Elderly father with €100k in current account.

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SlurrySlump

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My 85 year old father keeps anywhere between €30k and €100k in his current account and has done so for the past 30 years. He has a basic deposit account earning about 1% with a large sum of money in it. Despite being advised by family members over the years that the interest he is not earning would cover the cost of his gardener, VHI, car insurance, etc he will not listen. On the opposite if his "important" doctor told him to jump through a hoop and whistle dixie as it would be good for his health he would be asking us where he could purchase a suitable hoop to do just that. At this stage the family have given up on advising him but it is frustrating to see money being wasted. We would not approach his doctor to give him financial advice, should we just leave it?
 
SlurrySlump said:
Despite being advised by family members over the years that the interest he is not earning would cover the cost of his gardener, VHI, car insurance, etc he will not listen.
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It's a pity that he won't at least get a better rate on it by moving to Rabo (€10K @ 5% gross CAR), NR (balance at 4.3% gross CAR) or another similar deal but if he won't then that's his prerogative I guess. I have been telling my mother to do something similar and after initial hesitancy about dealing with relatively unknown (to her and lots of others) online only institutions she has decided to open a Rabo and NR account.
 
You could try approaching doctor to get him to listen to some financial advice from you, or from someone else, without getting the doctor to give any advice (which he could not do anyway) but be careful of who that "else" might be.
 
ClubMan said:
I see - wasn't listening carefully enough so...
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Maybe the doctor could examine your ears!

I've found, in my own family, that old people seem to want to stick with what they know. Maybe it's an independence thing and he doesn't want to be made feel like an old codger. I'm not suggesting this is what's happening at all, but maybe the sudden role reversal is difficult for him.

I would have taken a sideways approach to this problem, i.e. I'd have told him what I was thinking of doing with my money, brought along some details and asked which he thought was best. Having developed a 'financial' rapport with him, I'd hope he'd suggest a change in his own financial affairs. If he didn't, well so be it, it's his money after all and, although it's galling to see the banks making on him, he's still entitled to make his own choices.

The line in Hugh Leonard's 'Da' always reminds me of my own father. "He spent his life sitting on brambles, afraid to get up in case someone else took his place!"
 
Would elderly father be equally impressed by their accountants advice? Or by a financial advisers advice?
 
I would imagine his doctor telling him to do something that is good for his health would be appropriate, perhaps he feels that advise from your good self or other family members regarding his financial affairs is not appropriate.

I say this not having a clue what you do for a living, as although the doctor is qualified medic, regardless of whether or not you or others in family are qualified to give this advise, perhaps he would see it a being from son, daughter grandchild whichever, may not be as trustworthy.

If you want him to get this area of his life in order, get him to discuss it with and independant third party. The fact that he has a bank account perhaps his bank manager would be a good bet, or as stated by vanilla, and accountant etc
 
deem said:
The fact that he has a bank account perhaps his bank manager would be a good bet
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A terrible terrible idea...all you will get is a hard sell of epic proportions.
From what the OP outlined, this gentleman would be the exact type bank managers feed on. Thinking he's safe with a pillar of the community (priest, doctor, bank manager) your father will be sold and maybe mis-sold products from one supplier.
Bank managers love people like your father...people who still trust them.
 
This is like farmers keeping money in under the mattresses it still goes on

My mother is the same no matter how much i tell her , u'd be better off to put your money into certain account her arguement its there when i want it etc etc

Neighbour farmer was absolutely rich ,everyone knew it , and he still wou'dnt put money into bank
he was asking for someone to rob him, but he never listened, he died
not realizing in a way how much he could have enjoyed his money instead of leaving it all to far out relations who nevere showed any interest in the man when he was living
 
On the other hand one needs to be careful striking a balance between genuinely advising somebody on how they might be able to get a better deal and poking your nose into their affairs when it's not welcome.
 

Both of his sons worked in financial services for 30 years advising people like him on a daily basis. For some reason people "outside" the family are often seen as more intelligent than his own children. He often said that his manager in the local AIB, where he kept his account, was a lovely man. He, the manager, would give him a wave whenever he went in.
When it was said to him that the AIB manager wasn't doing him any favours, allowing him keep so much money in a current account rather than on deposit he wouldn't have a bad word said against him.
 
Did you/he see the Eddie Hobbs show last night- in case you didn't it was relevant in that he advised a lady in her 60s to take her savings out of her current account where it was earning a fraction of a percent and put it into Rabo bank or the likes- in the end she got her own bank- PTSB to give her 4% and Eddie advised that for her 30k ish that she would be getting 1400 or so a year in interest- enough to pay for a holiday. If your dad hasnt seen it, perhaps record it and play it for him? It's usually repeated within the week during the day I think?
 
You know the saying -
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
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If it were me, I'd just leave him alone. People in the autumn of their years tend to be suspicious and often more about family rather than strangers. They also have a need for security and a nice sum of money, even in a current account, provides that. However well intended it's highly unlikely he'll change a habit of thirty years.
Originally Posted by SlurrySlump
...if his "important" doctor told him to jump through a hoop and whistle dixie as it would be good for his health he would be asking us where he could purchase a suitable hoop to do just that.
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There you go.....!
 
At this stage the family have given up on advising him but it is frustrating to see money being wasted. We would not approach his doctor to give him financial advice, should we just leave it?
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My advice would be to just leave it. For starters, its his money and if he is not concerned with the loss of interest, its his business. Secondly, if takes his doctor's advice on health matters, he is not fool and has his priorities right ie,health first ,then money
 
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