Journey Stop #2: The Serious Time Stage
Journey Stop #2 is what we refer to as the Serious Time Stage. This is when the time commitment gets "Serious". At this stage, you are spending between 3 - 6 hours per day helping your Loved One with their daily activities. Brief Recap of Journey Stop #1 In our last...
Journey Stop #1: Description of How It All Began…
Journey Stop #1 is what we sometimes refer to as the “frequent visits stage”. What follows is an account of one child/Family Caregiver who tells of his caregiver journey through Journey Stop #1. Take a moment to see if this description fits your situation. The way it...
Bridge of Life Planning (Part 2) – Financial Plan Review
How to help a parent get what they want during a decline What Does Momma Want? The second pillar of Bridge of Life Planning is Financial Review. Our experience shows Financial Plan Review to be all too often overlooked. If you haven't already please read and review...
Bridge of Life Planning (part 1)
Bridge of Life planning is all about helping a declining parent get what they want during a period of decline of physical or cognitive health. If they (and you) are fortunate, Mom and Dad have already planned and have set forth what they want. In a perfect world,...
Create a Care Journey Plan
This Planning Stuff is Really Important Creating a Care Journey Plan (CJP) is “the thing” that makes a Bridge of Life Plan work. For those of you who may have missed our previous discussions on Bridge of Life Planning, let me digress. In simple terms, a Bridge of Life...
This Health Care Stuff Costs Money!
If you are a Family Caregiver tasked with the responsibility of helping an aging parent with their care, you quickly realize that “This Health Care Stuff Costs Money!” It costs a lot of money to secure the proper care for your Loved One. Whether your parent is at home...
Estate Planning for Momma – A Simple Way to Avoid a Cruising for a Bruising
As you can see, this article is entitled, “Estate Planning for Momma - a Simple Way to Avoid a Cruising for a Bruising!” Some will laugh, but failure to plan can result in ‘a bruising’ from many unintended consequences. Oftentimes, no one sees these consequences...
What Are Momma’s Preferences?
Have you had the discussion with Momma about her preferences? What exactly are Momma's Preferences? If and when she can’t stay at home by herself any longer, what does she want? Does she want family coming in to help or outside caregivers? Would Momma even prefer...
Duties of a Family Caregiver
A reader recently asked about the duties of a Family Caregiver. The traditional meaning of the word “duty” implies obligation to someone. My thought, in that case, would be that a Family Caregiver would have no “duties”. Everything that most Family Caregivers do is...
Is There Anyone Else Out There?
If you are the primary caregiver for a declining parent you may wonder sometimes, “Is there anyone else out there?” You may be shouldering ALL of the caregiver burden by yourself. On one hand, you realize that you could possibly get more help. At the same time, you...
“The Talk” with Declining Parents – Interview with Dwain Hebda
Many of you have had the experience of having “the talk” with a teenage child. Now, as your parent continues to decline, you may have had “the talk” all over again. However, this time you had it with Mom or Dad. "The talk" can be regarding a number of life changing...
Bridge of Life (Part 5) – The Power of a Coordinated Plan
If Momma is like 70% of the rest of America, she has never done any proper estate planning at all. If she has anything at all, it's probably just a Will. In all likelihood, she and your Dad prepared basic paperwork back when he was in the Military. (You were probably...
Bridge of Life Planning (Part 4) – Paying for Nursing Home Care with Government Benefits
Today, we are going to discuss a few ways to help a parent or declining spouse pay for long-term care expense in a nursing home by utilizing government benefits. In our last blog post, we mentioned that it was critical that Momma sit down and write out her...
Bridge of Life Planning (Part 3) – A Few Things to Discuss with Your Financial Advisor
How to pay for the care you want When meeting with a Financial Advisor or Elder Law Attorney, it’s important to know what to ask. When attempting to implement your preferences that you crafted when doing your Bridge of Life Plan, this is especially true. The Financial...