At what age do you think you will need financial assistant to manage your assets due to cognitive decline?

[Lsbcal]

At some age I suppose all of us will loose it.

 

[TheWizard]

Some of us will croak before we "loose" it...

 

[aja8888]

Well, at 81, I'm still sharp as a tack (I think, anyway), but what is leaving me slowly is my thought process on making decisions. I seem to procrastinate a lot before pulling the trigger, and sometimes look back and wish I went with another option. I guess, my reasoning ability is being short circuited somehow.

 

[Lsbcal]

Well, at 81, I'm still sharp as a tack (I think, anyway), but what is leaving me slowly is my thought process on making decisions. I seem to procrastinate a lot before pulling the trigger, and sometimes look back and wish I went with another option. I guess, my reasoning ability is being short circuited somehow.

This sounds like a very common human condition. The road less traveled, etc. Taking time with financial decisions is a good thing I think.

 

[foxfirev5]

I have no idea what age I would need help. DM at 94 still pays all her bills and all I do is roll her T Bills at VG. Everything else is on auto pilot.

DW and I are living on interest and divys. The worst I see is a ton of money piling up in the money market. At that point it's a good problem to have.

Our natural scepticism helps us avoid missteps. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

 

[frayne]

It's not an age dependent consideration.

 

[aja8888]

It's not an age dependent consideration.

I don't think the intent of the thread is that the condition is totally age dependent. I believe this is more of an opinion poll on when you think it will start to happen. In my case, I can feel the decision process on making simple decisions becoming a problem. Others have noticed this condition with me too.

 

[MarieIG]

I do not know although I hope to have a lot of the income and outflows on auto pilot within the next few years, and one of the kiddos on "alert."

 

[kcowan]

Through a series of circumstances, I had to take over accounts' payable for our condo last spring. Yes I am not as sharp as before! Still better than most. Payroll weekly was the biggest challenge. In Mexico...

I turn 82 in November.

 

[MarieIG]

Through a series of circumstances, I had to take over accounts' payable for our condo last spring. Yes I am not as sharp as before! Still better than most. Payroll weekly was the biggest challenge. In Mexico...

I turn 82 in November.

I hope that goes smoothly for you and that the other owners appreciate your efforts.

 

[CaliKid]

What I have seen with some family members is not that they required someone else's help but they appreciated having someone else to do the heavy lifting. I'd say 80+/- is a reasonable target for this. Again, not saying the average 80 year old isn't fully capable of handling their finances but if you have a highly trusted person who can at least be co-trustee that seems like a reasonable age to change things up and put them in a position to help.

 

[SecondCor521]

My 88yo Dad handed off his finances to me over the past several years.

I'm 55 now. I've identified the people in my family that I want to take over when the time comes, and I've low key started training them a little, but that's mostly if something unexpected happens.

Right now I'm confident I can handle everything for the next couple of decades. I do find that I'm already shifting my view away from maximization of income to simplicity.

 

[38Chevy454]

There's plenty of 20-50 year old people that need help! I do think it's normal to lose some memory and rational thought process in older years. But of course everyone is different. I hope to not need help until much later, like 90s if I make it to that age.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I voted "Will never need any help", I'll admit, partially out of hope, but I think it's realistic. I currently have a lot of bills on autopay, even though I review them, and even now I have the autopay limited at 1.5-2x the highest I've ever seen that bill, just as a precaution. I still review all the autopay notices. I think that will serve me well if I'm competent but less sharp than I am now. And in 25-30 years, when I might need more help, I'm sure there will be better technical support for that, probably using an AI assistant to ask me to review anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Zona]

I voted "90-99". So far no one in my family has made it to that decade, but my grandparents were all sharp and managing their own affairs into their 70s-80s, and my oldest aunt who is in her 80s is still very sharp about money & finances. But...technology is leaving her a bit behind -- she doesn't use banking apps or online billpay, preferring to write checks and get mailed paper statements. I'm hoping to live long & healthy enough not to need help but realistically if I live to my 90s I might need some, especially since finance technology seems to advance faster each year and add new features. I'm sure there are some savvy 90 year olds out there today who are using yubikeys, password software, and authenticator apps but probably not too many.

 

[pacergal]

We have a FA already to help with investments, although I consider DIY often.
As far as bill pay, etc, probably in our 80's.
My Dad was in his 80's when he had my sister added to his checking account to help pay bills, etc.

 

[wearefinishedworking]

I am at the beginning stages of helping my Mother with her finances and she is 85. Probably could have been a bit sooner but she was so determined to keep with it.

 

[joesxm3]

There should have been a "have no idea when" category.

 

[Lsbcal]

There should have been a "have no idea when" category.

It exists by default. Most Americans are in that category.

 

[Sunset]

The big issue is it creeps up slowly, like snowfall, but over time it accumulates to cause serious issues.

 

[kcowan]

I hope that goes smoothly for you and that the other owners appreciate your efforts.

One good fortune was that the condo bank account was in the same branch as our personal account so I was already familiar with the online banking.

 

[brett]

How long is a piece of string?

 

[Koolau]

No way to know. Best hope is that someone is capable of evaluating our situation and let us know it's "time" to let someone else do it for us.

 

[Odduck]

It is harder to find the right person and then hand things over to them than to just do whatever you've been doing for another month, another year, another tax season. Without a plan to hand things over, it becomes a mess that maybe someone honest will help out with. Lots of denial.

 

[G POP]

I voted 70-79. Currently 59. At 70 the kids will be 42 and 39. I am planning to bring them into the financial picture at that point to bring them up to speed on the whole picture. One main reason is the DW is 6 years younger than me, and I handle all the investments. I also look at the $ as family $ so not just mine. It is "our" responsibility not just mine. They are all educated and may be more financial savvy than I at that point.