How To Help Your Parents With Finances in a Pandemic
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is your Money Briefing for Tuesday, May 26th. I'm Charlie Turner for The Wall Street Journal. Are you helping your parents keep track of their finances? That can be tricky even in the best of times, but it can be especially challenging during a pandemic.
You can't really just go into an elderly person's house right now. It's dangerous.
How can I start a conversation about money with my aging parents during a pandemic?
And so you have to think twice. And these conversations are shifting because of that.
We'll talk with Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Veronica Dagger about how to help your parents manage their finances during these extraordinary times.
Helping parents manage finances is a challenge under normal circumstances, but it can be more difficult during a pandemic as many elderly Americans remain homebound and apart from their children. Let's talk about how adult children can better assist their parents with finances during a shutdown with Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Veronica Dagger. Veronica, why is talking about finances with your parents easier when it's done face-to-face?
Why is face-to-face financial help easier and how has COVID-19 changed that?
Well, first you can read their body language. You can also get a sense of what their finances are a lot more easy because you have the documents at your fingertips. You can just go into their house and chat with them and ask to see their bills and their statements. It's probably right there on the kitchen table, and that conversation can happen in person, and you can review all those documents right then and there. Because of coronavirus, though, you can't really just go into an elderly person's house right now. It's dangerous, and so you have to think twice, and these conversations are shifting because of that.
So you've talked with financial planners on the best course to take, and it starts with broaching the subject in the first place.
Yeah, I mean, it's a tricky subject in good times, right? We've got even more tension right now because everyone's stress is heightened and we're separated. I think you've got to be really careful about how you bring up the topic. Be careful about your offer language. So saying something like, do you need help with your finances may be off-putting.
What wording and conversation starters reduce resistance when offering financial help?
They may hear it that you're implying that they're not capable and that might make them resist a little bit more. You know, I think right now, I guess a good part of the coronavirus is that it gives you a door opener. This is a natural conversation starter. You can ask them, you know, how has the pandemic affected your financial situation to get a read on how anxious they're feeling. You might also say something like, oh, did you get a stimulus check? Or what do you think about that stock market?
Which legal documents should I prioritize (like power of attorney) and can they be done over Zoom?
Or how have your spending habits changed because of the sheltering in place? Having those conversation starters helps you lead into conversations a larger conversation.
What legal documents will parents and their children need? How does this work if the families can only connect through Zoom?
Right. So the most important document to have is a power of attorney. So ideally, you have this in place already because that lets you manage your parents' finances and transact on behalf of them if need be, if they're incapacitated, for example.
What specific financial and personal information should children collect from parents remotely?
But you can use Zoom if you don't have a power of attorney already set in place. First of all, everybody needs to have it no matter what you're You know, if you're a parent or you're the adult kid, you should have it if you have an asset. But essentially, your parent can hire a lawyer if they don't already have one and ask to have these forms created and they can meet with a lawyer to create those forms over Zoom. And then these can also, in New York State at least, can be notarized and, you know, officialized over virtual, you know, over Zoom at this moment. Or you could also use social distancing to get these documents witnessed. So that power of attorney is your most important document to get because it gives you the most leeway to act on behalf of your parent.
What other information should children obtain from their parents?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:06–0:24
2
How can I start a conversation about money with my aging parents during a pandemic?
0:24–1:13
3
Why is face-to-face financial help easier and how has COVID-19 changed that?
1:13–2:15
4
What wording and conversation starters reduce resistance when offering financial help?
2:15–2:44
5
Which legal documents should I prioritize (like power of attorney) and can they be done over Zoom?
2:44–3:16
6
What specific financial and personal information should children collect from parents remotely?
3:16–4:40
7
How can children help parents pay bills remotely and what banking options exist?
4:40–5:56
8
What steps can protect elderly parents from pandemic-related scams and fraud?
5:56–7:54
Speakers
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