Dignitas’ Solutions for the Sandwich Generation White Paper

7/30/2019 Dignitas Solutions for the Sandwich Generation White Paper

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PREPARING TO CAREFOR ELDERLY PARENTS

A Dignitas Brieng Paper

DIGNITAS

A PRACTICAL GUIDE ON ASSISTINGAGING PARENTS WITH FINANCIAL AND

HEALTH CARE MATTERS


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Share Dignitas Brieng Paper Preparing to Care for Elderly ParentsBy Nicholas Delgado

Caring for Elderly Parents:Welcome to the SandwichGeneration.

Are you a part of the Sandwich Generation? According to the Pew Research Center nearly half (47%) adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising a young child or nanciallysupporting a grown child. And about 15% of middle-aged adults are providing nancial support to both aaging parent and a child. Caring for an aging parent can lead to physical, physiological and nancial stresDignitas Guide Preparing to Care for Elderly Parents provides caregivers with useful information and toolfor managing the phases of care as their parents age.1

While every family faces unique circumstances, preparing for the care of elderly parents as they age candecrease the burden on families. At Dignitas we work with clients to prepare families for matters related t

elder care. Our work includes helping clients budget the cost of health care, organizing a parents nanciand health care records, identifying the right service providers, and ensuring families have the proper legadocuments in place.

Dignitas Service Offering

WEALTH COACHING: Dignitas wealth coaching providesexecutives and entrepreneurs a unique platform to concentrateon developing the habits and maximizing the skills to help youmeet your nancial goals.

PERSONAL BENCHMARKING: Benchmarking allows familiesto understand where their current position is in relation to aparticular goal.

BALANCE SHEET ADVISORY:Dignitas serves as a duciaryto your family and provides tested and untarnished nancialadvice, as the rm does not participate in any third party

commissions or fees.

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1: Source: Pew Research: The Sandwich Generation, Rising Financial Burdens for Middle-Aged Americans http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/01/30/the-sandwich-generation/; Kaiser Health News: The Parent Trap: Adult Children Care For Elderly Parents http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/stories/2012/march/01/parent-trap.aspx
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Preparing to Care

for Elderly ParentsBy Nicholas Delgado

Nicholas Delgado founded Dignitas to provide clientswith personalized, high quality and independentadvice and solutions that allow them to simplifytheir lives. Nicks commitment to elder care issuesincludes serving as Chairman of the Board at LittleBrothers Friends of the Elderly Chicago Chapter,a non-prot that remains focused on alleviating

loneliness among elders.

With 15+ years of experience in the nancial servicesand wealth advisory industry, Nick has become ago-to advisor for start-up/high growth entrepreneurs,seasoned executives and individuals entering theirsecond life.

Follow Nick on Twitter@DignitasCWO

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About the Author
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Cost: Caregivers lose over $3trillion in lost earnings, benetsand savings.

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Stages of Care Caregivers Role

Awareness

Become your parents key advisor.

Assess your parents health care needs.

Monitor their nancial assets.

Help them with major nancial decisions.

Assistance

Engage your parents health care providers.

Research and select service providers forhealth care, lifestyle, and nancial matters.

Assist parents with nancial matters.

Assist with basic activities for daily living.

Full-time Support

Determine where your parents will live (i.e.smaller home, nursing or assisted living, in yourresidence).

Oversee your parents health care needs.

Manage their basic activities for daily living.

Administer their nances and take on anynancial liabilities.

There are approximately 9.7 million Americans over the age of 50 caring for their parents. The cost of carfor an elderly parent is signicant. According to MetLife, total wage, social security, and private pensionlosses due to caregiving could range from $283,716 for men to $324,044 for women.2

Given the high costs associated with being a caregiver, families need to better prepare for and understanthe nancial and emotional costs associated with becoming a caregiver. Below is a chart that describes tstages of care giving. While the stages can be linear some adult children nd themselves immediately thrinto providing full-time support due to unforeseen circumstances.

2: Source: The MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/2011/mmi-caregivingcosts-working-caregivers.pdf


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Stage 1: AwarenessOf your parents changingcircumstances.

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The rst stage of preparing for your role as acaregiver is by recognizing that your parentschanging health is impacting their quality of life.

