Population aging will naturally increase the number of dementias. It can easily lead to financial mismanagement for those seniors who suffer from dementias. For example, they might miss simple tasks such as paying credit card bills and making mortgage payment. Furthermore, they can be easily exploited by scams.
I heard this case. An elderly lady missed quite a few mortgage payments even if she still made withdrawal from the bank account. However, her daughter was not aware of it until foreclosure. Unfortunately, it was too late. The bank possessed the property now which could be her nest egg for retirement. Very sad indeed. There were some push to make the financial institutions to do more to prevent these happening again, but the progress has been very slow.
What can we do to prevent it? Nowadays, many banking apps have all sorts of alerts. For example, trusted family members or the person who has the power of attorney can set an alert when withdrawal happens. Alerts for credit card payment and mortgage payment can also be set too.
Actually if someone is diagnosed with dementia, perhaps their financial matters should be taken care by a trusted person. Certainly, dementia can be in different stage. Patient discussion and careful and planning is essential.
Here is some information from the government of Canada on how to prevent dementia. Please see below.
Modifiable dementia risk factors are ones you can control by taking actions such as:
- staying active
- avoiding smoking
- limiting alcohol consumption
- wearing a helmet when you bike or ski
- managing chronic health conditions, such as:
- diabetes
- high blood pressure
Social isolation and depression can increase risk of dementia. Covid-19 made certainly it worse. Let’s all take good care of our health.
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