As financial organizer / daily money manager, my objective is to bring more ease and order — to make a difference — in my clients’ lives. I achieve this in a variety of ways. Where do I start? I often start by tackling the big issues that are making life difficult for a client. Erratic bill-paying? I create a system …
Hit the Refresh Button
Making a New Year’s resolution? Chances are it’s to get better organized. So, as a financial organizer / daily money manager, how can I possibly ignore this topic? Here are my thoughts: Why pass up an opportunity to hit the “refresh” button? Along with the first signs of spring, the first day of school, etc., a new year gives us hope …
3 Essential Tips for Working with the Seniors in Your Life
I recently spoke to a local Rotary about my best tips, as an experienced financial organizer / daily money manager, for working effectively with seniors on their financial paperwork. Not everyone chooses, as I have, to make working with clients and their paperwork their career. But, with the aging population, you may find that you are called in help a …
Possessions: Why Decluttering is So Challenging
A few years ago, I was asked to speak about decluttering and organizing. As my audience took their seats, I offered a basket of letter openers bearing my company name, and invited them to help themselves. Then I began my talk. I mentioned the trap of freebies, suggesting that “a freebie isn’t really free.” Once we take them home, they …
Papa’s Bank Account: Financial Organizing and Dementia
It was a typical assignment for me as a financial organizer—help a senior couple simplify their paperwork and household finances. The husband had recently been diagnosed with dementia. Now that she had to handle all of the work herself, the wife wanted to streamline the bill paying and more. The discussion over his stopping driving had already taken place before …
How to Decide: Should I Stay or Should I Move?
Now that we have survived another Northeast winter, many of my senior clients are wondering, “Should I stay or should I move?” They often ask me for my input as their trusted advisor (daily money manager/ financial organizer). Here are some ideas I share with people going through this decision-making process. If you are a senior contemplating whether or not …
My First 100 Days as Your Financial Organizer
I’m often asked what I do as a financial organizer / daily money manager. (Understand, first, that I am not a financial planner or advisor; I don’t work with your investments.) So what should you or a family member of yours expect from working with me? What is my role? Why does someone contact me for help? In short: to …
“What Should I Do With All The Books?”
I grew up in a home full of books. My parents — avid collectors — took us to book fairs the way other kids are taken to the zoo. But my real education in the book world occurred when my mother moved into assisted living and eventually passed away, leaving thousands of books behind. I was left to figure out …
Meet Steve
Meet SteveSteve developed his strong organizational, problem-solving and “people” skills during a career as a business owner / entrepreneur; a business organizer / advisor / coach; and as a certified Professional in Human Resources (emeritus). To jump-start his knowledge of seniors’ needs, he studied for and obtained the professional designation of Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® in 2010. He maintains this …
Finding Memories on the Back of an Envelope
Clients expect me, as a financial organizer / daily money manager, to be all business, forging ahead with one goal in mind: to work with them and conquer their paperwork clutter. But my work as a financial organizer is more nuanced. After all, I am working with people, not just paper! The key to success in my close-to-10-years in business …