This stage can be the easiest to delay or evenignore as it requires children to recognize that theirparents will not be in their lives forever. In addition,it can be uncomfortable for parents and adultchildren to discuss matters such as health care or

nances.Becoming Your Parents Key Advisor

As a parent ages, adult children must learnhow to serve as a key advisor to their parents.

This includes listening to parents for informationon how they are managing their personal andnancial affairs and actively engaging them ontheir lifestyle choices. Establishing trust, two-way communication, and transparency is key toobtaining the information necessary to monitor

and assist parents.Providing value-add assistance such asresearching health care issues on their behalf,attending meetings with key advisors such asdoctors and nancial advisors, and helping themorganize their nances can further strengthentheir trust and faith that you are a resource forthem when they have a major issue in their life.

A collaborative dialogue with your parent makesit easier to obtain information that can indicatechanges in their mental and physical capacity overtime.

Assess Your Parents Health Care Needs

By engaging in an honest and respectful dialogue wyour parents you can better prepare for managingtheir health care needs. One of the rst signs that yoparent is aging is a change in their health. If uponanswering any of the following questions about yourparent you have additional concerns its time to furthassess their current and future health care needs.

Are they taking care of themselves?

Are they experiencing memory loss?

Did they recently hurt themselves in the home? Do they have difculty driving?

Have they experienced signicant weight loss?

Are they in good spirits?

Do they have difculty walking or moving around


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Stage 2: AwarenessEstablishing yourself as yourparents trusted advisor.

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Assessing Your Parents Finances

Asking your parents how much money they makeor how much they have saved for retirement canbe difcult. But as your parents age its importantto have a basic understanding of their assets andliabilities. Here are some easy ways to uncover thenancial information without offending them.

1. Offer to help them complete their annual taxreturn.

2. Coordinate with your nancial advisor to providthem a Second Opinion of their investmentportfolio.

3. Help your parents with their Spring Cleaningand offer to scan and organize their nancial alegal documents.

4. Assist your parents with using their computerand offer to setup electronic bill pay during the

process.5. Offer to help your parents pull their annual free

credit report.

6. Ask your parents for a referral to their coreadvisers (i.e. CPA, nancial advisor, insurancebroker) and use it as an opportunity to assessthe advisors suitability.

Monitor Their Financial Assets

According to MetLife the annual nancial loss by victimsof elder nancial abuse was estimated to be at least$2.9 billion dollars in 2011, a 12% increase from the$2.6 billion estimated in 2008.3

As your parents age its vital to understand their nancialpicture and to help protect them from making baddecisions that can impair their nancial health. Beginto have regular discussions with them about theirnancial status and actively work to help them organize,consolidate, and better manage their personal nances.Finally, engage and monitor their nancial advisors and

conrm their references and licenses.

Help Them with Major Financial Decisions

While parents might have displayed good nancialjudgement in the past, as their mental healthdeteriorates they are more prone to making bad

decisions or being taken advantage of. Activecommunication can help increase your awareness whena parent is making a major nancial decision such asa new investment or purchase of a home or car. If thepurchase decision seems abnormal, actively engagethem in their thought process.

If you have concerns about a service provider orpurchase decision encourage your parents to get asecond opinion before they move forward or offer to jointhem when they are ready to make the purchase. While

you may not always agree with their lifestyle choicesyour role is not to approve each expense, but to ensureyour parent is not compromising their nancial securityor being misled or exploited by a third party.

3) Source: The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/2011/mmi-elder-nancial-abuse.pdf


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Stage 2: AssistanceAssisting your parents with theidaily living needs.

Engage Your Parents Health Care Providers

When an elderly parents physical and mental health

has deteriorated ,one of a caregivers primary roles isto understand their parents health care needs andensure they are receiving the proper type of treatment.

This includes meeting with the various doctors treatingyour parent, having copies of their medical recordson le, monitoring their changing health and behavior,and assisting them with making health care decisions.

Research and Select Service Providers for Health

Care, Lifestyle, and Financial Matters

Creating a support network is vital for caregivers. Thisincludes coordinating paid service providers such asin-home care nurses and overseeing nancial, legaland other advisors. Its important to nd advisors whospecialize in elder issues and can provide a caregiverwith additional resources and information.

