Shifting Control of Personal Finances With a Daily Money Manager

How to choose the right professional when you or a loved one needs help with finances like bill paying.

Charles Rotblut leads a class in AAII's new Essential Investing Video Course. Go to https://www.aaii.com/ves for more information and to subscribe.

  • Roles and responsibilities of daily money managers for different client needs
  • How daily money managers collaborate with other financial professionals
  • Questions to ask when choosing a daily money manager

Susie Marbury, CDMM, is the president of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM). She is also the founder and owner of Checks & Balances for You. Cynthia McLaughlin and I spoke to Marbury about the role of daily money managers (DMMs) and transitioning control of managing personal finances to a close relative or a daily money manager.
—Charles Rotblut, CFA

Cynthia McLaughlin (CM): For those who are unfamiliar with daily money managers, could you explain what they do?

Susie Marbury: The essential thing that a daily money manager does is help clients get their bills paid on time. We balance their accounts: checking accounts, credit cards, etc. We make sure that their financials look okay, monitoring their accounts for unusual activity.

There are also different niches that daily money managers work within. There is the senior niche, there’s the high net worth niche and there’s the busy professional niche. Now there is a millennial and younger niche targeted toward people who are starting out and need help trying to get their finances in order.

Part of what I’m saying will depend on the niche, but certainly for seniors another common activity is helping them make sure that their medical claims have been filed properly. If they get a bill, the daily money manager will look at the explanation of benefits (EOB) and make sure it looks correct. They don’t file claims or get into the medical aspects, but they check to make sure the dollar amounts look like they make sense.

Some daily money managers go to clients’ homes and work with them side by side, writing checks and letting the client sign them. Other daily money managers—I think more and more, especially since the coronavirus pandemic—are doing more things online and have access to a bank account that they can pay bills from. In general, it’s really about helping to manage the day-to-day finances.

Then there are always those ancillary activities. A client needs help with something or doesn’t know how to make a decision about something, and—assuming it has a financial impact of some sort—the daily money manager will help. Most likely, the daily money manager will get on the phone with the client and whoever the issue is with and will help the client talk through it.

That’s the general gist.

CM: It sounds like a very broad-reaching role.

Yes, it is, and it’s very different with every client. Some aspects of the job are the same, but the other aspects are very different because it depends on the client’s personality and how well they’re doing physically, mentally and emotionally.

CM: How do daily money managers interact with a financial adviser, a tax attorney or other professionals that either the client or their family work with?

In general, daily money managers like to feel like we’re part of a team that’s helping the client. We ask the client to introduce us to the other people who assist them. We get to know their certified public accountant (CPA), financial planner, geriatric care manager and whoever else is involved. That’s the preferred method.

For our clients, we don’t do anything with their investments. Their financial planner does all of that and we just manage the bills. We may track the monthly balance of their finances in Quicken. So, I know this month they have $1 million, next month they have $900,000, etc., but we don’t look at any of the details of what’s going on. We’re just giving them an idea of what their balance is in conjunction with their other accounts.

I think there are some daily money managers who may have more interaction in that regard, if they have the necessary credentials to do so. And again, it depends on what the client wants.

CM: What is the process for becoming certified as a daily money manager?

The initial requirements are that you have both worked as a daily money manager and received payment for doing so for 1,500 hours over a three-year period. You must demonstrate that you have been doing daily money management.

There is an exam that is given. If you pass the exam, you become a Certified Daily Money Manager (CDMM). Once you become certified, there’s a continuing education requirement that you must meet to recertify every three years.

Charles Rotblut (CR): There’s a background check too, right?

Every member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM) has a background check. This began a few years back. The certification program had a background check before that, and it is part of the certification process. Now everybody who is an AADMM member receives a background check. I’ll add that you don’t have to be an AADMM member to be a CDMM.

CM: Are daily money managers insured and bonded?

Being insured and bonded is not a requirement, to my knowledge. Our company is insured. To me, that is important. I want to tell our current and potential clients that if we mess up, we have insurance that’s going to cover the mistake we made. It will make the clients whole.

What Does a Daily Money Manager Do?

