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Hi Sabina,
A client of mine had the same problem. We set up his soc. sec. account a few years ago when he had an email address (which is required). Since then he’s d/c the email account and forgot the password anyway. His son, the POA wasn’t able to get social security office to reset it for him. They recommended that the client (who is in memory care currently) come in to the office to get it reset. It’s been a major pain but there are social security staff who will work with the client on the phone to do the reset, but the wait time is extremely long!! We’re still trying to work it out and have resorted to using snail mail if we aren’t able to wait on the phone for a soc sec rep. Good luck!
Barbara Boustead
608-515-4083Hi Jacquelyn,
Thanks for sharing this situation. It’s one I am currently dealing with as well and I agree with Caitlin’s recommendations.
FYI My client is a woman in her late 70s who became ill and got behind in her bills. She lives with her son in his 50s who is very concerned about the house being sold and losing everything. She was hospitalized and in rehab for approx a year and the son realized his mother was over $30,000 in debt with 6 credit cards. When she returned home, I was asked to help with the bill paying and was able to clean up the medical bills and paid property taxes after liquidating 2 of her insurance policies. But her income doesn’t allow for payment on the debt.
She insisted on not filing bankruptcy so I contacted a debt consolidation company on her behalf (Greenpath) who set her up on a payment plan which only took 3 of her overdue credit cards (which are currently in collections). I also contacted Elder Care legal service (who provide free legal help for seniors) and they reviewed the information and said my client was “uncollectible” and had no income outside of pension and social security to pay the debt.
Citi bank pursued a court case against her for the $5k and her son convinced her to respond to them. A second attorney agreed that she was not able to pay what they wanted and to just do the cease and desist letters and let it go. My client is ok with this but her son isn’t as he’s worried about what might happen and wants to hire an attorney to take care of this. I’ve decided to continue working with them only on the regular bill paying and will d/c Greenpath as that payment will be needed for this year’s taxes. Unlike other clients who have been scammed or there is fraud, the credit card debt was legitimate and the client had just transferred debt from one card to another, so there was no legal defense other than she doesn’t have the ability to pay.
Just wanted to say that we have these cases sometimes and need to determine what we can do and when we need to walk away. I have told clients that they can not afford my services, and I give options whenever possible. In your case, I don’t see that you need to take any blame for their situation. They are doing this themselves and hopefully you can share with them that their spending habits are putting them in a precarious position and you can no longer help. Thanks again for sharing!
Barbara Boustead
608-515-4083Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for getting this thread started! Such an important topic. Great discussion and tips from Alison, Tom and Karen. Wanted to add that I use a Google alert for words ie daily money manager, AADMM, DMM so that whenever these are used, it will pop up in my email. It’s a great way to stay on top of this when you have limited time.I know it might not seem like it, but AADMM has been called upon more often to contribute to articles relevant to our industry, and here’s one that was recently published (November 2019). I spoke with the writer, Miriam Cross back in October. She also wanted to interview elder victims of fraud for her piece. https://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T048-C000-S002-watch-out-for-the-elder-fraud-web.html?fbclid=IwAR0pScFhQJyTafQ7VlzMcleloA6vq9TIoIu4IVzWe27srYvK1jvb-Ofb8-w
I happen to a big fan of Jean Chatzky, longtime personal finance writer who published her latest book, Women with Money in 2019. Jean’s researcher contacted AADMM in the summer of 2018 and I spoke with her. She included AADMM as a resource in the book. I took it with me on vacation and posted a pic on LinkedIn thanking her for the great information and for including AADMM. Here’s the post link which I shared with AADMM members on social media. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:65364382725860512077/
I’ve since spoken with her when she had a question about who provides oversight of DMM work. So I know we still have a lot of work to do, but over the past 8 years, I’ve seen much more interest and awareness about AADMM and DMMs. I’m excited for the new website and what we’ll be doing to increase awareness even more in the new year. Thanks again for all the comments!
Hi Holly,
Great question! I just checked mine and I remember my business was listed under Accounting services at one time but I had an issue with Quickbooks so I changed it to Social Advocacy organization (which is how I started my business before I found AADMM). In looking it over now, I agree with Yvonne that the 541219 seems to fit.
I’m also curious what others are using. Here’s the info from the NAICS site.
541219 541219 541219 Accountants’ (except CPAs) offices
541219 541219 541219 Accountants’ (except CPAs) private practices
541219 541219 541219 Accounting services (except CPAs)
541219 541219 541219 Billing services
541219 541219 541219 Bookkeepers’ offices
541219 541219 541219 Bookkeepers’ private practices
541219 541219 541219 Bookkeeping services
541219 541219 541219 Medical coding services combined with accounting services (except CPA services)Hi Jacquelyn,
I just saw your request as I was going to look at another forum question, so wanted to add my 2cents. My tagline is “Money Matters But People Matter More” which speaks to my DMM work as well as my social work background which has always been client-centered. I have liked several others but they were already “taken” so I’ll keep this for now. Good luck!
Barbara Boustead
608-515-4083Caitin – thanks for the information. Interesting, as I did call Dominion and was told that I could add an independent contractor under my current AADMM insurance. Dominion does not invoice the DMM business by how many are working but by the gross income of the business. The Dominion rep (it wasn’t Larry) recommended that I engage an attorney to draw up a contract between me and the independent contractor and until that person had a client or two, I wouldn’t even need to notify them. Maybe I should speak with them again to clarify. Thanks again!
Thanks so much Natalie. Yes, it is an awful situation but hopefully this article can help others so they know they are not alone. The more we raise awareness about this, maybe we can prevent others from falling victim. DMMs can be the answer in a proactive way when elders are needing assistance with financial matters.
