Protecting Your Parents' Money: The Essential Guide to Helping Mom and Dad Navigate the Finances of Retirement

Anyone anxious about how best to protect aging parents and their assets will find this guide from veteran Wall Street Journal journalist Opdyke (Financially Ever After) a godsend. The author argues that aging parents have earned the right to rely on their children for help, and he assembles a sympathetic guide to supporting your parents financially when it becomes difficult for them to do so themselves. He explains how to handle wills and powers of attorney, pensions and annuities, insurance policies, and bills; how to navigate Social Security; and how to answer the hard questions: how much income does the parent need? how can you help make the money last? Perhaps more important, he provides scripts for the hardest conversations%E2%80%94about whether to stay at home or move to a facility, or how to manage health care necessities and the vagaries of Medicare and medicaid. A smart, comprehensive guide to helping children assist their parents through a difficult time with candor and compassion. (July)