“Hello! Mrs. Harris, I am calling to tell you how you can help a young child who may now be dying. With just a few more dollars, we can continue to fund research that may one day soon find a cure. Won’t you see a way to open your heart to these poor children? Any amount will help. All I need is your credit card number. Countless lives may be saved!”
One of the scariest and trickiest aspects of managing a loved one’s dementia is overseeing their financial world. Controlling another person’s spending really cuts into the other’s autonomy, so finding a balance between respecting their dignity while still keeping them safe is important.
Yet it’s vital to know how your loved one is spending their (and your) money. There are so many scammers out there, already preying on us all, especially our elders. Throw dementia into the mix and the scenario becomes extremely frightening.
As a caregiver, you will have to tread delicately, but deliberately, so that financial ruin doesn’t befall you and/or your loved one.
People with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia may be especially vulnerable to identity theft, get-rich-quick schemes, phone prizes, health scams such as unproven memory aides, and personal threats. They are also susceptible to financial abuse from unscrupulous family or friends who may steal or commit fraud against them.
Here are some ideas that might be helpful:
- Consider opening a separate bank account for your loved one. Keep a small amount available for him or her. Make it a joint account, if possible, so that you can monitor it.
- Along the same lines, consider opening a new credit card account for your loved one, with a low credit limit.
- Change passwords and PINs frequently for the bank and credit card accounts.
- Absolutely put your loved one’s phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. However, be aware that the Registry does not apply to non-profits, charities, and political calls. It does cover telemarketers that call on behalf of non-profits. Instead of hanging up on an unsolicited call from a charity, ask them to take the phone number off their list if you wish.
- Try to open mail before your loved does, so that you can weed out solicitations for donations.
- If your loved one uses a computer, make sure anti-virus software is up to date.
- Try to unsubscribe to junk emails as soon as possible.
Thankfully, our family was able to avoid a financial disaster, but there were a few alarming instances.
Harvey would sometimes decide that he MUST have an expensive electronic item that I knew he wouldn’t and couldn’t use. I would come home to find a new digital camera or a third iPod. Finally, I just came to accept this spending because it made him happy.
We had our air conditioner inspected three times one year when he agreed over the phone on cold calls.
And then there was the call he took for a charitable organization. Luckily, he didn’t know how to give credit card information over the phone and asked that they just send the request in the mail.
Whew!