Making financial decisions takes time, attention, and energy at any age. For the aging population, it may become increasingly difficult for them to manage their finances, particularly if their health is declining or they are experiencing cognitive issues. You may have clients you started working with in their forties and fifties who are now in their seventies and eighties, and their focus has now shifted to their longevity and their legacy.

You have talked to your clients about having an adequate cash reserve, making sure beneficiaries are updated on their life insurance policies, periodically updating their estate planning documents and implementing new ones over time, making  sure long-term care insurance premiums are timely paid, managing their investments that are supporting their lifestyle, the value of a reverse mortgage, and reviewing their Medicare and Veterans benefits.

But it may now be time to have more granular discussions about these topics with your elderly clients while they have the capacity to do so. Cognitive decline can silently erode financial security, often before family members recognize the danger. Under-reporting of elder financial abuse is partly due to the failure of those around the victim to perceive financial mistreatment as abuse.[1]

How involved will your client’s children be in the periodic review of expenses? Do the children understand their parents’ monthly expenses and income? Do the children know the contact information for the professionals their parents work with and where their accounts are held? Do the parents have an authorized user or power of attorney who is allowed access to certain accounts?

Are the children aware that your clients have sufficient assets for their care and/or have long-term care insurance in place? Is a notification to a second person in place when premiums are late? Explore the options and costs of various assisted living and memory care services with elderly clients and their children. Have clients and their children check the parents’ insurance policies to see if, when, and how services might be covered. Do the children know where end of life documents are and how to proceed?

If there are no children, who is in your client’s support network? Your clients may need to be looking at aging life, or geriatric care managers who are professionals specializing in helping families navigate the complex healthcare and eldercare systems. These experts, often with backgrounds in nursing, social work, gerontology, or occupational therapy, can provide comprehensive assessments and develop personalized care plans that address medical, psychological, and social needs. They can coordinate services, attend medical appointments, monitor care, notice mail accumulating, bills remaining unpaid, insurance premiums lapsing and serve as advocates for aging parents, particularly when family members live far away or have demanding careers. An Aging Life Care Manager can be the eyes and ears of family members who cannot be present daily, providing regular updates and peace of mind.

The U.S. Department of Justice has extensive webpages devoted to financial exploitation[2] including abuse by family, strangers, and trusted professionals. The path to exploitation is rarely dramatic, instead, it typically unfolds gradually, with even well-intentioned relationships sometimes evolving into inappropriate financial dependencies. In a recent study they found four out of twenty six factors to be the most significant as key predictors of financial exploitation: cognitive function, depression, social support, and living arrangements.[3] It has been suggested that local law enforcement, Adult Protective Services, county, state, and federal prosecutors, and representatives from financial institutions, as well as other federal agencies such as the FBI, Social Security Administration, and U.S. Postal Inspectors be involved in solving financial exploitation of the elderly as part of an effective multi-disciplinary team to aid in prosecution.[4] It is estimated that older people lose about 36 billion dollars annually due to elder financial exploitation.[5]

We have seen a brilliant former rocket scientist battling ALS, yet despite his exceptional intelligence, his progressive physical limitations had created a vulnerability that needed immediate attention. He had hired caregivers directly through internet postings rather than through bonded agencies, and these caregivers were executing stock trades on his behalf using his personal passwords as he verbally directed them. The situation created enormous risk exposure with no oversight or accountability mechanisms in place. The children, financial advisor, estate planning attorney, and the ALCM collaborated on resolving the issue with formalizing a power of attorney arrangement resulting in preserving the client’s dignity while resolving many of those issues.

We know financial abuse exists especially in those sixty and older and a recent study shows that older adults diagnosed with dementia have increased care needs and vulnerability to abuse.[6]  A  pattern of reluctance to acknowledge vulnerability appears frequently among highly accomplished individuals. A former attorney and writer with a fiercely independent nature had allowed private caregivers recommended by her apartment building manager to gradually assume control of her financial affairs. With no children or close family members, these caregivers became her primary support system over three years. What likely began as genuine assistance evolved into exploitation, with these “caregivers” escorting her to the bank multiple times weekly and facilitating substantial cash withdrawals.

By the time a concerned friend reached out for help, approximately $60,000 had disappeared. The client, experiencing cognitive fluctuations, believed she was simply paying for services, unaware she was often paying the same caregivers multiple times per week. These cognitive “slips” create perfect opportunities for financial exploitation or simple but costly oversight. Upon discovering these irregularities, a controlled payment system was put into place, there was a transition to agency-provided caregivers with proper bonding and insurance, and weekly financial monitoring protocols were established. While the previously misappropriated funds proved unrecoverable, the exploitation stopped.

Another client came to our attention only after significant cognitive decline had already had an impact on her financial management. A systematic review of her documents revealed unfiled tax returns spanning five years with accompanying IRS notices, and a lapsed long-term care insurance policy that had once promised $850,000 in benefits but now offered only $63,000 in premium returns. For this client, implementing a comprehensive solution required coordinating multiple professional services by the Aging Life Care Manager: engaging a tax professional to address delinquent filings, consulting an elder law attorney regarding guardianship proceedings, collaborating with a financial advisor to consolidate scattered assets, and establishing proper oversight of her care services.

Financial protection for aging adults requires vigilance against both malicious exploitation and well-meaning but inadequate financial oversight. Exploitation often begins with small boundary crossings, a caregiver mentioning a personal financial hardship, a service provider incrementally increasing charges, or a neighbor offering to “help” with online banking. These innocuous interactions can establish problematic patterns that gradually escalate.

As trusted advisors to our clients, it is our duty to protect their financial well-being and help them get a network in place to protect them, their assets, and their legacy, and to navigate the complex challenges of cognitive change before it happens. Aging Life Care Managers can serve as crucial advocates in the estate planning process in identifying risks before they escalate into crises and implementing protective systems that preserve both assets and dignity. Through early intervention, systematic monitoring, and appropriate delegation of authority, estate planners can effectively safeguard our most vulnerable aging adults from financial exploitation while supporting their continued independence to the greatest extent possible.

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[1] Influences on the perception of elder financial abuse among older adults in Southern California by Bob G Knight, Seungyoun Kim, Sarah Rastegar, Scott Jones, Victoria Jump, Serena Wong, Int Psychogeriatr. 2016 Jan;28(1):163-9. doi: 10.1017/S1041610215000587. Epub 2015 May 4. PMID: 25937043; PMCID: PMC6345643

[2] www.justice.gov/elderjustice/financial-exploitation

[3]Factors associated with financial exploitation in older adults: A systematic review by Hadis Mosafer, Saeid Soltani, Zeinab Rostami, Sina Sharifi, and Mohammad Mohammadi, Geriatr Nurs. 2025 Jan-Feb:61:662-671. doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2024.10.028. Epub 2024 Nov 8

[4]Elder Financial Exploitation: A Crime Too Often Lurking in the Shadows, Paul R. Greenwood, JD, LL.B, NAEPC Journal of Estate & Tax Planning May 2025

[5] www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aag-and-better-business-bureau-expand-fight-against-senior-targeted-financial-fraud-300816638.html

[6]Elder Mistreatment and Dementia: A Comparison of People with and without Dementia across the Prevalence of Abuse by Michaela M. Rogers, Jennifer E. Storey, Sonia Galloway, J Appl Gerontol. 2023 May;42(5):909-918. doi: 10.1177/07334648221145844. Epub 2022 Dec 23. PMID: 36564912; PMCID: PMC10084452