Minimum info needed for aging parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to hijack, but any advice for my father who likely has a dementia diagnosis in his future, but is physically still hale and hearty? He is intensely private by nature, and now memory loss and anxiety have exacerbated his fear of sharing confidential information. My mother has no access to the accounts, even though they are all joint ones - he's not sharing logins and passwords. Stuff that's written down is cryptic and incomprehensible to us. She's getting worried about accessing money when he's unable to manage the household by himself...

If she's a joint account holder, she should be able to set up her own online access (different user name, different password, same ability to see accounts). At least, that's how my husband's and my accounts are. Each of us can see accounts that have our SSNs on them, so we can both see our joint accounts, and then each of us can our individual accounts but the other spouse can't.

[Anonymous]

I had to step in quickly for my dad when he ended up in the hospital after a quick decline. Luckily he was a planner and had given me access to his computer, so I was able to make sure that his bills were paid. He was very organized.

Now, my mom on the other hand is a different story. She does nothing online. I have asked her to make a list of all of her bills, so I can step in and pay them if needed. She has added me to her bank accounts, which will make things easier.

[Anonymous]

I just quietly write down everything my dad tells me about passwords and all. He is pretty easy and trusting though. I encourage him to do things online while I also have passwords.