Few situations challenge today’s families more than filling the needs of their aging loved ones. In many ways, the problems are new: We’re living longer, may be geographically distant from each other, and are subject to more intense time pressures than ever before.

When elderly people cannot handle daily finances or become more susceptible to financial abuse, the consequences can be severe. Older people who forget to pay bills could lose their home to foreclosure, get evicted from an apartment, risk utility shut-off, or damage their credit. Those who fall victim to scams might get cheated out of large amounts of money or lose their home.

Our Daily Money Management service offers a solution to handling the business aspect of aging. Managing the day-to-day finances of seniors and help guard them against fraud. Assuming exactly the degree of responsibility the family wants and provide regular reports in the formats they find useful.

Our goals are to help seniors maintain their independence for as long as possible, while bringing peace of mind to families whose, distance, hectic schedules and multiple responsibilities make it hard for them to act as business administrators.

It is important to broach the subject of financial assistance with sensitivity. Many older people are embarrassed by their inability to handle their financial affairs. Others are afraid that by relinquishing control of money, they are losing a large measure of independence. Some believe that children or relatives want to steal their money.

Often, the best time to discuss this issue is before your elderly parent or relative needs help. Talk about what will happen if and when they need help managing finances, agree on some “trigger” events that might indicate they need help (for example, receiving account alerts), and come up with a plan as to how you will work together if and when that time comes. Most important, listen to what they have to say about the issue. Keep the focus on what they can do and make suggestions only for those tasks that you feel they need help with.