If you’re juggling the needs of aging parents while raising your own kids, you’re not alone. Welcome to the sandwich generation, where your to-do list might include helping mom navigate Medicare while teaching your teenager about budgeting.
At SignatureFD, we’ve helped guide many families through the challenge of caring for multiple generations. And while every situation is unique, we’ve found these tips to be effective for balancing the associated mental and emotional strain of caregiving with protecting your own financial stability.
Caring for Aging Parents
Many of us discover too late that our parents haven’t planned for their later years, leading to complicated and costly situations that could have been avoided. While it feels uncomfortable to discuss money and end-of-life planning with your parents, being proactive can save enormous stress and expense down the road. Here are some steps to take now:
Don’t Wait for the Crisis
Having conversations about money and healthcare is always tough, but it becomes infinitely more difficult during an emergency. Rather than waiting for a crisis to kick off communicating with your parents, look for natural openings – maybe your parents mention a friend’s health scare or their email gets hacked. Use these moments to gently explore whether they have wills, healthcare directives, or power of attorney in place.
Get the Legal Groundwork Done
Did you know that without being properly appointed, you can’t even cancel your parents’ car insurance if they become incapacitated? Everything, from managing utilities to selling their house, gets exponentially more complicated without the right legal framework. Work with an attorney to get essential documents in place, especially if your parents live in states with complex probate laws like Florida and North Carolina.
Create a Financial Blueprint
Don’t rely on scattered conversations and assumptions. Work with your parents to create a comprehensive view of their financial situation – everything from insurance policies to investment accounts to monthly bills. Know where important documents are kept, get digital access to key accounts, and understand their income sources and regular expenses. This blueprint becomes invaluable if you need to step in during a health crisis or cognitive decline, and it will also help you prepare for potential long-term care costs, which rise every year.
We’ve put together a comprehensive eldercare checklist to help you organize and stay on top of important tasks; download it here.
Raising Financially Savvy Kids
Many of our clients who are managing aging parents’ needs are also working to prepare the next generation for financial success – which is more important than ever in an age of instant gratification and heavy social media influence. We recommend keeping these tips in mind:
Counter the TikTok Effect
Your kids are getting financial advice from social media whether you like it or not. Rather than fighting it, use it as a conversation starter. When they mention the latest investing trend or money hack, take the opportunity to discuss your family’s financial values.
Make Money Feel More Real
In our digital world, money can feel abstract to kids. Create tangible experiences: help them build a basic budget, open their first checking account, or set savings goals for something they want. The key is making financial concepts concrete while they’re still under your roof.
Show, Don’t Tell
Kids learn more from watching what we do than listening to what we say. Let them see you prioritizing bills, contributing to retirement accounts, and making thoughtful spending decisions. Explain your choices – both the successes and the mistakes. Sometimes our financial fumbles teach the most valuable lessons.
Perhaps most importantly, keep in mind that you don’t have to figure this all out alone. Consider working with a financial team like SignatureFD to help coordinate these moving pieces and ensure you’re not sacrificing your own financial health while caring for everyone else.
