Difficulty managing finances can be an early sign of dementia. At LLCU we have trained staff who can use dementia friendly practices to help maintain clients’ independence while protecting them from problems such as unpaid expenses, squandered resources, avoidable guardianship, and financial abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
Specific Money Management Signs to be Aware of:
- Lapses in memory that cause people to miss appointments, confuse payments or documents, or repeat orders or questions.
- Disorganization with documents or record keeping.
- Worsening money management skills: forgetting to record transactions in checkbook, or incorrectly filling out registers or checks.
- Decline in ability to do basic math computations.
- Difficulty grasping financial concepts that were previously understood.
- Poor judgment with finances such as drastic changes in investment strategy or interest in get- rich-quick schemes.
Impacts of Dementia on Personal Finances:
Dementia effects each person differently, some may be able to handle day-to-day finances as they normally would while others may need more assistance. The examples below may not apply to everyone.
- Unpaid bills resulting in loss of service.
- Late or unpaid bills/payments that are turned into collections.
- Missing money.
- Unusual purchases.
- Influxes of credit card purchases.
- Overpayment of bills.
What LLCU Can Offer You:
- Provide alternative security/fraud prevention methods that allow access (as PINs and passwords are not usually successful for those with dementia).
- Financial planning: money management services, direct deposit, joint accounts, automatic bill pay, power of attorney (created with capacity and protections against abuse), revocable living trusts for complex assets, and estate planning.
- We will remain diligent on account activity and report financial abuse or harm if anything unusual arises.