Related Services - The following directories of companies and services offer a wide variety of financial programs to assist you with handling your debts. Consolidate your bills with a debt consolidation loan or use a debt management or credit counseling service for help with your credit card bills and other payments.

• Debt Management Help - Do you feel that your credit card bills are stacking up with nowhere for you to turn? Your problem is not unique. Signing up with debt management firm may be the right solution to your debt problems. Review different firms offering these services to determine if this is the correct option for you.
• Personal Loan Companies - This type of lending is most often structured as an unsecured debt. This means your personal property or house will not used as collateral. Your approval (or denial) will usually be based upon your payment / credit history and your ability to repay the loan. This type of credit is also often called a signature loan.
• Debt Consolidation Services - If you have a large amount of  credit card and other debts, now may be a good time to consolidate your debt and lower your payments.

For Financial Caregivers:

Helping Disabled or Elderly Relatives With Money Management, Even From Far Away

After an Illness or Disability

The following should be on a family's checklist after a serious health problem:

Get solid financial and legal advice from professionals you know and trust. Contact bankers, lawyers, accountants, insurance agents or financial planners your family has dealt with in the past. Ask how they'd recommend you deal with money matters and how they can assist.

Guard against frauds that target the vulnerable. Among the saddest and costliest issues facing families is fraud and theft committed against the disabled or elderly by unscrupulous relatives, contractors, caregivers, friends, neighbors or other individuals. These sinister acts cover a wide range of lies and deception, including cashing checks without permission and changing legal documents to give this other person rights to conduct transactions or take ownership of property.

"First, it helps to have a trusted family member who is in regular contact with a disabled or elderly relative and, if necessary, helps review bank and investment account statements to look for unusual activity," said Linda Ortega, an FDIC Community Affairs Officer. "Beyond that, there are precautions to take, including arranging for direct deposit of Social Security or government payments, and making sure that checkbooks and credit cards are properly protected."

To learn more about how to avoid or report elder fraud, contact your state's Adult Protective Services department.

For more help or information for financial caregivers: The U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, helps older Americans and their caregivers connect with state and local government agencies and community-based organizations that can assist with a variety of problems. Call 1-800-677-1116 or go to http://www.eldercare.gov to use the AoA's Eldercare Locator service and obtain valuable information. Also find resources for caregivers from the U.S. government at http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Health/caregivers.shtml.

FDIC Consumer News is published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FDIC Consumer News is produced quarterly by the FDIC Office of Public Affairs in cooperation with other Divisions and Offices. It is intended to present information in a nontechnical way and is not intended to be a legal interpretation of FDIC or other government regulations and policies. Mention of a product, service or company does not constitute an endorsement.

Find current and past issues of FDIC Consumer News at http://www.fdic.gov/consumernews. Refer to this same index to locate the issues that are specially formatted for being reprinted in any quantity.

To receive an e-mail notice about each new issue of FDIC Consumer News posted on the FDIC Web site, with links to stories, follow instructions posted at www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Last updated on 05/13/2008

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