An introduction to the course by course creator, David Russell.

Our course begins with a lesson on aging. What does aging mean, and when is someone old? We’ll learn different definitions of aging, and how they influence the way we think about older people.

In this lesson, we’ll examine the mental processes involved in cognition and memory. You will learn the difference between normal age-related cognitive decline and cognitive diseases, and you will understand how aging affects the different kinds of memory functions we possess.

In this lesson, we discuss the three legal concepts of Capacity, Consent, and Undue Influence. You will learn that capacity is a fluid definition that depends on circumstances and context, and that consent can only be given when capacity is possessed. Next, we will discuss undue influence and how it is used to manipulate someone away from the exercise of their free will, and how you can protect your aging loved-one from it.

In this lesson, you will learn about elder financial abuse; why it often goes unreported, and who the perpetrators of elder financial abuse are. You will understand the various ways that elders can be taken advantage of, and how you can protect your aging loved-ones from becoming a victim.

We devote two lessons to the topic of working together as a family, and explore why caregiving can create divisions between family members as well as how it can bring families together. The culmination of these lessons is the adoption of a family caregiving code of honor to guide the behavior of all family members towards an aging loved one.

We begin our lessons on the four P’s of financial caregiving which are the 

• People
• Property
• Programs, and
• Plans

that you will need to know about to effectively manage the financial life of another.

The first P is the People that you’ll need to know about in your aging loved-ones life. We’ll explore three groups of people:

• Family & Relatives
• Medical Professionals
• Professional Advisors

and what a financial caregiver needs to know about these three groups. 

We divide the discussion on Property into two lessons. In part one, we look at the various property types that your parents may own, and what the evidence of ownership is for each property type. 

In the second lesson, we discuss how different properties can be titled, that is how they may be owned by your loved one, and the effect that ownership title may have on the financial caregiver’s ability to effectively manage it, as well as how it may be passed at the owner’s death.

We devote the next six lessons to understanding the various programs that your aging loved one may receive benefits from, including:

1. Understanding Social Security
2. Managing Your Parents’ Social Security Benefits
3. Medicare Parts A & B
4. Medicare Advantage (Part C) and Drug (Part D) Plans, and Medicare Supplement Plans
5. Medicaid Planning
6. Veterans Benefits

The last five lessons deal with the various Plans that your aging loved-ones have (or should have) in place that contemplate the inevitable last stages of life. These lessons include:

1. Plans for loss of independence and end of life decisions
   1. Guardianships and Conservatorships
   2. Durable Power of Attorney
   3. Living Wills and Medical Directives
2. Plans for long-term care
   1. Living Arrangements
   2. Paying for Care
3. Plans for Funeral and Burial Services
4. Plans for Estate Distribution (Part 1)
   1. Ways to leave assets at death
   2. Advantages of a Will
   3. Roles and responsibilities
   4. Understanding Probate
5. Plans for Estate Distribution (Part 2)
   1. Leaving property by title
   2. Beneficiary property
   3. Trusts – control from the grave

In our final lesson, we’ll discuss how caregiving can impact your own personal financial plan, and ways that you can safeguard your own plans from being derailed by the caregiving burden.