Most men feel indebted to their parents for the way they were raised. This indebtedness is more profound if a man has younger siblings who need his financial help.

Every month, most people take a black tax, which they send back home to assist their parents and siblings get by.

This black tax, and the financial obligations borne out of indebtedness and guilt, can mess up your finances and ability to grow wealth.

So how can you ensure that you are able to support your parents and siblings without destroying your own money or converting this help into the source of your mental anguish? Here are the five steps you need to take:

Health insurance

Your elderly parents are bound to attract multiple health conditions. This is due to their weak immune system as a result of advanced age. Some of these conditions can be long term and costly to treat or manage directly from your pocket or bank account.

To avoid getting strained financially, look out for policy covers that are tailored for elderly people. The majority of these covers cater for hospitalization, surgery, physiotherapy, drugs and dressings.

Some cover for extra expenses such as treatment and surgery in foreign countries.

James Mwangi gets Sh. 71 million salary increase. See his monthly salary

“Minimum and maximum age allowed, medical history, underlying health conditions, budget and the minimum limits required are the primary factors you should look out for when taking a health cover for an elderly person aged 60 and above,” says Nancy Aketch, the managing director of Taraji Insurance Agency.

Funeral policy

Funerals are among the costliest expenditures that families undertake. The children left behind by departed elderly parents feel obliged to give them decent and expensive last respects.

However, few people are able to raise funeral funds by themselves. Yet, a survey by the Association of Kenya Insurers in 2018 shows that only 3 per cent of Kenyans have taken funeral insurance.

The same survey reveals that funeral expenses in Kenya cost families between Sh. 50,000 and Sh. 2.5 million. Taking a funeral policy doesn’t mean you want your parents dead. Arrange for one that is easy to pay for and has a wide range of coverage.

All leading insurers in Kenya provide a form of funeral plan that caters for expenses such as mortuary fees, cost of casket, hearse, flowers, funeral programs and the refreshments taken during burials. Some premiums are as low as Sh. 250 per month.

Inua Jamii

If your parents were not formally employed or if they don’t earn a pension, you can enlist them in the government’s Inua Jamii program. This program provides monthly welfare support of Sh. 2,000 to each elderly person.

The Inua Jamii Cash Transfer Fund that is operated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection through the State Department for Social Protection. To qualify, your parent is supposed to be aged seventy years and above.

Their accounts and investments

If your parents have bank accounts, and investments such as shares, take steps to update, automate and enroll their accounts online.

This will facilitate easy monitoring and access of their funds such as pension payments. “The aim is to have your parents at a point where they can go through their financial life without having the trouble of visiting the traditional bank,” says Howard Gleckman, the author of Caring for Our Parents.

Find ways you can simplify and trim their budget as much as is comfortable. “Don’t overspend. An elderly person may no longer need lots of luxuries such as premium pay television and high end cars. Their needs are pretty simple just as their lives are,” says personal finance coach Edward Okumu.

Role reversal

Don’t wait until your parents are elderly and ailing to set up a financial support system for them. Start now by informing them about the reversed care roles.

“Parents may have difficulties accepting a role reversal, but it is important to start conversations that will lead to a mutually beneficial support system,” says Okumu.

You can offer examples of how this support system will work. If there is significant estate involved, find ways to draw up a formula of how the responsibilities your parent might be unable to fulfill such as banking services will be done.

“The estate planning law in Kenya has provisions that allow for the financial power of attorney. This can allow you to make financial decisions on behalf of your elderly parents,” says Okumu.

Instances where you can apply for the power of attorney include the occurrence of age related ailments such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Okumu cautions that you must realize the money you’ll handle on behalf of your parents isn’t yours unless an estate plan has stipulated so.