Jackie Melinger is the owner-operator of My Personal Bookkeeper, a service that helps adults organize and manage their personal finances. Jackie and her team of Client Advocates work with older adult clients to provide peace of mind and enable them to maintain independence, while their families and professional advisors feel confident and secure that their parent's or client's financial affairs are handled properly. Jackie, along with her husband Michael, also owns three Home Instead franchises in the Chicagoland area.
From Nursing-Home Administrator to Financial Advocate for Seniors
Ben: Can you tell me about your background and how it led you to work in the space with older adults?
Jackie: I started working in nursing homes in my 20s.
- I studied public relations and marketing in undergrad, then earned a master's in human resources
- A nursing-home administrator thought my academic background made for a great combination to do admissions and marketing in the nursing-home arena
- I worked my way up to becoming a nursing-home administrator, until I stopped to start my family
Ben: What was it like working in a nursing home?
Jackie: It's not easy. I was really working 24/7. I slept with my pager next to me at night and was always thinking about what was going on at work. I felt very responsible for the well-being of every resident.
What My Personal Bookkeeper Does for Older Adults
Ben: What's My Personal Bookkeeper?
Jackie: My Personal Bookkeeper assists people with paying bills, managing their bookkeeping and budgets, insurance, and household finances.
Ben: How does My Personal Bookkeeper help people?
Jackie: There's a wide range of how we help:
- Making sure bills are paid on time
- Reviewing bills to catch overcharges or negotiate better rates
- Reviewing credit-card statements to avoid fraud
- Organizing insurance EOBs and making sure those bills are paid correctly
- Helping clients keep track of their financial life and feel more organized
Each client is different. For example, one couple in their 70s hired us because, though still healthy, they recognized they were slowing down and worried their loved ones wouldn't know how to access their funds, insurance policies, or legal documents if something happened. We helped them build a Master Plan Document listing every piece of information their children might need in an emergency.
Often, when a parent starts slowing down, they don't want their children taking over their financial life, it can cause friction between siblings, or they simply don't want to burden their kids. It can feel like a loss of independence. Hiring an outside advocate lets us step in while our clients still make the major decisions; we just help guide them.
What the Onboarding Process Looks Like
Ben: What is the process like?
Jackie: We start with a phone call or Zoom meeting.
- Pre-pandemic, we met face-to-face with every potential client
- The pandemic pushed us toward remote methods, which have in some ways streamlined our process
- Most clients still have in-person visits, but some work is done remotely, and we now have fully remote clients
- We often help clients set up online bill pay or automate transactions to make things run more smoothly
Why Families Often Wait Too Long to Get Help
Ben: Do clients typically join your service later than they probably should have? How often are clients working with you proactively vs. reactively?
Jackie: We usually come in because there's some chaos going on.
- In the initial meeting, we learn about the client's true pain points, often with a family member or professional partner involved for support
- We set goals, prioritize, and build an action plan
- Some clients would have benefited from starting earlier, but simply weren't ready
You'd be amazed how many older adults haven't filed tax returns in years, cognitive decline can make it easy to lose track. One client's accountant retired, and seven years went by without her filing any tax returns; she'd just been sending random checks to the IRS. We connected her with a trusted accountant, helped gather the necessary documents, and she actually received refunds for several of those years.
A Common Financial Pitfall: Over-Donating to Charity
Ben: What are some common financial challenges you come across at this stage?
Jackie: Over-donating is really common.
- Once you donate to a charity, you keep receiving mail asking for more
- Without tracking, it's easy to think "I meant to donate but maybe I never sent a check," and donate again
- Many older adults end up donating to the same charity two or three times instead of once
With charitable clients, we typically start by tracking their donations and suggesting they hold off until year-end, once their financial picture is clearer, to decide what and how much to give.
Creating a Master Financial Document for a Smooth Handover
Ben: How should finances be organized so a "handover" of responsibilities can be as seamless as possible?
Jackie: Ideally, there's a master document containing all pertinent details of an individual's financial life, institutions, account numbers, passwords, along with estate-related information.
- It should be kept safe but easily accessible to the individual, a Client Advocate, a professional advisor, and/or family member
- This matters for daily living, but especially in case of a medical crisis that leaves the individual incapacitated
Ben: When is it time to do this?
Jackie: As soon as possible. Completing the initial list can feel daunting, but a Client Advocate can help. It should be revisited annually and updated as needed.
Keeping Adult Children Informed Without Overstepping
Ben: How do you help set expectations for adult children who didn't realize, until they called you, how much chaos their parents were dealing with?
Jackie: We try to keep them involved, but as long as the parent can still make decisions, it's up to them who they want involved.
- In most cases, parents do want their children informed
- After each visit, we send a summary email, sometimes copying all the adult children
- We include a to-do list so it's clear what we're handling and what we might need their help with
Ben: What are the biggest mistakes people make in this transition?
Jackie: Assuming the "transition" is quick and easy, and the only time older adults will need financial help. Bills may have gone unpaid, checks lost, taxes not filed, leaving a hole to dig out of. It takes time and patience to get back on track.
How Adult Children Can Prepare for This Moment in Advance
Ben: What advice do you have for adult children to better prepare?
Jackie: Planning and documentation matter most.
- Make sure legal documents are in place: the Will, Trust documents, and Power of Attorney for both Property and Healthcare
- Involve trusted professionals in the planning process
- Most importantly, have the courage to talk with your parents well in advance, while they're still healthy
Take time to learn what they want as they age, what they don't want, and their current and projected financial position. These conversations are difficult but necessary. Consider asking:
- "Mom and dad, what is your financial position for retirement?"
- "Are you going to be able to afford to live life the way you want to in your older age?"
- "Do you have long-term care insurance?"
- "Do you have life insurance?"
- "Do you want to remain at home if you can afford to?"
- "Do you want to move to assisted living or a more social community setting?"
You don't need every detail, just a general understanding. If parents aren't ready to talk it through, ask them to put it in writing instead. Talking about end-of-life wishes is hard, but doing it while they're still healthy, and documenting it, means the right information will be there later, even if cognitive issues arise.
About the Author:
To learn more about Jackie, please check out her author profile page.