Need advice about $ management

[Dvdman]

My dad passed away and my mother is overwhelmed with investments and real estate. I want to help her but I feel like she has bills or maybe some descent sized invests that she doesn't want me to know about. I searched online wealth management or financial planner but it gives me investments or debt management. Basically my goal since my mom wants to do this alone is send her to someone that can look at all her $ and clean up. For example she is paying a small balance of our old condo for 3 years now that steadily losing $. I think she should get rid of it which would be a loss or short sale but she thinks the market will come back. She thinks she will be able to sell it in 5 years and get her money back or break even. I need someone to figure out her best decisions managing her $ since she wont let me be involved. Should i go to a bank or is there a specific kind of business that specifically helps with this? I am assuming banker want to invest money which is not the purpose im looking for. Thanks for any input...

[bga23]

If your mom doesn't want someone who is going to actually invest the money then the options are a lot fewer. Any bank or money manager would only work with your mom if they can manage her investments.

Does she have an accountant with whom she can discuss her financial situation? It might be a good idea to have your mom speak with someone who would manage her finances, my guess is she prob would benefit from working with a professional.

[Dvdman]

So an account would make all those decisions? I'll have her call him then and check. I wasn't sure if there was a biz that specialized in something like this. Thanks!

[///Mandy]

Honestly save your money on hiring a financial advisor.
My boyfriend helped me get my finances in line by creating an MS Excel spreadsheet. You start off with how much money is coming in (i.e. paycheck amount), then you break it down to all the debts that you pay towards. At the very bottom it will show whatever money is left over. This helped me significantly. I paid off my credit cards in no time.

[Dvdman]

Originally Posted by ///Mandy

Honestly save your money on hiring a financial advisor.
My boyfriend helped me get my finances in line by creating an MS Excel spreadsheet. You start off with how much money is coming in (i.e. paycheck amount), then you break it down to all the debts that you pay towards. At the very bottom it will show whatever money is left over. This helped me significantly. I paid off my credit cards in no time.

Thats something we can do but my mom is 70 and my dad took care of all that. She kinda knows what she is doing but since she wont let me or my brother help her what can I do. She needs help determining if her other condo is worth keeping and refinancing and so forth. She needs someone to help her...

[M3Denver]

Downsizing and getting rid of property you do not fully own is fine. Market will never be the same and technically our dollar is worthless due to overspending/printing. So if you Sell now and make sure you reinvest in tangible asset you can own and can still use... Land or another house maybe just cause cash will not hold value forever based on the road we are heading down.

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by ///Mandy

Honestly save your money on hiring a financial advisor.
My boyfriend helped me get my finances in line by creating an MS Excel spreadsheet. You start off with how much money is coming in (i.e. paycheck amount), then you break it down to all the debts that you pay towards. At the very bottom it will show whatever money is left over. This helped me significantly. I paid off my credit cards in no time.

There's some great financial planning software out there that can really be useful showing the detail of where your money actually goes. It can be quite surprising when you actually look at it.

OP, have you thought about contacting the banks and brokerage companies where your mother has her accounts at? Most likely, they should have some in-house financial/portfolio advisers that could look over her existing accounts and help advise her. Since she won't share the info with family, I think the only other option is to hire an accountant if she is willing to share all the financial information with that person.

[Foodle]

OP, do they have a CPA that did their taxes? Or did your dad do them himself? If they have a CPA, that person is a good starting point and could recommend someone if their company doesn't do it. It is also good since presumably your mom will already trust the CPA.

[Dvdman]

Originally Posted by Foodle

OP, do they have a CPA that did their taxes? Or did your dad do them himself? If they have a CPA, that person is a good starting point and could recommend someone if their company doesn't do it. It is also good since presumably your mom will already trusts the CPA.

I know she does. I'll point her in that direction first. Thanks for all the advice!

[qba335i]

Find a financial planner (CFP).

For a small fee they will be able to assess her financial situation and make some recommendations. Then depending on her needs they can help her manage the money...

[fwmcb]

Going through a similar situation, and our accountants and investment advisors have been wonderful. As a lawyer, I can attest to the fact that middle aged women, even those who are well set financially when they become widowed get terrified. Even if they know that they have enough, they have difficulty understanding that the money that they saved over the years can be turned into revenue. It will get better, it took my mom about 6 months.