Since she's never worked is your SIL getting SSI and not social security? SSI is a means tested program and she would also get medicaid along with medicare for medical coverage.
They met at the Olive Garden for dinner and then back to the hotel room that SIL paid for. She just called DW a few minutes ago and said that it didn't work out and the other lady was a horrible person. This is a typical result that has happened many times over the years. I'm sure the new ex-friend said something that she didn't like and SIL told her off. She can be extremely nice to people - until they say something wrong - then watch out!
She worked in her early years. She built up enough credits to qualify for Social Security Disability which she obtained in 2010. It was during the financial crisis when getting SSD was easy. We never really could figure out what her "disability" was, but her and all of her friends got it. I'd venture to guess that 90% of her friends are on Social Security Disability. SS never came back and made her prove that she still qualified, thankfully. She would have an odd job here and there since 2010, but none lasted more than a month or two.
At this point, I doubt any doctor would be willing to state her Alzheimers is causing her to spend more. I have my own doubts. I personally think it's loneliness, and the fact that she's convinced she doesn't have much time. In my opinion, begging the Neurologist to give her the test was a huge mistake.
Gotcha. I'm just thinking out loud here-the issue is what if she spends all of her inheritance and then has to go into a facility for health reasons. I "think" because with these programs you never know-she should be eligible to medicaid at that point. She would flip to a dual eligible medicare/medicaid but eligibility to medicaid can be tricky.
Not a good reason to delay SS IMO. I do not trust that SS is going to be there later. A bird in the hand….
Actually, IMO your last two sentences are not a good reason to delay SS.
If you can, see if you can set up an automatic withdrawal from her nest egg that goes to her spending account and refer to it as her annuity.
I switched my father to a debit card and would put 100-200 in the account. That also limited his ability to go to the bank and withdraw 1000’s in cash as he liked walking around money. He would take 5000 on a Monday and lose it, or not recall where it went. But it was gone by Friday.. so I monitored his account every day..
What a miserable situation. As someone mentioned if you didn't pay the credit card in full it might limit her spending. Annuities aren't an ideal investment but would keep her from depleting her resources. OTOH she might balk.
One good thing is I handle her Fidelity account where all of her "real" money is. She wouldn't know how to sign in, much less make a trade. She knows she has money there, but has never tried to get any out without going through me to do it. She knows nothing about finances and up until a few years ago didn't have any money to worry about.
Agreed. I don't know what state she lives in, but I would certainly ask about whether a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) might be appropriate for your Sister-In-Law. Depending on the state, this might be a way to protect her assets yet provide Medicaid services for her long-term care. As she isn't yet showing signs of her underlying condition, she seems likely to live at least five more years, which is the limit on Medicaid's look-back on assets.
While this is an excellent suggestion, there is zero chance she would 1) sit down with a financial planner, 2) pay attention to what FA is saying, 3) understand what the FA is suggesting and 4) adhere to anything the FA came up with. It would be futile and a waste of money. She simply isn't interested in doing anything to make her money last and refuses to think/plan for the future. Our main strategy is to limit her to the amount of money she can blow.
