“Mom and Dad need help” was how the discussion began. Mom and Dad were very proud, loving parents, just wanting to do the best for their only daughter. Their daughter was the emergency contact person for their affairs, and although they still handled all their own affairs, on that day, they got a worrying call. A utility company had called to say Mom and Dad’s bills were in arrears and they risked losing service if it was not cleared up. Even though they were in their mid-eighties, Mom and Dad still lived in their own home and handling things well, or so it seemed. The daughter and her husband decided to help out and made arrangements to pay all of their parent’s utility bills. Mom and Dad were so grateful.

Years had passed and a family decision was made to move Mom and Dad into an assisted living facility. When it came time to sell the family home, an inspection was ordered. They wanted the house in top shape so it would fetch a great price. The more they got for the home, the more money there would be for their ongoing care. The house seemed cold when the heating inspection came. It was a mystery why some rooms just had no heat. After some closer inspection, things became very clear. In several heat ducts, there were blockages, not dust and dirt but bags that were very similar to a Crown Royal bags, and they were heavy. When the first bag was removed, the son and daughter stood in amazement when they were opened. Inside were gold and silver wafers. This chain of events brought more questions and unfortunately, Mom and Dad had experienced some cognitive decline. They sort of remembered the precious metals in the heat vents and thought there might be other “stuff” in the house; the search was on.

Mom and Dad lived a very modest life, they had lived through the Depression when they were very young and wanted better for their daughter. They were very frugal, always comfortable and happy, never doing anything extravagant.

The daughter and son began an in depth search of the home. They started finding share certificates, bank and brokerage records in all kinds of hiding spots. Certificates on the underside of drawers in the kitchen, on the backside of paintings, literally, under the mattress, on the underside of their dresser. Thankfully, when Mom and Dad moved into their care facility the daughter and son had arranged for Power of Attorney. As they learned more, there were bank and brokerage accounts at several firms. It became a twisted nightmare of trying to figure out how everything worked, where their money was and how to make it more manageable. Mom and Dad thought they were making things more safe by “diversifying”, having small accounts at every bank and brokerage but piecing it all together was a huge task for their daughter.

The daughter and son-in-law consolidated the holdings for Mom and Dad, and when it was all added up, there was in excess of five million dollars. It had taken a tremendous amount of time and effort to uncover all of this and one of the most difficult things for the daughter and son-in-law was not knowing if they had found everything. Mom and Dad’s cognitive decline had advanced to a point that were not of any assistance. They decided to be content with what they had discovered; Mom and Dad had more than enough for their lifetimes and anything remaining would greatly help the daughter and her husband.

Consolidating holdings can be a daunting task but it comes down to having a trusted advisor that cares and truly understands your goals and how you think about money. Imagine if you are passing on a task like this to your beneficiaries. The intent is likely to be creating more security by diversifying across several institutions but being spread out becomes an even bigger daunting task for the person who will look after you should you not be able to do so yourself.