5 Things You Need to Know About Daily Money Managers

So, Daily Money Managers work with people that are either too busy, or just have a little bit of difficulty managing their day-to-day finances. Daily Money Managers come in all types and sizes, and we serve different markets. Some of us work with older adults or families. That’s what I specialize in, is working with the adult children, and mom, and dad, and keeping everyone engaged. Other people work with business owners. Some work with high net worth individuals. So we do somewhat have some specialties in what we work with, and who we work with, and how we help them. So it’s good to ask and think about what do you need when you’re looking for a Daily Money Manager.

So, when someone should hire a Daily Money Manager is really very personal and up to them. Typically, I will say, I usually get called in after there’s been a crisis incident, somebody ended up in a hospital, or something didn’t get paid and the water got shut off. So there’s usually something that precedes it. However, I also work with a lot of type A planners that think about it ahead of time, and they want to make sure they have an emergency backup, they wanna get things organized. So it really depends on the individual when it’s time to call in some extra help.

The first thing I would do if you’re looking for a Daily Money Manager is ask your network. So go to your estate lawyer, your financial advisor, even your accountant might be able to help. Even ask friends. They might know of someone that would be really helpful. If you don’t know of anyone or they don’t have recommendations, you can go to our professional website, AADMM.com, and there’s a whole way to search for people. You can put your zip code on there and find people that way.

Moms and dads usually don’t want their adult children stepping in and helping with money. So I think, step back and have that conversation with them about, “Here’s my concern, here’s why I think you might need a little bit of help.” And if they don’t want you to do it, maybe you can recommend some other resources. But I think, first and foremost, it’s to understand that that checkbook is a lot of power and control to individuals, and especially for older adults that are starting to lose a lot of things. They’re losing friends, they might be losing their car keys ’cause they know they shouldn’t drive. So checkbooks and managing the money is very empowering. So just be cognizant of how much that’s important and how important that is to them.

So the difference between a Daily Money Manager is that we work with finances, so we focus on all financial aspects of someone’s life. And a Life Care Manager really focuses on the medical aspects and healthcare. They’re great on a team, a support team, especially for a mom and dad that might be long distance because they can help get them to the doctor. I personally like having them on the team because I might notice things when we’re sitting down to pay bills that someone might [not] notice. I might notice they’re having a little bit of trouble with their memory, or I might see that they’re not taking their medications on a regular basis. So it’s a really powerful team to have those two people on the support for a loved one.