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Why Your Parents Need a Power of Attorney

A durable power of attorney gives a child the legalauthority to act on their parents behalf. The authorican go into effect immediately or under certaincircumstances such as when a doctor certies thatthe parent is incapacitated. A power of attorney isessential for actively managing your parents nancand health care matters.

1. A power of attorney gives a person, or people,authority to manage nances and other legalaffairs if the person needing care is not capableof managing these. It can be long-term or shorterm and allows the party that has power ofattorney to manage someones nances, sign treturns, handle investments and other importanmatters.

2. A health care power of attorney allows the persdesignated to make health care decisions ifthe person being cared for is unable to make adecision for themselves. For example, someonholding power of attorney may be able to decidagainst a dangerous surgery if he or she feels tit is in the patients best interest.

Adult children who are actively assisting with some of their parents daily living manage to do so in manydifferent forms. Some children are able to coordinate care remotely by using outsourced paid assistancewhile others do so by living close to their parents. Regardless of their situation, at this point a caregiver islikely spending several hours a week and could even be contributing nancial resources to aid in the careof their parents. At this stage its vital that a caregiver focuses on ensuring their parents nancial and heamatters are well organized in order to ease the burden of care.


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Stage 2: AssistanceManaging the implications ofyour parents changing health.

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Assist Parents with Financial MattersAs your parents mental and physical health changes, routine activities such as paying bills on time andmonitoring investments can be overlooked. If youve actively engaged your parents on matters relating totheir personal nances as they have gotten older you are better prepared to determine when its time to ta more active decision-making role. In order to take control over their nancial decisions they will have todesignate you as their agent under a durable power of attorney.

If youve shied away from these conversations in the past you might only learn that a parent has made a decision or neglected a nancial commitment once its too late. If you are noticing signicant unopened m

at your parents home, bill collectors calling your parents, or your parents discussing what appears to berisky or obscure investments its time to assess the situation and increase your engagement before its tolate.

Assist with Aspects of Daily LivingDuring the Assistance Stage you will likely takeon partial responsibility for managing routine dailyactivities such as grocery shopping, maintainingtheir residence, and coordinating medical needsand appointments. Caregivers approach theseresponsibilities in multiple ways including taking on

the full burden, coordinating the work with otherfamily members, and outsourcing the tasks to paidservice providers.

As caregivers take on more of these tasks theyoften overlook the impact of their caregiverresponsibilities on their professional careersCaregivers should monitor the time they arespending on caregiver issues to determine whento seek outside help. Some companies provideemployer assistance programs to help employees

manage complicated personal situations. Acaregiver can also ask for assistance from siblings,spouses or other family members.


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Stage 3: Full-time SupportUnderstanding the nancialimplications of being a caregiveDetermine Where Your Parents Will Live

As a caregiver one of the most important and difcult decisions you might have to make is determiningwhere your parent will live. This decision may upset your parent who might prefer to remain in their currenhome even if they are unable to physically or nancially maintain it. Once you determine an ideal locationand living situation for your parents you will be in charge of selling their current residence, organizing andmoving their personal property, assisting your parents with the psychological elements of the transition, aensuring that their new home is meeting your parents needs.

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Preparing for Your Parents FutureHousing Needs

At some point you might determine that yourparents can no longer remain in their currenthome. While the transition to a smaller home,assisted living facility, or nursing home is likelya process that will take many months or yearshere are some things that can help betterprepare your for the eventual move.

Help your parents declutter their home bygiving away old clothes and furniture tocharity.

Research your options in advanceand determine the costs and otherrequirements associated with each option.

When reviewing your options consider theirlocation to health care service providersand proximity to friends or other socialnetworks.

If you plan on moving your parent into yourhome, be realistic. Test out short-term

transition periods where they stay with youfor a month or two and determine if its along-term solution.

Administer Their Finances and Take on Any Financia

Liabilities

A new analysis of US Census Bureau data performed by WidOpportunities for Women (WOW) nds that in 2011, 52%of elder-only households report incomes that do not coverbasic, daily expenses.4 Even for seniors who have signicantassets, caregivers must often oversee their nancial decisionsand manage their daily nances as they are no longer able toproperly oversee their nancial affairs. Below are some tips fobetter managing your parents

Conrm that you have been designated your parents dura

power of attorney. Ensure that you are registered as the power of attorney o

your parents banking and personal accounts. Leverage technology that helps you monitor their banking

and other nancial accounts online as well as set-uppayment reminders and bill pay.

