Welcome to the third installment of the Parent Project series. As your parents age, they may need you to pick up the reins and help out a little -- or a lot. Helping your parents get older with grace and dignity can be fulfilling, but at the same time challenging. The more prepared you are for this challenge the easier it will be.

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What is preparation? 

The word preparation means getting ready for an event or undertaking. You prepare for trips, parties, and all kinds of things. When you prepare financially you make financial life more stable, organized, and consistent.

You don’t even know if our parents will need help so why should you prepare for it now? You may not think that you need to prepare to manage your parents’ finances but the more prepared you are the more ready you will be if an unforeseen event happens. 

How can you talk to your parents about their finances? 

Talking to your parents about finances and estate planning can be uncomfortable. No one wants to sit down and have that big conversation. So instead of having a big uncomfortable conversation try having smaller conversations over time. When you strike up smaller conversations it’s easier to keep the dialogue open. Try opening the door to a smaller conversation the next time you see your parents. 

The 3 types of aging parents

Everyone’s parents are different. Some parents don’t want to deal with any of their finances, this type of parent may need you to be a project manager. Others may want a little bit of assistance, if so, then you could take on the role of a coach. And other elderly parents may want you to take a hands-off approach. They may appreciate you feeding them small pieces of information along the way. What kind of parents do you have?

Tips for talking to your parents about their finances

• Keep the financial conversation separate from family time
• Don’t have too many cooks in the kitchen
• Take an inventory of their accounts
• Create a net worth statement
• Set up online access for all of their accounts 
• Use a password manager
• Get organized and create a diagram
• Have digital records
• Get introduced to key people

Listen in to hear the details about how to create this dialogue so that you can get prepared to help your parents. Whether they need it or not, being prepared for the financial conversation will give you some peace of mind as your parents get older. Make sure to stick around to hear a first-hand story from retirement coach, Mark Ross and catch up with Lori from Retirement Plan Live. 

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

• [1:30] What is preparation?

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

• [6:17] Have little conversations
• [8:05] What kind of parents do you have?
• [16:30] Create an organizational diagram

AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK ROSS

• [22:02] Mark has been on a long journey with his parent project
• [24:50] He turned an overwhelming project into an enjoyable journey
• [25:57] How did he manage the conversations with his parents?
• [29:37] How did he deal with his siblings?
• [35:47] It all works out in the end
• [38:42] What is he doing differently now that he has learned about aging?

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

• [40:50] Check out Everplan

AN INTERVIEW WITH LAURIE FROM RETIREMENT PLAN LIVE

• [43:04] Bruce has since retired and Lori is still working part-time

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Check out Lori’s Retirement Plan Live - start with episode 194

Everplans.com

LastPass

1Password

Estate Planning in Retirement episodes 332, 333, 334, 335, 336

BOOK - Built to Sell by John Warrillow

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center