Daily money managers oversee personal daily money matters such as bills, budgets and recordkeeping. The actual services they provide vary by the daily money manager and the needs of each client, but their services generally include:

  • Bill paying, including calls to payees regarding incorrect bills and preparation of payments for client approval
  • Reconciling checking accounts and investment statements
  • Preparing and making bank deposits
  • Organizing tax documents
  • Negotiating with creditors
  • Reviewing medical insurance papers and verifying proper processing of claims
  • Providing general organization of financial papers and systems
  • Referring clients to legal, tax and investing professionals and to community resources

CM: When you start acting as a daily money manager for someone, do you ever run into a situation where you see a lot of problems or mistakes?

We certainly have. There’s one client we started with just two or three years ago. She seemed like she was really aware of what was going on, but there were indications that she was making choices that were not necessarily good. As time went on, it was determined she had dementia, and she’s now in a care facility.

There are red flags we might see that alert us. Subscriptions to 15 different magazines, clients getting phone calls that say, “Buy this” and buying it, things like that.

We’ve certainly had clients who have progressed from being fully there to less there. We’ve needed to talk to their power of attorney more frequently and verify things that are going on. We’ve also had clients, at any age, who have trouble managing their money and/or overspending. We can make recommendations, give suggestions, put together a spending plan, monitor and alert them to what’s going on. But unless a daily money manager is also certified as a money therapist or something else, we don’t cross that boundary. There are daily money managers who have different certifications.

At the end of the day, we can’t tell somebody, “We are taking your money away from you. You can’t handle the money, so you can’t have it.” We can’t do that, and we don’t want to do that.

CR: Are there certain warning signs that a person needs help? Can problems be identified before someone signs up for 15 magazine subscriptions or runs up shopping bills?

Falling for scams is one. There are various things that people might notice. A person’s family starts to notice stacks of bills that have been pushed off to the side. Alternatively, someone in the family gets a notice and finds out that their loved one hasn’t paid their utility bill for several months.

In terms of actual dementia, one thing I have observed is that when a client seems unusually paranoid, it is often a little sign of the beginnings of dementia.

CR: I’ve seen dementia-related paranoia about money firsthand. In terms of transitioning the management of personal finances, are there things people can do to ease the process?

The first thing that we would do if meeting with a client is find out what their concerns are and why they contacted us in the first place.

One thing I have seen is clients who feel like they must have everything in order to give it to us. This line of thought causes things to keep getting worse because if they don’t have time or capacity to put it in order in the first place, they’re not going to do it in the next few weeks or months. So, I think it’s better for the clients to find a daily money manager.

They will need to find a daily money manager that they feel comfortable with. They will need to look at the AADMM website, check the references and ask if the daily money manager has insurance. When they meet with a prospective daily money manager, they should assess their compatibility with that person because they will need to let the daily money manager get in and find out all the details and put things together. The entire process may take a little bit of time, but it’s important to be thorough.

If somebody has been managing everything and things are organized, it’s easy to turn control over to a daily money manager. But once it starts to get out of control, I don’t think it’s going to get back under control without getting some help.

CR: When you step in, do you usually come with a checklist? How do you walk into a situation where, obviously, everyone has different methods?

We have basic checklists for general things. Then it’s the digging and the onion peeling. It’s asking, “What are your bank accounts? What are your credit cards? What are your insurance policies? What are your monthly bills?”

We then collect all the documents we can and get access to our clients’ bank accounts, utility bills, etc. We get access to all that stuff so we can see all of that information.

We have a document that outlines the things we need access to and what we’re going to do with that access. The client signs that before we get that access. Then sometimes we discover other things. We know that they have an American Express card, and suddenly we see a payment to a Visa card. We didn’t know about the Visa card. So, then it’s a matter of finding the Visa card. Those things happen.

There is an interview process to collect information. We use it to understand what’s going on. Then, we get access to the client’s major bank accounts, and we track them. Most daily money managers use Quicken but some use QuickBooks. Some may use some other products or some other method. But once you start to track the finances and you see the patterns, then you can start to uncover other things you didn’t know about. There can always be surprises.

CR: Just a quick point of clarification: How do you get access to the bank accounts?

The clients give us access. The bank does not give us any access.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Daily Money Manager

A key step to take before hiring any financial professional is to determine whether they and their firm are right for you. Here are some of the questions the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM) suggests asking.

