When it comes to consideration of a loved one’s financial status, open communications are encouraged. Rather share the nitty-gritty of your money matters at the beginning of your relationship to support planning and avoid damage control.
Financial management can then be embraced throughout your life, for your children and your parents as you also continue to mature. Whether this means teaching children how to budget or supporting elderly parents with their money management, prevention is always better than cure.
Open communication no matter your age
Having open conversations about money with your partner should happen throughout your relationship, rather than being sparked by a crisis. Being open with each other about your respective financial status not only encourages trust, but also helps both of you to prepare properly for your future together.
Creating mutual goals as your financial situation matures with the rest of your life, encourages shared enthusiasm about your future and that of your family.
Shared goals, separate control?
Every family should aim for shared goals. Whether you pay for one bill and your partner pays for another from separate accounts, or whether you decide on a joint account, this discussion must be part of your goal setting decision.
Knowing where and how to help each other achieve mutual goals, is also part of the way forward in helping you to achieve sustainable financial health. Decisions about how to go about helping a partner’s parents or family member in times of need is another issue that should be reviewed.
Helping family from a distance
When a family member falls ill, and their closest relatives live over 1,000 miles away, they tend to want to take responsibility for the paying of bills rather than assigning this job to a stranger.
Fortunately, this issue can be resolved with some local agency that can take care of all the legalities surrounding money management for private clients, together with the paying of their bills.
This type of assistance is particularly helpful when family members are separated by distance. Having one aspect of the financial issue taken care of professionally leaves more room to focus on the relationship and health of loved ones but this is also the type of family help that needs to be discussed before the need arises.
Saving for the best, preparing for the worst
Encourage parents from a younger age to begin preparing for their mature years. This financial saving should encompass preparation for ill health or disability. Part of this plan should also include payment of a full-time caregiver on an ongoing basis, whether for basic companionship or in times of crisis.
If you know that your parents are managing their retirement savings responsibly, you can all rest assured that any emergency that may occur, will be more easily managed with early preparation.
When considering the finances of loved ones, open communication is always recommended. Pre-planning, rather than disaster management, is also a preferred scenario to reduce the related pressures that a crisis generates.
Helping with love, and being firm about the extent and duration of that help, is another consideration. Compassion and understanding are further elements to be included in discussions and activities surrounding the support of a loved one in the midst of an unwanted financial situation.
Preventive or crisis management
When parents begin to age, preventive financial considerations are far more helpful and less stressful than crisis management. Your mother may have been left in the dark because your father took care of all the financial responsibilities.
But what if your father passes away, and your mother doesn’t know how to pay a mortgage or power bill or even whether medical insurance deductions will be taken care of?
Before this even happens, the children should have the tough discussion with their parents about how to manage the situation should it reach that point. Better yet, plans should be put in place to ensure that the payment of essential bills continues in the case of a crisis or otherwise.