Money problems can be an early sign of dementia

Financial files in disarray. Late payments and last-warning service-cutoff notices. Multiple daily bank withdrawals. Out-of-character purchases. When a family member who has been fairly responsible with money all their lives becomes careless with their finances, it may be one sign of as-yet-undiagnosed dementia.

Researchers found that in the five years before a dementia diagnosis, a person’s average credit scores may start to weaken and their payment delinquencies rise. Their findings echo the results of a 2020 study.

Marcey Tidwell, who lives in Bloomington, Indiana, said those findings are ’not remotely shocking.’ Tidwell’s mother was diagnosed with a form of dementia in 2020 and has been living with her daughter ever since. After going through her mother’s papers this year, Tidwell surmises that her mother’s memory started faltering around 2015.

Karen Lemay, who lives in Ottawa, Canada, knew something was really wrong with her father in 2022 when she saw piles of late-payment notices and final-notification warnings from service providers and insurers. Her father was a former finance executive who ‘was very conservative with his money, very smart about it and never reckless with it,’ she said. Yet Lemay discovered he owed $50,000 in charges, interest and late payment fees on a Visa card. He also financed the purchase of a new car he didn’t need.