“Protecting Your Parents’ Money” Jeff D. Opdyke, $15.99 (paperback), Harper Paperbacks
The intimidation factor is high when adult children have to jump in and deal with their parents’ financial needs. There are so many important issues and planning matters to consider: legal documents, annuities, health care costs, insurance, reverse mortgages and more.
Yet you don’t need a degree in finance to sort through them. Opdyke, a financial columnist and former Wall Street Journal reporter, makes the task of protecting aging parents and their money much more manageable with this authoritative but easy-to-understand handbook of all the key financial issues.
Besides discussing topics that need to be addressed to help navigate the finances of aging, he gives tips on the best strategies for ways to broach each subject with a parent. He also offers suggestions on where to go for help and more information.
At 288 pages, it’s as concise and clearly written a guide as you’re likely to find on a parent-child role reversal. It’s a scenario that’s becoming much more common, and more critical to master, as we live longer. Dave Carpenter, The Associated Press
