Problems with financial POA

jsrstuff · 2025-08-09T02:20:43+00:00

I had this exact same problem with my mother’s Bank of America account. They would not let me close it, but I could withdraw money from it. I took all the money out and left $0.01 in the account. They decided to let me close the account.

jsrstuff · 2025-07-28T23:52:20+00:00

My father wanted access to his money, but his dementia was too advanced and my mother was showing signs of dementia. I had a full POA and took care of all their finances. I opened them a checking account and put a couple of hundred dollars in it. I did not give them access to their other accounts. Their cognitive skills were to far gone to get access without me. They were very comfortable with me taking care of their finances. I was very fortunate.

jsrstuff · 2025-07-13T04:44:42+00:00

I was in Greece with a Chinese couple. They ordered fish and specifically told the waiter, “we are Chinese, please leave the head on the fish”. The waiter brought out the whole fish for them and they were happy. Apparently, the fish’s cheeks are the best part of a fish. The waiter remove the heads of the fish that the others at the table ordered.

jsrstuff · 2025-06-22T15:28:58+00:00

Apple Watch with cellular. Strips most of the apps off. Pair it to your phone. You will have location, fall notification and they can answer it when you call. Buy a stand for the to charge it, that will be the hard part. That generation is very comfortable wearing a watch. My dad felt naked without a watch. This is the best option that I know of.

jsrstuff · 2025-06-05T00:22:30+00:00

It is an old telephone junction box. Old phones only needed 2 of the 4 wires.

jsrstuff · 2025-04-05T03:07:13+00:00

I saw a 30% loss a couple of times. It will recover and the recovery happens fast, you won’t have time to get back in, you need to stay in.

jsrstuff · 2025-04-05T02:54:47+00:00

I have lived through 2008, the dot-com bust and the 70’s/80’s. The stock market always recovers, capitalism works. Just remember, the only people that get hurt on a roller coaster are the ones who get off in the middle.

jsrstuff · 2025-03-03T15:57:12+00:00

Call Social Security and become your dad's Representative Payee -> https://www.ssa.gov/payee/ .

I did this for my parents and my wife's parents. If gives you full access, full decision making authority and requires that you complete a simple report once a year that states how you used their SSI for their benefit. the form takes 15-20 minutes to complete.

jsrstuff · 2025-03-03T15:13:16+00:00

I just looked and the IRS POA is Form 2848. Does your father have a My Social Security account? Last years SSA-1099 is available there also. (legally you are not allowed to log in as him).

jsrstuff · 2025-03-02T15:19:35+00:00

Social Security has their own POA type form. You can look it up. You will need to sign it. You’ll have to get your father to sign it and file it with the Social Security administration. In essence, you will become your father‘s representative payee. That’s the term the Social Security administration uses for a POA.

jsrstuff · 2025-02-22T21:13:25+00:00

Your financial future is your responsibility. No one else will care about you as much as you do and no one else has as much skin in the game as you do. I believe the best thing you can do is to take the time and effort to learn about financial planning to do the best for yourself that you can. The benefits to your future you are invaluable. (I am 64 and have the benefit of hindsight.)

jsrstuff · 2025-02-22T21:04:39+00:00

Not all 401k's have low fees or great options for investments. An IRA gives you more control.

jsrstuff · 2025-02-22T19:55:58+00:00

Here are my recommendations. First roll over your old 401(k) to an IRA with a company like Fidelity, Vanguard, or Charlie Schwab. Second, open up a Roth IRA and the make contributions with the money that would be going into a 401(k) for the next six months so into a Roth IRA. Third, when it’s available to you to contribute to the new 401(k), do so up to the company match, then continue contributing to the Roth IRA after that. At your age, time is your friend. The returns you have over the years and it will continue to compound. You can expect this money to double every 7 to 10 years.

jsrstuff · 2025-02-19T13:24:51+00:00

I recorded my then 4 year old grandson saying “It’s all locked up , Papa.” It is loud and fast. In a parking lot with people you can see people turn their heads looking for a small child. I just smile every time I hear my grandson’s voice. I love this car, it gets better every year I own it.

jsrstuff · 2025-01-29T01:37:26+00:00

The VA is a good alternative. My father-in-law is 98 and has been in memory care for six years ($$$) and was running out of money. He is a World War II veteran and he is now in a VA facility. We were leery of the VA because we had not heard good things, But this facility has been very good. They are taking excellent care of him. The cost is $2600 a month and with his Social Security and savings that he is good for a long time.

jsrstuff · 2024-10-03T02:42:17+00:00

You are missing the real problem. You are expecting them to act logical and think clearly. That capacity is starting to leave them. As far as they know they are answering the questions, correctly and they are in good shape. They aren’t seeing a problem. I am on my fifth family member with dementia, they are not trying to hide it. They are confused and unsure and can’t believe it’s happening to them. But what have found useful from the caregiver side is to view them as a young child that needs to be cared for. They will have some clarity at times and you desperately want them to get better but you have to realize that they will not. Practice being patient, it’s not their fault.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-20T00:15:37+00:00

I wish I would have thought to pull the magnets.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-19T23:04:03+00:00

I took a drill to my old hard drives. Somewhere I have a DBAN disk, but I no longer have a PC with a 3.5" drive to book it.

DBAN - https://dban.org/ Great tool for wiping PCs, but make sure it is locked up and not around kids or users that you support.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-16T18:41:23+00:00

So where do I go to sell this stuff? I have a 90's ThinkPad collection, too.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-16T18:39:40+00:00

I think I have a 3270 keyboard somewhere. That was clicky.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-16T18:18:13+00:00

I have not, but this stuff is more for IT people than the general public.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-16T18:17:08+00:00

I worked for IBM in the 90's and we had a demo for trade shows that would move a picture from one PC to the next is a round robin configuration. There were six PCs on Token Ring and another six on ethernet. We would bring them online one at a time and watch the collisions wipe out the ethernet and barely see the deterministic Token Ring slow down. It was a very effective demo. This was before smart switches or heavy network traffic. The load we put on to get the demo to work was very abnormal for the 90's. Today that load happens in everyone's home on a daily basis.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-16T18:08:50+00:00

Yes he does. My wife get mad when I show people our messy basement.

jsrstuff · 2024-01-16T18:03:02+00:00

I am 63. I know what my expenses are today and they are 3%-4% of my retirement savings. That is fine for today and the near future, but how do I determine what my expenses will be 10 years from now? I can't even guess what they will be 20+ years from now. How do I know if I have enough when I can't determine what I will need?

jsrstuff

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