Missing payments may be an early sign of Dementia

Read an article a few years ago written by CAMH Toronto that there are earlier signs of dementia and that is not knowing what time of day it is.
The article researched human behavioral studies in relation to mental disorders/diseases that the average human being looks at the clock/watch approx 14 times a day from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed.
Early dementia patients lose all aspect of the time of day first.

All and any aspects of life revolving around time will be affected

That was definitely the case with my dad. He had dementia and was poor at managing his accounts. I forget the exact details as it was quite a few years ago, but when I took over his finances I was able to save him $600 a month in bank fees. Between his account being in overdraft and carrying balances on his credit cards.

He scored 18 out of 30 at the time on the MoCA test, which I would consider a much better indicator of dementia than missing payments.

Spiritwalker2222 wrote: ↑ That was definitely the case with my dad. He had dementia and was poor at managing his accounts. I forget the exact details as it was quite a few years ago, but when I took over his finances I was able to save him $600 a month in bank fees. Between his account being in overdraft and carrying balances on his credit cards.

He scored 18 out of 30 at the time on the MoCA test, which I would consider a much better indicator of dementia than missing payments.

Yes. He was always late paying. I couldn't explain to him that there was no advantage in waiting until the last minute to pay his bills when there was more than enough cash sitting in a zero interest chequing account. I finally had to take over his affairs.

Riffer wrote: ↑ Yes. He was always late paying. I couldn't explain to him that there was no advantage in waiting until the last minute to pay his bills when there was more than enough cash sitting in a zero interest chequing account. I finally had to take over his affairs.

I hope that wasn't your only reason. There are still arguably reasons for paying at the last minute, even if the money is sitting in a zero-interest account. You could have an emergency come up that requires all the cash you have for something else that's a higher priority - and you can't get the cash back if you have already paid it out. You may be annoyed with the companies who are billing you, and feel that one small way you can stick it to them is to make them wait as long as possible for their money.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ I hope that wasn't your only reason. There are still arguably reasons for paying at the last minute, even if the money is sitting in a zero-interest account. You could have an emergency come up that requires all the cash you have for something else that's a higher priority - and you can't get the cash back if you have already paid it out. You may be annoyed with the companies who are billing you, and feel that one small way you can stick it to them is to make them wait as long as possible for their money.

Not sure why people feel like they'd need to 'stick it to them' when a company is providing a post-paid service.

As for paying bills last minute, I don't think there is any good reason to wait until last minute. Smart money management means you have leverage to handle emergencies. Anyway, the point was that his dad was paying late, and was paying more money to financial institutes than he should have (to the tune of $600/month).

jeff1970 wrote: ↑ Not sure why people feel like they'd need to 'stick it to them' when a company is providing a post-paid service.

I don't think they do. Pre-paid services on the other hand...

Scote64 wrote: ↑ I don't think they do. Pre-paid services on the other hand...

Yeah, but pre-paid services stick it to YOU if you don't pay right away, lol!

One reason to not have auto-payments setup.

You could also not be discovered either. Just hopefully you have some social interaction in some form to prevent this:

https://www.reuters.com/article/amp/idU ... U220140307

xgbsSS wrote: ↑ One reason to not have auto-payments setup.

You could also not be discovered either. Just hopefully you have some social interaction in some form to prevent this:

https://www.reuters.com/article/amp/idU ... U220140307

Making payments on-line, pre-authorized withdrawals, and subscriptions cause all kinds of complications when someone dies and the executor gets around to tracing all the cash flows and obligations and getting authorization to stop and cancel services.

Being in my 70's and knowing the probability of my demise is increasing despite my current good health, I have corralled at my online subscriptions and recurring payments on one low-limit credit card, where they can easily be reviewed and things like Netflix will just stop when the card hits its limit. All my utility bills and investment statements come to the house even though I am constantly being harassed about the "advantages" of on-line statements and invoices. I think bank staff get a small bonus for every conversion. When they insist, I grandly declare that I expect to die soon and want the bills in the mail for my successor. One lady assured me, no problem, there was a process with the bank to access a deceased person's account, if only I would let her sign me up! Sure - like with a big pile of legal documentation lol!

There is often an issue with investment portfolios when one spouse has the interest and skills to manage it and the other doesn't. When that person passes suddenly, the spouse is left high and dry with no knowledge of how to manage the portfolio. Like my neighbour who croaked from a massive heart attack last month at 75, and who was an active stock trader. I don't know what his wife will do now. To address this issue in our own household, I have put our portfolios under discretionary management per an investment policy contract, with monthly transfers for our income. If I pass tomorrow, my wife doesn't need to do anything to continue her income or make investment decisions. And we spent a lot of time qualifying our manager, and then building a advisor relationship with him that my wife is very comfortable with.

Beyond that all our RRIF's and TFSA and bank accounts are joint so that we retain access to everything if the other dies.

Dealmaker1945 wrote: ↑
...Beyond that all our RRIF's and TFSA and bank accounts are joint so that we retain access to everything if the other dies.

Suggestion:
Have a folder/location with all the successor annuitants and beneficiary designations compiled in one place to make it easier.

Also double check that the joint designations are with the, "right of survivorship". Not all joint accounts are.

Dealmaker, facing one's mortality is not easy but a loving thing to do for family.
As my neighbour said to me when his wife started using the oven as the refrigerator; " It's later than you think."
We all have an expiry date.

When someone passes away, executor notifies the bank and they freeze all accounts so payments and direct deposits get rejected. You can sign a letter of direction to allow certain payments and funds to come in.

Or to much pot smoking

was browsing and saw the title of this thread. Freaked out since i forgot if i pay it or not. Went on to check and I did it 4 days ago -_-