What is Preferred Method of Care?
Henry Montag, CFP, CLTC | November 9th, 2009I wanted to inform you of an important concept that our readers should be aware of. As a certified financial planner concentrating in the Eldercare marketplace Ive always advocated that a Parent should be actively involved in the process of choosing a preferred method of care if and when it became necessary for him / her to ever move into an Assisted living Facility or Nursing Home as there are many such facilities and types of care to chose from.
Ive received some heartwarming feedback in the way of phone calls from parents and children alike who thanked me for getting the entire Family actively involved in choosing these caregivers and initiating a family conference years before they were actually needed.
Often times there are two or more Family members involved upon whose shoulders the responsibility for this type of care will fall on. I strongly suggest that if this be the case the siblings or care givers plan well in advance who will be the primary caregiver in charge of making the most important decisions regarding where the care will take place , under which circumstances will it be triggered and by whom. Whether the costs come from the pocket of the sibling providing the care , amongst all the siblings equally and then be reimbursed out of a general fund if the parent didn’t provide for long term care insurance. Should the care be along the lines of a Chevy or a Cadillac.
If there are assets involved who will take the responsibility for paying the bills and how should the money be managed and where should it be invested and under what style management.
How should these issues be resolved if they cant be resolved between the siblings so that it doesn’t interfere with the quality of care the parent will receive while the specific details are being worked out. How and by whom will they be worked out if the siblings cant come to an acceptable agreeable decision.
Lastly how should a renegade sibling be treated if he or she abdicates their responsibility. How should they be punished and how should the other caregivers be rewarded for picking up the slack.
Perhaps most importantly to make certain that the sibling having the responsibility to make health care proxy decisions indeed know exactly what the parent wants and not confuse it with what the sibling would want for him /her self. How will the Parent be remembered in the eyes of the Grandchildren. How will it be accomplished.
These are only some of the reasons a Family should make certain that they have a Family meeting well in advance of these uncomfortable but necessary conversations.
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Tags: assisted living facility, certified financial planner, elder care, financial planning, henry montag, long term care, nursing home
About the Author: Henry Montag is an Independent Certified Financial Planner as well as a CLTC. He’s been in practice since 1976 with offices on Long Island, New York. He is a contributing writer for The Moneypaper, a national financial publication, been my sourced by Investors business Daily, Long Island Business News, Newsday, Wall St Journal, The Moneypaper,Investment News, Senior Lifestyles and has held insurance and securities licenses for over thirty years.
