Money
Dad used to be very good with money matters. His company did profit sharing rather than having a retirement plan. This worked out very well for my parents. First, because his company, which had been in business more than 60 years, went bankrupt shortly after Dad retire. Second, Dad invested this profit sharing very well.
However, for the last several years, Dad has been very confused about money matters. I took over bill paying when Dad paid the utility company using a check from a closed bank account and couldn't understand why they wouldn't let him pay with another check. During his "mean" stage of Alzheimer’s, he accused me (and others) of stealing from him and threatened to call the police. Now, he vacillates between thinking he is very poor and very rich. Examples:
"We only have my social security to live on. My wife never worked. That is true of us." (Mom worked as a school nurse for more than 20 years.) "We don't even have enough money to buy our food. That is true of us." "It is so cold in the house (78 degrees) because we don't have enough money to pay to turn on the heat (in July in Texas)."
"We have more than a million dollars (not true). I invested in the stock market very well (true). That is true of us." "We owned land in downtown Dallas, but we sold it when it became worth a lot of money. Then we went to live in Oak Cliff. That was true of us." (This might be something of a childhood memory. He did live in Oak Cliff a couple of times as a boy and then again as a young man.) "We made a lot of money off our land in downtown Dallas." (He also may be confusing the money he made from his aunt's estate. She owned a lot of land in downtown Houston. However, it was split among so many nieces and nephews that no one got a huge amount.)
He asks me regularly if he pays income tax. Even when I show him his finacial records, he immediately swings between believing he is rich or he is poor.
However, for the last several years, Dad has been very confused about money matters. I took over bill paying when Dad paid the utility company using a check from a closed bank account and couldn't understand why they wouldn't let him pay with another check. During his "mean" stage of Alzheimer’s, he accused me (and others) of stealing from him and threatened to call the police. Now, he vacillates between thinking he is very poor and very rich. Examples:
"We only have my social security to live on. My wife never worked. That is true of us." (Mom worked as a school nurse for more than 20 years.) "We don't even have enough money to buy our food. That is true of us." "It is so cold in the house (78 degrees) because we don't have enough money to pay to turn on the heat (in July in Texas)."
"We have more than a million dollars (not true). I invested in the stock market very well (true). That is true of us." "We owned land in downtown Dallas, but we sold it when it became worth a lot of money. Then we went to live in Oak Cliff. That was true of us." (This might be something of a childhood memory. He did live in Oak Cliff a couple of times as a boy and then again as a young man.) "We made a lot of money off our land in downtown Dallas." (He also may be confusing the money he made from his aunt's estate. She owned a lot of land in downtown Houston. However, it was split among so many nieces and nephews that no one got a huge amount.)
He asks me regularly if he pays income tax. Even when I show him his finacial records, he immediately swings between believing he is rich or he is poor.
posted by Margee | 6:20 AM
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