For a great part of our lives, our parents are there to guide and protect us. They are the ones who steer us through life and take care of us even when we are old enough to take care of ourselves. However, as a natural consequence of time, there comes a period when our parents need us to take care of them. If you’re fortunate enough to have healthy parents who can stay independent, you still need to have a financial plan for potential medical assistance or a retirement facility in case something happens. It’s not pessimistic, simply real. Unfortunately, illnesses can come strong and unexpected and we need to be prepared for any scenario.
Make your own plan
In order to plan the finances you can set aside for your parents’ fund, you need to take care of your own. That means you need to make a serious financial plan for your own life. That includes daily expenses, all sorts of subscriptions, the amount of money needed for groceries and luxuries on a monthly and yearly level, as well as your kids’ college funds, and after all, your own retirement plans if you have them. Only when you have complete insight and control over your own budget plan will you be able to implement a serious plan for excellent aged care for your parents.
Red tape and legal issues
While your parents are still healthy and sane, you need to have the talk about transferring the rights and responsibilities to you, or at least just sharing them. Things will be much easier if, when the time comes, you already have access to your parents’ accounts and authority to make certain medical and legal decisions. Failure to do this will definitely result in endless complications of legal matters and it will only be stopping you from helping your parents in time.
Do your research
Before you introduce this whole story to your parents, but once you have settled your budget plan, you should definitely do your own research when it comes to aged care. Think about various options, such as medical assistance at night or during the day, specific treatments or a full-time stay at a retirement facility that also has medical care covered.
Talk to your parents
Finally, one of the essential steps also is talking to your parents. Be very gentle as this is quite a sensitive and probably emotional subject. Make sure to tell them how much you love and care for them, and explain that the whole process is a very good idea and that there’s nothing to be afraid of. Of course, you need to have their best interests at heart which is why you need to know what it is that they want and need. Also, one of the topics needs to be money, so be open with them, tell them about the amount you can invest and inquire about their contribution, as well. You can also look at some brochures together or even visit a couple of facilities, or you can leave that for another time.
The changing of the tides in a parent-child relationship is a difficult and challenging time for everyone. However, with proper preparations and a will to talk anything through, you can accomplish a lot. Needless to say, love and mutual understanding conquer all, so be armed with tolerance and an open mind and everything will be just peachy.
