For many seniors the equity in their home is their largest single asset, yet it is unavailable to use unless they use a home equity loan. But a conventional loan really doesn't free up the equity because the money has to be paid back with interest.
Today started out with very good intentions. I was going to visit my 91 year old mother who resides in an assisted living facility and has several hours of extra assistance daily. This is because she has almost no short term memory and various other ailments of old age. The winter has been long and hard, and she has been inside most of the time. So my intention was to surprise her and take her out to lunch to enjoy one of her favorites, a meatball grinder.
When I started to practice law, the British still controlled America. Well, it wasn't that long ago, but I am in my fourth decade of practice, and when I started, many states still followed old American and British Common Law in regards to powers of attorney. The common law had a theory that you could only give someone a power of attorney if you were capable. If you were incapacitated, the theory was that you did not have your own powers, so you couldn't give a power you didn't have to someone else.
With our current economic challenges, those of us looking forward to retirement need to be well-informed about our financial needs in coming years. And not only pre-retirees, but individuals already in retirement need to be wise to the changing economic environment. The good news is there are trained professionals who keep abreast of changes in the current economy, changes in laws and changes in government programs for the elderly. Professionals in this field are equipped to handle everything from help with retirement savings accounts, investments advice, guidance on government programs, estate planning or even new funding options such as reverse mortgages. For those already retired, taking time right now to deal with financial problems instead of waiting for a crisis to happen is well advised.
Many adult children are giving their all to keep their parents out of a nursing home, and they are doing it out of love, without any thought of compensation. This is very admirable, and often it consists of hours and hours of time spent doing housekeeping, monitoring medications, cooking meals, doing laundry, and giving companionship. For millions of such care giving children, the last thing they would think about is getting paid for that time, and they would feel guilty just thinking about getting paid.
All you women readers will recognize that a man wrote this, because it mentions Valentine's Day, but is a week late. The month of February and Valentine's Day brings a celebration of love and stirs couples to rekindle feelings of romance and devotion. Not so different from young couples are aging seniors, celebrating memories of sweethearts and romance in days gone by. Sit a while with a senior couple and they will soon be telling you their romance story.
