There’s no denying that helping your parents sort out their finances can be a daunting task. How well they respond to your offer to help, how organized they are and how spread out their finances are – these can all be contributors to the difficulty of the job. But it is doable, and with a little help for yourself, you’ll find you can get all those figures under control.

First, there’s actually getting your parents to allow you to participate. If they’re particularly reluctant, you can always just ask them to speak to an elder-care attorney. This article shows that that might be a good idea no matter the case: the attorney quoted in the post says he spends most of his time fixing the mistakes people made when they tried to do everything themselves. Your parents should also, at the least, tell you where they keep their financial information in case of an emergency.

If you’re able to actually help them with a budget, be sure to schedule that time for when everyone is relaxed. Don’t lump it into when you’re already going to take them to a doctor’s appointment – many people, whether or not they tell you, can become anxious before appointments. Try to schedule a time to sit down with some kind of reward at the end: a nice dinner out or a visit with the grandkids.

Don’t necessarily use your own budget as a template for theirs. They may have expenses you wouldn’t think of at first, like extra money for medical equipment, incontinence supplies or higher insurance premiums.

With a lot of patience, you can work together with your parents to get them financially set. Good luck, and let us know if you have any advice you’d like to share in the comments.