Looking forward to the conference and seeing you there!!
Barbara
Hi Heather,
That’s an interesting question. Most of my senior clients have online banking and their bills don’t fluctuate that month so there is no need for a budget unless it might be for something specific, for instance vacation or holidays that are outside of the usual expenses. We also review the bank statement each month and go over expenses, especially those out of the ordinary to figure out why the discrepancy. Oftentimes, there is a visit from family so they like to “treat” everyone to a meal or two. The simplest way I know for someone who does not want to use an app or technology to track their money is to utilize a debit card like True Link https://www.truelinkfinancial.com/card/ for everyday expenses. Expenditures can be specific and customized so that the client isn’t able to use it for something he or she shouldn’t be purchasing (gambling, etc). I would not be responding to frequent calls from a client who chooses not to use technology but calls you instead. Maybe she prefers the actual contact and connection with you, so you may have to set boundaries in order for her not to continue to take advantage. The other option is she could contact the bank for balances, but this doesn’t give her the information about specific expense categories. Good luck!
Barbara Boustead
Hello Stephanie,
Welcome and Congratulations on your membership to AADMM! As Natalie stated, DMMs do work independently or for other agencies providing DMM services. However, as a member of the AADMM Board I was recently asked to respond to a journalist request. One of her questions was about oversight for DMMs and if there was an outside agency who provided this. There is no agency providing this type of oversight, but as AADMM members, we are required to have criminal background checks and also sign an agreement to abide by the AADMM code of ethics and standards of practice. In my DMM business, I am a solopreneur and provide my clients (or their POA/family member) with a detailed accounting of my work either via invoice or else a summary after each meeting. Since I work with clients in person, their checkbook/credit card info/online banking usually remains with them. I only do transactions that are authorized by the client or their rep. I keep their important documents in a file box that I work from in their residence as well, although with some family POAs, we use dropbox to share files. I also connect with the professionals involved with my client and introduce myself. I outline my responsibilities along with sending a signed consent form allowing me to speak with them. I do bank reconciliation and keep track of expenses and income, but do not use the term “accounting” or “bookkeeping” and specify that I am not a CPA. I am a trustee for one client and I had to complete a form and additional information to be vetted by them. Also, any expenses (including my invoices) needed to be accounted for via a monthly form that I submitted. I am a service provider for a program called SAIL, and had to submit an application which also requires an annual criminal background check so they feel pretty comfortable referring potential clients. Hope this is helpful and addresses your question. PS, I am also a social worker and many in our field haven’t heard about DMMs so I understand why you were asked the question 🙂
I’m sorry Wendy, I emailed it to wendy@balancedmm.com because the wsargent7407 didn’t go through. Can you send me your email barbara@marysdaughterllc.com. Thanks!
Hi Wendy,
Sometime back, Susie Marbury of Checks and Balances for You shared some of her business templates which was extremely helpful to many of us. Susie is the AADMM Virtual coordinator and has a lot of knowledge and experience as a DMM. I asked for permission to share which she granted, so I will send you the consent form via email.
Barbara Boustead
Hi Wendy,
Actually I did put together a life binder for several clients that included copies of their estate documents, legal information and medical forms and docs. It was really appreciated by the family members and POAs.
I labeled each section (medical, legal and financial, other) and included a listing of all the professionals involved. I kept this at the client’s residence and would update as needed. Having this as a stand alone service with the binder that could be updated (annually or as needed) is a great idea for clients who may handle their finances, but don’t care to maintain and keep track of all the financial, legal, and medical paperwork.I found a 3 hole punch transparent business card holder for all the professionals, so it’s easy to get contact info for them as they are all in one place. I started a binder like this for myself (but haven’t finished yet!)
Thanks for the question Roxanne. Really appreciate the responses and plan to try out the app Leah mentioned fearlessfinance.com which looks a lot like Mint but less detailed (which may work better for some). I sometimes use the client’s bank information on their website, like US bank offers this where you can see the spending over a certain period of time. This is a useful budgeting tool when there is one financial institution and maybe another one that is used for savings. I’ve also used https://www.personalcapital.com which is a bit robust and is a free budgeting tool that includes a “free advisor” consultation which you don’t have to use(but that’s how they make their money). If there are investments your clients want to track, this is a good one. Good luck!
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the question. I appreciate the responses from my wonderful colleagues Caitlin and Lynn, which show how DMMs do things differently. Prepaying postage for the client vs getting the postage supplies for them and having them pay the cost are both appropriate ways of handling this situation.
I’ve spoken with a number of DMMs who ask for the “right” way to provide services for their clients and my take is: if it is within our AADMM standards and ethics, your business should fit your style and comfort level.
Congratulations Heather!
Great job getting your first client. I will defer to my AADMM colleagues who work virtually, as I do not. My answer to your question is “Yes” I would bill to review his accounts. During my initial meeting with a prospective client I discuss the services I offer and whether I will take them on as a client. I may look at a few bills and collect some information (5-10 mins) but I do not start working until we’ve established what the contract includes, and so I do not bill for that consultation.
Once the contract is signed, the clock starts and I bill for reviewing their accounts and doing whatever work will get me up to speed to handling their finances. This is explained in the contract.
In your question about what to bill, what was the client told prior to him sending you his account information? If you are reviewing his bills and other information, hopefully you have a contract (incl a confidentiality clause) in place which lays out how and when you expect payment for services. Wishing you all the best with your new client!
PS. I’m also happy to speak with you offline if you want to discuss issues related to how and what to charge for your services. It helps to find out what other DMMs and financial professionals are charging in your region.
Barbara Boustead
608-515-4083
