Help Your Elderly Loved One Pay Their Bills and Manage Their Mail

Are you worried that your elderly parent isn’t paying their bills on time, or is paying them twice? Have you seen mail piling up, or found out tax documents are lost, or learned that important correspondence not been addressed?

It may be time to have a regular bill paying and mail management session with your loved one. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Why is The Mail Piling up?

If your elderly loved one’s mail is piling up, it could be a sign of another problem:

• Difficulty adjusting to the loss of a spouse who handled the mail and bills
• Cognitive decline, depression, or other mental health issues
• Fraud or financial abuse

If you are a busy or long distance caregiver or your parent is reluctant to allow you to help, you and your loved one could benefit from the services of a daily money manager or geriatric care manager. See more below about How Care is There can help.

How to Help Your Elderly Parent with Their Mail and Bills

• Address any underlying causes for the problems with the mail or bills
• Set up a regular bill paying session
• Agree on a filing system, including a place to keep incoming mail between visits. Make a special file for tax documents
• Put regular bills on autopay
• Reconcile the bank and credit card statements regularly, and be aware of signs of fraud and identity theft.
• Reduce unwanted solicitation by joining Do Not Mail and Do Not Call lists
• Help your elderly parent make informed decisions about the charities they choose to support
• Set up an appointment with your loved one’s banker to review your loved one’s bank account structure and determine if it is still appropriate. Be sure to include your loved one in this appointment!

How Care is There can Help:

Care is There can help your elderly loved one pay their bills on time and manage their mail by:

• Meeting with your loved one regularly to help them sort their mail and pay their bills
• Being aware of signs of fraud and implementing best practices for fraud protection
• Being aware of signs of identity theft and implementing best practices for avoiding identity theft
• Reduce unwanted solicitation calls and mail
• Organizing charitable contributions to avoid overpayments or payments to suspicious charities
• Gathering tax documents and forward them to the tax preparer
• Identifying correspondence that requires action, and ensuring the action is completed

Resources for Bill Paying and Mail Management:

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Next Steps

Contact Care is There today for a free consultation!

Toll Free: 800.434.1633
Email: Info@CareisThere.com

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• Identity Theft: How to Protect Your Elderly Loved One
• Mail, Bills, Paperwork
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• Reduce Solicitation Mail and Calls to Your Elderly Loved One
• Charitable Donations: Help Your Elderly Loved One Make Smart Decisions