What Is a DMM?
Daily money management (DMM) help people who cannot handle their own financial affairs. Essentially, a daily money manager acts as a personal financial assistant. According to a survey conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the kinds of services that DMMs provide most often are:
- paying bills
- maintaining financial records
- preparing budgets
- balancing checkbooks, and
- negotiating with creditors.
DMMs can also prepare checks for clients to sign, help older people organize bank and financial records, prepare and deliver bank deposits, gather documents for tax returns, help decipher medical bills, and review bank statements in order to detect potential financial abuse or fraud.
DMM programs can be valuable for older Americans who:
- cannot keep track of bills and financial documents
- often forget to pay bills
- cannot write checks because of arthritis or other health problems
- have trouble getting to the bank
- can no longer manage money or finances, or
- are susceptible to financial scams.
There are many upsides to helping an older person handle their finances.
Help Maintain Independence
Studies show that DMM services can help seniors remain in their homes longer and avoid costly nursing home care. DMMs ensure that bills get paid on time, checks are deposited, and taxes get paid. This helps avoid eviction, foreclosure, utility shutoffs, and other debt trouble.
Relieve Burden on Caregivers
In most cases, when elders need help managing money, adult children or relatives step in. Yet often adult children live far away or have busy lives that make daily, hands-on money management difficult or impossible. DMMs provide adult caregivers relief from some or all daily money management tasks. Ideally, the elder’s children or relatives should oversee the DMM’s performance.
