Janet Berry-Johnson, CPA, CFEI

10/26/2026

Feeling scared about your aging parents' situation? Every one of these is fixable, but it costs a lot less to fix before a crisis than during one.

What's the scariest thing you've found in your parents' files?

10/26/2026

Your parent could own a long-term care insurance policy and forget about it. A policy only helps if someone knows it exists.

Watch the full episode on YouTube at the link in my profile or listen to Caring for Your Aging Parents wherever you listen to podcasts.

10/23/2026

Being capable doesn’t mean you have unlimited capacity.

Your life and retirement planning need to stay on the list while you sort out your parents’ care. That’s harder when every unfinished task (paying bills, refilling medications, doctor’s appointments, insurance claims, etc.) defaults to you.

Start by documenting what needs attention and who will handle it. Tasks nobody has agreed to take on are a conversation, not an automatic assignment to you.

Save this before you take on more of your parent’s care.

10/22/2026

Financial caregiving is hard when your parent’s password manager is a collection of scraps of paper, Post-its, and envelope backs.

If you live far away and manage your parent’s money, that system won’t work. The usual workaround is to share logins and text codes back and forth. But 2FA exists to protect people from fraud, and fraudsters particularly target older adults, so the goal is to work with those security steps rather than around them.

In this week’s Substack newsletter, I cover options for getting the access you need without putting your family at risk.

How to manage a parent’s financial accounts from a distance, work with 2FA instead of around it, and retire the Post-its for good.

10/22/2026

Which costs more: in-home care or assisted living. It depends on our location and the level of help your parent needs. In this week’s episode of the Caring for Your Aging Parents podcast, Lynn and I talk about your options so you can estimate costs for your own family.

Find it wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube at the link in my bio.

10/21/2026

One extra step could save your parent's savings.

Most scam-prevention advice focuses on warnings to watch for. But warnings rely on your parent recognizing the scam in the moment, which isn't always realistic, especially under pressure.

A more effective approach is building in friction on purpose. Small delays and extra steps that slow a scammer down, even if your parent doesn't catch the red flags themselves.

One way to do this is to set up a waiting period on large bank transfers or withdrawals, if your parent's bank offers it. You might also be able to add a trusted contact to their bank or brokerage account, so the institution has someone to call if something looks off. You can also remove saved payment info on their phone, tablet, or computer so they can't complete an impulse spend in one click.

The goal is to build a system where a bad decision takes an extra step, and that extra step might stop a scam.

10/21/2026

When you step in to help a parent, it’s easy to put your own retirement last.

In this clip from the Caring for Your Aging Parents podcast, Lynn and I discuss how to protect your financial future while you take care of theirs.

10/20/2026

Moving to a no-tax or low-tax state doesn't always mean no more state taxes.

Say your parent moves from a high-tax state to Florida or Texas expecting to stop paying that state's income tax. It might not be that simple.

High-tax states don't just take your word for it that you've left. If your parent kept a home, a driver's license, voter registration, or even strong social ties in the old state, that state can argue your parent never actually established residency elsewhere, and can come after them for taxes on income earned after the "move."

To make an out-of-state move stick, your parent generally needs to get a driver's license and register to vote in the new state, update their address everywhere and spend the majority of the year (usually 183+ days) physically in the new state. They might also sell or rent out the old home instead of keeping it as a part-time residence.
Be sure to keep records like utility bills, credit card statements, travel records, anything that documents where they live.

Has your family dealt with a state residency question like this?

10/19/2026

Dementia care can strain a family’s finances fast. On the Caring for Your Aging Parents podcast, Lynn and I walk through how to start planning for costs now so you can make decisions before a crisis forces them. Find it wherever you listen to podcast or follow the link in my bio to YouTube!