Financial issues that affect the elderly

Another significant issue with the elderly is they may or may not have accumulated assets that everybody knows about. Sometimes the spouses are not aware of what the other spouse has accumulated from a pension fund, a 401(k), a 403(b), or some other type of investment. They also need, by putting all that on the table, to talk about whether or not there is an estate tax implication to their assets. There may or may not be state tax ramifications if their assets reach a certain sum. Lastly, they need to be concerned about how much it will cost to take care of them if they can no longer take care of themselves in the last few days, weeks, months, years, or in some instances decades that they live. This is extremely complex. Disability insurance, long-term care insurance, how much you have saved and invested, what role the government will play through its Medicaid services, whether you’re on Social Security or Social Security disability will all come into play in their estate planning, so that you can have a plan that says, “We want Mom and Dad, obviously, to live as happy and as healthy lives for as long as they possibly can.” The financial issues have to be brought on the table, because they won’t go away just because you ignore them.