Los problemas de dinero pueden ser un signo precoz de demencia

When a family member who has been relatively responsible with money throughout their life becomes negligent with their finances, it could be a sign of yet-to-be-diagnosed demencia.

Researchers from the New York Federal Reserve, after analyzing both US credit reporting and Medicare data, found that in the five years prior to a demencia diagnosis, a person's average credit scores may begin to weaken and their payment delinquencies rise.

"The harmful financial effects of undiagnosed memory disorders exacerbate the already substantial financial pressure households face upon diagnosis," the researchers wrote. "Beyond susceptibility to payment delinquency, early stage [Alzheimer's disease and related disorders] may affect new account openings and debt accumulation, credit utilization, and/or credit mix."

These findings mirror the results of a 2020 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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Marcey Tidwell, who resides in Bloomington, Indiana, stated that these findings are "not at all surprising." Tidwell's mother was diagnosed with a form of demencia in 2020 and has been living with her daughter ever since.

Tidwell described her mother as an "outrageously methodical human being" who kept the bills paid and the family records organized across numerous moves as her husband pursued a military career.

After going through her mother's papers this year, Tidwell deduced that her mother's memory started faltering around 2015, as her record-keeping became "less than perfect."

For instance, Tidwell noted that her mom used to keep an impeccable record of checks written and deposits and withdrawals made in her checkbook register. However, that register became disorganized. "There were a lot of things scratched out and she was compulsively adding and re-adding — she knew things weren't all they could be. Later on, I saw that she took out large amounts of her savings, more than she needed for groceries."

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Karen Lemay, who lives in Ottawa, Canada, knew that something was seriously wrong with her father in 2022 when she saw piles of late-payment notices and final-notification warnings from service providers and insurers on his desk.

Her father was a former finance executive who "was very conservative with his money, very smart about it and never reckless with it," she said. He had also instilled in his daughter the importance of paying off her credit card in full every month to avoid interest.

Yet Lemay discovered that he owed $50,000 in charges, interest, and late payment fees on a Visa card. He also financed the purchase of a new car he didn't need, just months before the police took away his driver's license. Normally, he would only buy high-end used cars with cash, she said.

What's more, his daughter noted, he failed to pay his 2021 taxes. Consequently, he ended up owing the government roughly $20,000, the majority of which was for late payment and underpayment penalties.

"I spoke to him about some of his balances and he refused to believe he hadn't paid them," Lemay said.

Two parents with demencia, one daughter's efforts to reduce financial worry

Jayne Sibley, who resides in the United Kingdom, is all too familiar with the financial behaviors that can signal demencia. Her father and mother were both diagnosed with different forms of it.

Her father moved into a nursing home years ago, but her now-deceased mother remained in her own home, albeit with live-in care.

"The most challenging thing we faced was managing mum's everyday money as her condition progressed. She would overspend on things she didn't need or want. Random items, cleaning equipment, luxury food. She also fell victim to scams over the phone — a fake insurance policy, those sorts of things," Sibley said.

Her mother also would take money out of the ATM two to three times a day and give it to anyone who asked.

Aware of how high long-term care costs were, given her father's situation, Sibley said she worried that her mother would run through the money that would be needed for her own care.

While her mother's condition made her vulnerable with money, she was still able to walk and shop and go to yoga on her own. In other words, she was able to maintain a lot of her autonomy and social ties.

To try to stem the money outflow, Sibley and her brother attempted doling out a week's worth of cash for their mother, but she'd spend it all in one go. The same thing happened when they tried dividing the cash up into daily envelopes.

Eventually, they took away her cash card. But, soon after, her condition worsened, Sibley said. "She wasn't able to maintain her familiar routines and social connections. That's when we realized there has to be a better way."

Con su esposo, fundó Sibstar, que ofrece una tarjeta de débito en el Reino Unido que puede usar una persona con demencia para mantener algún grado de autonomía financiera y participación social. Cuando sea necesario, los cuidadores familiaridades pueden supervisar las transacciones bancarias de su tarjeta a través de una app. Cuando se agrava la condición, el cuidador puede establecer límites en cuánto dinero se puede gastar en un día o una semana, y en qué lugares se puede usar la tarjeta (por ejemplo, en máquinas expendedoras, en línea o en una supermercado).

El planificación anticipada disminuye algunos estrés

Aunque hay pocos herramientas financieras específicas para reducir las probabilidades de que alguien gaste su propio dinero duro obtenido, hay acciones que puedes tomar para facilitar el control de los asuntos financieros de otra persona cuando se vuelva incapacitada.

En 2008, un año después de que su padre falleciera sin testamento y doce años antes de que su madre fuera diagnosticada con demencia, Tidwell dijo que ella y sus hermanos llevaron a su madre a un abogado para asegurarse de que tenía un testamento, nombró a su representante legal médico y nombró a la persona a quien le daría poderes de atención financiera para manejar sus asuntos financieros en caso de que fuera necesario.

Eso facilitó que Tidwell, entre otras cosas, pudiera obtener acceso en línea en 2018 a la cuenta bancaria de su madre para asegurarse de que no había nada extraño. Hasta 2020, había automatizado el pago de las facturas de su madre en línea.

“El momento para planear es antes de necesitarlo. Es difícil sobreestimar lo que fue un regalo ese viaje al abogado en 2008 para ‘mí de futuro’”, dijo Tidwell, quien administra plenamente los asuntos financieros de su madre ahora que su condición se ha agravado considerablemente.

Debido a que la demencia puede empeorar a lo largo del tiempo y porque una persona en los primeros estadios puede no reconocer que está más vulnerable a errores financieros y fraudes, la Instituto Nacional de Envejecimiento de los Estados Unidos recomienda que una familia tome medidas tempranas para aliviar esas preocupaciones, como establecer pagos automáticos de facturas para la persona con demencia.

Por supuesto, ninguna cantidad de planificación financiera anticipada puede aliviar el dolor de ver a un ser querido con demencia en declive. “Prepare como mejor pude, pero sigue siendo difícil”, dijo Tidwell. Así que recomienda a cualquiera que potencialmente enfrentara una situación similar, en sus palabras, “haga lo fácil lo más fácil”.

El deterioro en el meticuloso registro contable de Marcey Tidwell de su madre methodica podría ser un signo de los primeros estadios de demencia, como se pudo ver a partir de 2015. Su registro de cheques impecable se hizo desordenado, lo que indicaba una disminución de habilidades en el manejo de los asuntos financieros.

Aunque fuera un antiguo ejecutivo financiero que era conservador con su dinero, el padre de Karen Lemay acumuló montones de facturas impagas y financió una nueva carro que no necesitaba, mostrando signos de imprudencia financiera que podrían estar relacionados con la demencia.

Los problemas de dinero pueden ser un signo precoz de demencia