My mother died when I was 17 and my father when I was 32. As a result, I never thought much about having to care for an aging family member. Then my favorite aunt, who lived alone, became terminally ill. As many of you know, that is when I moved to Florida to take care of her. For 28 months it was a labor of love – but one which I found over-whelming and was woefully ill-prepared.
My Harvard MBA prepared me for a lot of situations, but not for this one. However, business school and my 30-year career in business and nonprofit management trained me to quickly evaluate situations and problems, make decisions and execute plans. All of this was critical in my new situation. My aunt was an hourly worker with little education and was making poor daily living, financial and medical decisions. I took over managing her life. I paid her bills, handled her finances, helped with insurance matters and with the many other “business of life” issues. On the medical side, I identified physicians and specialists who understood her issues and found optimal solutions. When it became needed, I found home care, an assisted living facility and managed end-of-life tasks. In the process, I became a fraud specialist. I handled both the routine and complicated life issues for her which left us a lot time to enjoy each other.
Early on in this process, a close college friend of mine who is a top wealth management professional in Boston told me that many of her clients could use someone with my newly developed knowledge, skill set and compassion. I took her words to heart and started this business. I became a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) and an expert Daily Money Manager (DMM) which enabled me to professionally help people organize and manage their day-to-day lives. I have continued to expand my knowledge.
In addition to care management and advocacy, we also organize the non-investment side of client’s financial lives. As such, we pay bills; help with banking; create and manage budgets; manage medical and insurance issues; deal with creditors; assist with entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid; help prevent financial elder abuse, and fraud.
As the past seven years have progressed, we built a team and expanded our scope. We now serve a diverse client base that includes seniors, families with special needs, busy professionals, millennials and people facing new life situations due to death, divorce, unexpected medical events or accidents. We have become a “one-stop-shop” on a 24/7 basis for every aspect of their daily lives.
In my “spare time” I teach a course on smart aging at UM’s Ocher Life Long Learning Institute (OLLI) program. My work and life have converged so that every day there is a positive impact on our clients and families, on me and on our team. For this I have my aunt and my friend Claire to thank.
We have helped many others, we are growing and we are here for you and your loved-ones too. Whether you have a simple or complex problem, situation or issue we are here to help.
Whatever it takes, the Personal Affairs Management Group is here to make your life simple, reduce your stress and get things done. We specialize in helping all aspects of the day-to-day of busy professionals, families and seniors. We have a team devised to tackle and manage concerns that many may have. If you have questions or need information about you or your loved one’s life management issues, please reach out to us. We are here to make your life simple, secure and stress-free. Call us at 305-646-1833 or email at Corrine@