Aging parents are often difficult to take care of, especially, if the finances of your family are not in good shape. Statistics show that almost 30% of American adults care for their parents (including financial support), which on an average amounts to about $2,400 a year. At a time when the recession has dealt a hard blow on even the strongest of economies and job losses have become the order of the day, the average amount may well be out of reach for the average individual – forcing them to abandon financial assistance to their ailing or aged parents.

So, what do you do in these trying times? Do you go broke trying to fend off ill health from affecting your parents? NO! Here are some points you may consider to tackle the financial matters while caring for parents in a positive light:

• Discuss the Situation – Most parents will be ready to discuss their financial situation once they realize what’s plaguing you. Do not hasten. Carefully note down and analyze the existing finances, retirement plans, insurance covers, etc. that have been set up by your parents. If they do not have any, it is high time to initiate one.

• Try Long-Term Care Insurance – While this may not look beneficial at first glance, it is sure to help your parents get regular medical attention and professional care. Moreover, with a one-time investment in the policy, the financial worries will subdue for the destined period of care cover.

• Reverse Mortgage – Provided your parents are not already in debt or have not mortgaged the house, you can use it for a reverse mortgage policy. This way they will get a steady flow of money till they die or move out of the house (the latter should be discouraged at this age anyway).

• Government Policies and Grants – There are numerous health care and professional care giving policies and grants available for aging parents and older people in general. Try to find out what best suits your parents’ finances and go for it.

• Professional Care – Hiring a professional caregiver may be expensive, but if you have done your homework, you’ll find lots of cost-effective professional care giving solutions around you.

With these tips in mind, caring for parents would be easier – both emotionally and financially. However, make sure you have the right documents and legal rights in place to use your parents’ finances on their behalf in case they are disabled or fall ill.

Financial matters can be tricky, especially, in case of looking after aging parents. But with proper planning and a clear insight, caring for your parents won’t be as difficult as it seems.

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Further Reading

Aging Parents Authority has recently published an article on Stressed Out and Taking Care of Your Parents.

Kay Bell over at Don’t Mess With Taxes elaborates a little further with Aging parents, ageless money issues

Almost 75%-80% of Americans worry about how they will take care of themselves in the later stages of their life. This concern stems from the present scenario, where many elderly people suffer from dementia and a lack of clear perception. It has become more evident with a lot of cases being reported where people over the age of 65 have gone missing or turned up miles away from their homes – reason, dementia!

But as with many other issues of contemporary living, technology has found a solution for this too. Cell phones and GPS tracking systems such as Zoombak (Buy Now) have made it really easy for the police as well as concerned relatives and friends to track down a missing or wayward elderly person.

The cell phone tracking software has been a boon to the police too, as many officials from the Missing Persons Units have declared it as one of the ideal tools to rescue a lost person. With more people realizing that phones for the elderly are a necessity than a luxury, cell phone GPS tracking has also risen in relevance.

All one needs to take advantage of the cell phone tracking software is a phone connection and a GPS enabled cell phone. With portals such as www.phonesforelderly.com, it has become a lot easier to make the best buy even for an elderly person on one’s own. All one needs to do is to consult such a portal and all allied information will be made available within a few clicks.

Not just the elderly, you too can keep a track of your teenage children as well as kids through the cell phone GPS tracking systems. Available within affordable pricing ranges, protecting your loved ones may not be an expensive matter after all.

With the monetary investments (read losses) and emotional turmoil that one has to go through when an elderly parent goes missing, isn’t it advisable to invest one-hundredth of the same for subscribing to a cell phone tracking software provider?

After all, ‘Prevention is always better than cure’!

With the Swine Flu pandemic spreading across the world like wildfire, elderly people are facing a life threatening disease. Swine flu, unlike common influenza, is deadly and has already claimed over 3000 lives, most of whom are children or the elderly.

This calls for preventive measures that not only include wearing surgical masks and washing hands regularly (the clinical aspect) but also to help elderly persons by enabling them to solicit emergency help in dire situations. This is where phones for the elderly come into the picture.

Many think that phones for the elderly are unnecessary this late in life. Furthermore, children tend to avoid buying their parents or grandparents a phone due to the assumption they will not be able to work such a device. However, the importance of a phone in an elderly person’s life cannot be overlooked due to safety reasons.

Phones for the elderly are not only an assurance for them that they can get help easily during an emergency situation, but also continuously improve the independent living style of such elderly people. For those who have elderly parents, phones for the elderly are a very good option to stay out of serious trouble.

There have been several instances where elderly persons, having contacted the concerned relatives, friends or emergency paramedical personnel in time, have lived to see happy and healthy days in their life. So, if you have been contemplating getting a phone exclusively for a parent or grandparent, do it now. It may pay off rich dividends than you can ever imagine!

Home Phones and Big Button Phones for the Elderly

There is a large selction of big button phones suitable for people who can’t see as well as they used to or have impaired vision from ailments such as cataracts and macular degeneration:

Big Button phones in the United States
Big button phones in the United Kingdom

Simple Cell Phones and Mobiles for the Elderly

Simple Cell Phones – United States
Simple Mobile Phones – United Kingdom

A recent survey suggests two thirds of children choose elderly and long term care over allowing a parent or relative to live independely at home, even though 76% of older people would rather stay in their own home.

Saga, which provides insurance, financial services and holidays to over 50s, asked 11,809 people how they felt about deciding the future of old or vulnerable relatives.

A combination of work commitments and not having the space to look after a parent or relative were the main reasons children opted for elderly care. Only one in 10 people survey had taken on the role of looking after a parent but they generally found the responsibility too great.

Andrew Goodsell, CEO of Saga, says: “Older people are fiercely independent and the vast majority (76%) hope to spend their final years living at home.”

In some cases appropriate elderly care is needed, however if older people would prefer to stay put surely their wishes should respected. By taking the necessary steps to ensure a parent or relative can live independently will help reduce the anxiety felt by both parties on making the decision for appropriate elderly care.

If you decide to keep a parent at home rather than moving them in to elderly care it’s important to make sure they can contact you in the case of an emergency. Start by getting them a simple cell phone or better still a medical emergency phone.

For further assistance Life Solutions offers some helpful advice on independent living. If your eye sight isn’t what it used to be check out Magnifier mouse for people with low vision and Scott Front highlights from personal experience how a simple cane can be so useful. Elder Care ABC also has some useful information on How to deal with aging parents.

The Doro Handle Easy 330 is a no fuss, easy to use cell phone. The first thing you will notice with the Doro Handle Easy is its simplicity – BIG rubber buttons and oversized, easy to read colour display, making it the ideal phone for making calls and sending text messages.

For the hard of hearing the Handle Easy 330 has a very loud speaker, headset outlet, speaker phone and vibrating aleart to make sure you never miss a call!

There is no need to memorize phone numbers, it has a memory to store up to 100 phone numbers. The main features include:

• Pre-dialling
• Two-way speakerphone
• Keylock
• Call timer

For safety and piece of mind the Doro Handle Easy 330 has an LED flashlight and one touch dial up safety alarm, which are not found in most cell phones.

Purchase Now – through Amazon US – Doro 330 HandleEasy
Purchase Now – through Amazon UK – Doro 330 HandleEasy