Taking Care of Mom and Dad and Their Credit Cards
Unfortunately, it is a sad state of affairs that so many seniors today are taken advantage of by credit card companies. There seems to be an entire class of criminals who make it a point to try to swindle the elderly out of their social security checks every month. If your parents are getting up in years and you are afraid that they might be falling victim to credit card offers they don’t need or to people trying to bilk them out of their savings, there are a few warning signs you can look for to try to stem the flow.
While no one wants to have to snoop on someone’s personal finances, you might have to do some sleuthing to find out if your mom and dad are in financial trouble. While there is no definitive list of red flags to look for, here are a few things you can check. Chances are, your parents still write old fashioned checks to pay for their credit card bills, so you can check out their credit card register to see who they are writing checks to, for how much and how often.
If you see multiple check payments to the same company or individual over a short period of time, this can be a huge warning sign that your parents mental facilities might be failing and that they need someone to take over their finances for them. If the payments are being made to an individual, it could be a case of someone taking advantage of your parents. Investigate the payments and see if there is anything to it.
You should also check to see how many card payments there are. It is possible that your parents savings and retirement isn’t enough and that they have been accepting predatory credit card offers to live off of. If this is the case, they are going to need you to intervene in a big way. Check to see how many card payments there are each month and to how many different cards. If you think there are too many, sit down and talk with your parents and see what can be done.
If you have a chance to check bank statements, that might be a good idea, as well. It is possible that your parents could have unknowingly signed up for automatic withdrawals from their account to pay off a new credit card without knowing it. The only place that these withdrawals would show up would be on the statement. If you see a number of withdrawals for the same creditor coming up again and again, that is a sure sign of financial trouble.
Finally, check for things that just don’t make any sense. If your parents credit card statements or bank statements show purchases for things that they are seriously unlikely to be buying at their age, there is a chance they could have a compromised credit card number. Of course, you should make mental notes of when everyone’s birthday is so you don’t confront them with your snooping only to reveal birthday gifts for the grandkids, but if you feel like something could be out of line, ask them if they are handling things allright.
No one wants to think about those special people in our lives getting too old to make sound financial decisions on their own. But ignoring the situation won’t make it go away. A little snooping can put your mind at ease and reassure you that everything is A-Ok.