Real Answers for Life’s Money Challenges

My mother is 47 and has been increasingly paranoid about her death.

Shes not sickly or in bad shape.

Shes been getting better about managing her sudden diagnosis of diabetes.

An adult daughter brings flowers to her mother. Her mother is sitting at the kitchen table.

These are thebiggest money secrets rich people don’t tell you.

I think shes doing well for her age.

She works a full-time job and has little to no complaints.

She asks me if her policies will go to that debt?

Dear Penny

Will her 401(k) go toward those debts?

Or will it be safe for my sister and me?

(Her ex-husband/my father is estranged).

Article image

She has many years ahead of her.

What could she do to avoid that?

What is good advice for her at someone her age?

Article image

Its also normal that you, her loving daughter, dont want to contemplate life without your mom.

Maybe your mom is going a bit overboard.

Or perhaps it just appears that way to you if shes avoided talking death and money until now.

Butestate planningis essential even for young and healthy people.

Your Email AddressSend Your Question

DISCLAIMER: Questions will appear in The Penny Hoarders Dear Penny column.

We are unable to answer every letter.

We reserve the right to edit and publish your questions.

But dont worry your identity will remain anonymous.

Thank you for your question!

Your willingness to share your story might help others facing similar challenges.

While we cant publish every question we receive, we appreciate you sharing your question with us.

Ask Another Question

Your mom neednt worry that debt collectors will come after you or your sister.

Children generally arent responsible for their parents debts as long as they arent co-signers.

It sounds like these debts may be old enough that theyre past the statute of limitations, though.

In that case, collectors couldnt sue your mom over them or file a probate claim.

But not all assets go through probate.

If your mother has you and your sister listed as beneficiaries, the money goes directly to you both.

Even if your mother died deeply indebted, creditors couldnt touch that money.

My best advice for you, your mom and your sister is to have a deeply difficult conversation.

Talk about what the impact would be in the awful scenario that your mother died tomorrow.

Our team has compiled alist of creative waysyou can fatten your bank account this week.

This is a long list, so dont get overwhelmed.

Well keep it updated as offers changes or expire.

Clearly, her death would leave a huge void in your lives.

But Im assuming you and your sister are both self-supporting adults.

If thats correct, it sounds like this void wouldnt be financial.

You should also ask her whether she has a will and urge her to create one if she doesnt.

If your mom already has two life insurance policies, she probably doesnt need more life insurance.

Instead, she needs to prepare for the likelihood that shell live for another four or five decades.

That means maintaining solid health insurance now.

Bad credit doesnt matter much when you die, but it sure makes your living years harder.

Discussing your moms death will be scary for both of you.

But I think addressing the worst-case scenarios will set your minds at ease.

So talk through all the what-ifs, no matter how uncomfortable.

Doing so will free you both up to enjoy what I hope are many years ahead.

Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

Send your tricky money questions to[email protected].

Probably not as good as youd like.

It always seems like an uphill battle to build (and keep) a decent amount in savings.

But what if your car breaks down, or you have a sudden medical bill?

Ask one of these companies to help…