging process.