Portland Oregon: Are Mom and Dad ok?
As you are traveling home for the Holiday's please have an honest conversation with your parent/s and find out how they are doing in this economy. A recent survey indicated that over 50% of our Older American's are living at or below the poverty level who were middle income wage earners. This goes on under our nose with out Mom or Dad complaining at all!
Most of us have been hit hard and Mom and Dad are probably on a fixed income whether they are in Portland Oregon or New York City. This is a generation that I call the silent sufferers. In the last 11 years I have had the priveldge of working with Older American's whose biggest fears are:
- Outliving thier investments
- Loosing thier independence
The last thing they want is to be a burden on their family and as a result most will not share honestly how the economy has effected them. All of us in the working class know that we have to work harder and many times make less money, but have you considered what it is like to not be able to work harder to make money. Fixed income is not a friendly place to be when your investment portfolio may be shrinking and you know that you can do nothing to replace it. Social Security income is what many are living on and as we age we generally need more medication to regulate our bodies. Perscription medication alone can take a big bite out of a fixed income. I have worked with clients that pay in excess of $1,200 every month! Are you sure that Mom and or Dad are taking their meds? They could be faced with either buying the food or their medications and they will NEVER tell you about it.
What can you do?
- Start with a conversation with a parent that is most likely to be honest
- Regardless of their needs take 15-20 minutes with them on-line to find out what kind of activities or discounts they qualify for and probably don't know about. This will print out a report approximately 20 pages in length and is called Benefits Check Up.
- If they have equity in their home take the time to get educated on how to property use it. Dont' wait until there is an emergency!
What questions should you ask?
- Do they have an emergency fund set up?
- What is their debt to income ratio?
- Are they taking all the medications perscribed by their Doctors?
- Are they getting the medical attention they need?
- Do they have someone to call for outside help with windows, heavy cleaning, yard work? And if so can they afford to pay them.
- Are there any bills that they are behind in?
- Do they have long term care insurance in case one of them is incapacitated?
- Are they still paying on a mortgage? (I could really get upset at the loans that were made to seniors that are structured for them to be making payments on a mortgage when they should be spending the money on other things grrr......)
Take the time to get educated yourself, with a little research on the internet you can find many programs that offer assistance at little or no charge. The greatest generation that ever lived needs our assistance now and we have to tools to be able to find them the assistance they deserve. Please share with me any information you have that can help our Older American's. I would be happy to share more on request!
Enjoy your Holiday's and Christmas Cheer and don't miss an opportunity to see if Mom and Dad need you! It's better to give than receive....
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