Monitor their eligibility for different sources of incomeincluding Social Security, pension benets and income froretirement accounts and trusts.

Register for government programs such as Medicare as was senior citizen discounts available for public transit, vehlicenses, real estate taxes, and utilities.

Maintain records of your parents nancial statements andlegal documents such as wills, power of attorney, and trudocuments.

Complete their tax returns and monitor their credit report an annual basis.

4) Source: Wider Opportunities For Women: Doing Without: Economic Insecurity andAmericans http://www.wowonline.org/documents/OlderAmericansGenderbriefFINAL


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Stage 3: Full-time SupportManaging your parents dailylives.

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Manage Their Activities of Daily LivingAt some point caregivers must manage parents daily tassuch as grocery shopping, preparing meals and ensurinthat prescription medicines are properly administered. Fsome caregivers this responsibility becomes a full-time jowhile others utilize paid service providers. Caregivers mudetermine whether they can realistically stop working ordecrease the amount of hours they work and still meet tnancial obligations. It is important for caregivers to havea nancial plan in place that helps them to understand thimplications of lost wage income, especially if they are othe age of 50.

Oversee Your Parents Health Care Needs

At a certain point you may need to take over someor all of your parents health care decisions. Themanagement of their health care can include someor all of the following:

Scheduling doctors visits and managing theirprescription drug regimen.

Determining the types of health insuranceavailable for your parents and managing claimsand reimbursements.

Making health care decisions such asdetermining specic treatment options,approving a surgical procedure, and selectingmedical care providers.

Arranging for daily care such as a home healthaide, adult day care, or hospice care.

Managing a parents health care, especially one

with a chronic medical condition, can be one ofthe most difcult and time consuming aspects ofbeing a caregiver. Meeting the challenge requiresactive communication with your parents health careproviders. Just as important is properly managingyour physical and psychological health. Caregiversare advised to leverage their personal networksas well as seek assistance from their health careproviders or caregiver support groups as a tool formaintaining their personal health.


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Dignitas: We help familiesprepare for the challenges ofelder care.

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The Dignitas Elder Care Planning ToolkitDignitas provides clients concerned with the challenges of elder care with a wide range of nanciadvisory, planning and life management services to support their needs. Our holistic planningprocess helps families make better decisions through access to expert advice.

The Dignitas Elder Care Planning Toolkit Includes:

A caregiver responsibilities checklist.

Custom educational modules on elder care issues. Access to a best-in-class advisory team on elder care matters (health, law, risk management)

Assistance with record keeping and nancial management through our secure mobile technolplatform.

Customized nancial strategies and solutions for managing the cost associated with elder car

Financial and identity fraud prevention monitoring system.

To learn more on how Dignitas can help your family prepare for the challenges of elder care, please conta

Nicholas DelgadoPrincipal | Chief Wealth [email protected]

Twitter: @dignitascwo312.651.6131

Dignitas

111 E. Wacker DriveSuite 2606Chicago, IL 60601www.mydignitas.com

Dignitas provides the material in this brieng paper for informational purposes only. The material provided herein is not intende

to be tax, health care or legal advice. Nothing herein should be relied upon or used without consulting a tax advisor or lawyer t

consider your specic circumstances, possible changes to applicable laws, rules and regulations and other tax and legal issue

Dignitas is an Investment Advisor Registered with the State of Illinois.

Personal

Benchmarking

Balance

Sheet Adviso

Wealth Coaching


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Additional Resources: Expertinformation on managing eldercare issues.

1

Medicare

www.medicare.gov

Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people withdisabilities, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a transplant,

sometimes called ESRD).

AARP

www.aarp.orgAARP is a membership organization leading positive social change and delivering value to people age 50 and over

through information, advocacy and service.

Dignitas

www.mydignitas.com

Dignitas is a leading multi-family ofce, capital advisory, and asset management rm that provides a wide range of

services to entrepreneurs, executives, and non-prots.


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