{"id":228958,"date":"2025-10-21T02:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T02:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/228958\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T02:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T02:57:07","slug":"i-thought-my-in-laws-were-responsible-with-their-money-then-i-got-a-look-at-their-accounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/228958\/","title":{"rendered":"I thought my in-laws were responsible with their money. Then I got a look at their accounts."},"content":{"rendered":"

Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here<\/a>. (It\u2019s anonymous!)<\/p>\n

Dear Pay Dirt,<\/p>\n

This spring we suddenly had to move my in-laws to assisted living. My mother-in-law\u2019s dementia was spiraling, and we discovered my father-in-law also has something similar. They had done a good job covering up what a mess their lives had become the past few years, and now we\u2019re slowly unspooling it.<\/p>\n

My husband has power of attorney, both financial and medical. We\u2019re through all the medical hoops, and I\u2019m now looking at their finances. Apparently a few years ago, they took everything out of their annuities\/IRAs and dumped it all into a standard checking account (not even a money market). They have about $130,000 in capital. Their house will sell soon, adding another $250,000 or so. My mother-in-law has long-term care insurance that covers $6,000 a month of memory care, and they both get pensions to the tune of $12,000 a month.<\/p>\n

Obviously we need to do something more responsible with their money. But I also give my mother-in-law months to live and father-in-law not much more. I don\u2019t see any big expenditures coming up, seeing as they can afford their care with wiggle room and have insurance. But I feel that we should have at least some liquid assets\u2026just in case. What sort of short term investments should we look into diversifying their money into? Can we open a Vanguard account on their behalf? Thank you!<\/p>\n

\u2014Not Thinking Clearly<\/p>\n

Dear Not Thinking Clearly,<\/p>\n

As I was reading your letter, I was worried that after dumping all their investments into a checking account, they\u2019d have lost it to some scam. But no, it\u2019s all there, just when they need it most. That\u2019s good news.<\/p>\n

More good news: They are fairly self-sufficient, with $12,000 per month in pension and another $6,000 in memory care for your mother-in-law. That $18,000 per month should pay for most of where they are right now, without putting a huge financial burden on you and your husband.<\/p>\n

While a checking account is extremely safe (unless someone steals their checkbook, which many of us leave lying around), it\u2019s not a great investment. After selling their home, your in-laws will\u00a0 have nearly $400,000 in cash. You\u2019re right: That needs to be invested.<\/p>\n

There are several short-term investments you should consider:<\/p>\n

\u2022 High-yield savings accounts: Currently offering 3-4 percent APY, these are FDIC-insured up to $250,000, so you won\u2019t have to worry about major financial risks or monthly fees. They\u2019re perfect for cash you might need to access at any moment.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Money market accounts: These offer above-average savings rates and easy access to cash with checking account features. They\u2019re also FDIC-insured, although you may be limited to no more than a handful of free withdrawals per month.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Short-term CDs: CDs are one of the safest investment options for seniors, allowing a fixed amount to be put away for a fixed time to generate a guaranteed return. Consider three, six and 12-month terms. To get even more flexibility, you could ladder these CDs, meaning you could buy a one-year CD every two months, which might help maximize your return while creating stable access to your money.<\/p>\n

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Regarding Vanguard, you can open accounts on their behalf, but heads up: Vanguard doesn\u2019t accept a \u201cregular\u201d POA and requires their own forms, including notarization and two witnesses. You\u2019ll need to complete their Full Agent Authorization<\/a> form to manage accounts there. It might be too much to accomplish, given the precarious state of your in-laws\u2019 health.<\/p>\n

Given their situation, I\u2019d recommend putting $150,000 to $175,000 in high-yield savings (giving you immediate access), $125,000 to$175,000 in laddered CDs, and the remaining funds in a checking account with online access, so your husband can easily pay bills.<\/p>\n

This gives you graduated levels of accessibility while earning reasonable returns. Since their monthly care costs are covered and you\u2019re dealing with a short timeline, being conservative with their cash makes sense. Keep good records of all transactions you make on their behalf. This protects everyone and ensures your husband is fulfilling his fiduciary duties properly.
I\u2019m sorry you have to go through this, but I\u2019m so glad for your in-laws that they have you and your husband to help.<\/p>\n

\u2014Ilyce<\/p>\n

More Money Advice From Slate<\/p>\n

I have a high-earning job but struggle with depression. I need to live with other people just for the social pressure of needing to shower.\u00a0I own a three-bedroom, two-bath condo in the heart of downtown. One bedroom is my office.\u00a0\u201cYuli,\u201d who lives in the guest bedroom, came to me because a friend of a friend knew they were homeless, and I needed a roommate.\u00a0We lived together for three years in harmony. I asked Yuli for a third of what a roomshare goes for in our city because they are clean, a good cook, and understand when to press me to get me out of my head or to leave me alone. Recently, my younger sister got tossed in the streets after her boyfriend bailed on rent. Her options are move home, where she hates our stepfather, move in the suburban hell with our sister and her babies, or stay with me.\u00a0I offered to put her up free for six months on an air mattress in my room. She declined because she \u201cdeserves\u201d her own space and wants my office.<\/a><\/p>\n

The latest sex, parenting, and money advice from our columnists delivered to your inbox three times a week.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here. (It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[8786,64,63,99,186,184,185,3637,13190],"class_list":{"0":"post-228958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-finance","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance","15":"tag-relationships","16":"tag-slate-plus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}