Nancy was an invaluable and long-time financial assistant to our father.
She worked once per week for 3 – 3.5 hours, while our father resided in an independent then assisted living situation in the Princeton, NJ area. Our father was extremely organized and detail-oriented, and he was able to ‘oversee’ his personal and financial affairs until quite late in life. He preferred retaining oversight of his personal and family investment matters, in conjunction with his children. But he sought assistance with all non-investment related financial matters.
Nancy’s weekly duties were always accomplished very efficiently, which demonstrated to us that her capabilities went far beyond the financial/bookkeeping assistance provided to our father. Some of her duties included, but were not limited to the following:
- Retrieving and processing mail and email
- Paying bills; troubleshooting any issues related to same
- Reconciling bank statements; discussing banking matters with family members overseeing same
- Creating and maintaining an estate book for end-of-life – including important contacts
- Assuring computer, phone, and wifi connectivity
- Researching medical insurance policies for our father and a dependent adult family member with special needs
- Establishing online accounts as-needed
- Assisting with compiling annual personal income tax preparation packages for our father and family trust for submittal to accountant
- Maintaining files as-needed
- Corresponding with family members on as-needed basis
As our father’s vision and health deteriorated, Nancy stepped in on own initiative and provided assistance with non-financial tasks as-needed and without interfering with assisted living support. Ultimately – Nancy became a part of the family, trusted advisor, valued friend and aide to our father.