Karen Blumenthal (WSJ, March 25, 2009) says you may not be thinking of this, but your parents’ money may be going down the rat hole as much as yours is. (She didn’t say rathole, I embellish.)
No one plans for losing their money.
You could ask your parents about this by saying, “My 401K is losing money. Have your your funds been affected as well?”
Sometimes people are frozen in place and need moral support to revisit their expenses and budget. Maybe a reverse mortgage is in order.
One financial adviser said people with assets of $1 to $2 million are now worried about outliving their money.
Yipes—I don’t know anyone in that category. They must not know about this thing we like to call peanut butter.
You could ask your parents if they can afford a nursing home. Maybe long-term care insurance, even now, could be a good idea.
You should also ask if anyone is trying to sell them anything at the moment. The maggots are swarming…I mean, squirming around.
And last—Ask if your parents need to update their will. Your parents may give you the hairy eyeball on this one—but what if they forget that $100K bequest in there to the Lefthanded Serbian Welfare League. Maybe that is no longer such a great plan.
Ack. Money. Good thing we are sick of it!
