Step 4 - Research Senior Options for Your Parents:
Do Your Homework Before
Any Decisions


The dizzying array of senior options present the best case for why you have to start the conversations with your aging parents NOW. Before there is a crisis, you have time to research all the options and requirements.


You'd Rather Wait?

Most of us would rather wait if things are going fine. We’ll keep putting off talking about the subjects that seem touchy or difficult.

Having plenty of time to understand all the choices before you is the best gift that you can give yourself, your aging parents and your extended family.



Senior options can be overwhelming. Your mom can’t live alone any more. You just want to find a nice place where she can move. But it’s not that simple.

Every option for seniors has its own unique way of defining the choices that are available to you. Each area of life for senior citizens also has a complex web of federal, state, county and local regulations that apply.


Typical Decisions

Here are just some of the decisions you may face together:

  • Where will Mom should live?
  • Who will pay?
  • How will she get to doctor appointments? 
  • How much are medications and can she afford them? 
  • Which health insurance she is eligible for?
  • When should she stop driving all together?
  • When should she stop driving all together?
  • Who will make medical decisions if she can’t? 
  • How will bills be paid in an emergency? 
  • Who handles eventual funeral arrangements, especially if she lives in another state? 
  • Who manages property and taxes at the end?
  • Where will your special needs sibling live?


Each area of decision-making has its own LANGUAGE.

You don’t want to be in the midst of a crisis with Dad at the hospital before you understand the difference between a Health Care Power of Attorney and a Durable Power of Attorney for Finances.

Would your father want to age-in-place, or would he prefer a CCRC?

Is a Revocable Living Trust better than Probate? And does he need either one if he has a Will?


Each range of choices is governed by its own LAWS.

The nursing home wants to require your dad to pay privately before he converts to Medicare. Is this legal?

If Dad has Medicare, does he also need LTC (Long Term Care Insurance)? Did you know that different LTC policies cover only nursing home costs, while others cover assisted living, adult day care centers, in home care and community facilities?


Start Now

If these questions start to give you a headache -- all the more reason to start your research into senior options NOW. You and your aging parents have a lot to talk about.


Now on to:

Step 5 - Invent a Solution to learn how to continue the talks with your aging parents.


Step 1 - Set the TEMPO
How to start talking to your elderly parents about the future.

Step 2 - Become a Partner - NOT their Parent
Children of aging parents must build a partnership with their elders to talk about the future.

Step 3 - Investigate Senior Issues
Complex issues multiply for our aging parents. Be a detective before drawing conclusions.




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