  • What is the scope of your work? (Do you only do bill paying, or are there other ways that you can be of assistance?)
  • How long have you been working as a daily money manager?
  • What percentage of your clients are senior citizens? Busy professionals? Small businesses?
  • What are the ways in which you have assisted your clients? Do you have areas of specialization?
  • What kinds of professional insurance do you have? Do you have errors and omissions (E&O) insurance and, if so, how much?
  • Do you have any professional certifications or designations? Are you a Certified Daily Money Manager (CDMM)?
  • With what professionals in other fields do you collaborate regarding your clients’ issues? A lawyer? An accountant? What about a family member?
  • What are the costs of your services, and how do you bill?
  • Can you provide professional and/or client references?
  • What kinds of reports or updates should I expect?

CR: How would you suggest family members go about approaching the topic of monitoring parents’ finances without infringing on the parents’ feeling of independence?

That is such a tricky thing. One of the reasons why people hire daily money managers is that they may not want their children to know their financial matters. This is much more common than you may think. As a daily money manager, we ask our clients what they do and do not want other people to know. They are our client and we follow their direction.

I think children of older adults should tread very lightly. I didn’t know anything about my parents’ finances. Part of that is generational. I’m much more open with my daughter than my parents were with me. I would have no problem with my daughter asking me what was going on and sharing the information. But that wasn’t as common back in the day, so it just depends. There can be other family dynamics such as siblings not always agreeing.

I think the daily money manager in those kinds of situations must first honor the client’s wishes. They can help the client see that the kids need to be comforted about things being okay. Depending on what the client wants, the daily money manager may have some meetings with the family to share appropriate information and reassure them that their loved one is being looked after.

But if you’re asking about what someone can do before their parents have outside help, I think the main thing is to observe what’s going on with their parents. If they visit them regularly, they can see if there are signs that something needs to happen. The children can ask if their parents have a power of attorney and a will. But beyond that, it gets really tricky.

CR: If somebody has an older parent and they want to ensure the parent’s wishes are being followed once signs of significant cognitive decline appear, what guidance could you offer?

Having that power of attorney discussion before somebody needs it is preferable. If you know there’s a power of attorney and you become concerned about the person’s capacity, then you can talk to the power of attorney and say, “I’m concerned. What do we need to do?”

You can also try to talk to the parents to see if they’re willing to get help. You can approach them until it gets to the point where the power of attorney has to step in and say they need help.

The more that can be done before the power of attorney has to step in, the better. This is particularly important because if a person is already paranoid, it is hard to talk to them about somebody else helping them with their money.

CR: Do you have any suggestions on how people can simplify their finances as they get older?

The more they can automate, the easier it will be for them. Assuming they have the wherewithal to do so, have the necessary monthly bills automatically paid to simplify what’s going on.

That’s one of the first things a daily money manager will do. If a client does not have things on automatic payment, we’ll put them on automatic payment.

The double-edged sword is, of course, a person’s ability to do things online. It can be challenging. I work with an older adult who does not know how to use a computer, and I can’t get her set up for a Social Security account unless she can sit in front of a computer and complete the necessary steps. That same client has a cell phone without texting capability because she doesn’t want texts. Many institutions today can’t do anything unless they can send a text, so we can’t resolve her issues.

Technology is very troublesome for many seniors, and it’s frustrating that people don’t seem to recognize how difficult that can be.

The conversation continues in AAII Retirement Investing. Marbury explains to how find a daily money manager and what you can expect to pay for their services. 

Discussion

BARRY J from TX posted almost 2 years ago:

I read the article to find out what DMM was all about. I reviewed the AADMM.com website. I highlighted the dozens of unsupported representations I had read. I tied to overlook the chatty, familiar tone, the minimalist qualifications (9 hours a week over 3 years - I spend more time mowing my grass), and sketchy "certification" process. I remembered what Ron Reagan famously said, "I've always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”' Source: 8/13/86 NYT. That wisdom helped me focus. Inserting “AADMM” for “government” and I decided to be as polite as I know how to be about the highly subjective reliability of the many representations I had read. My polite response is “NO way.” The polite part is that I omitted the standard two-word phrase that traditionally follows, “NO way.” I realize that AAII is tilting toward an expanded focus on retirement offerings with a goal to serve its aging members better, but my considered opinion is that the AAII trademarks have been diminished in credibility and the AAII imprimatur has been sullied by tacitly endorsing this group's offering.


JOHN L from NJ posted almost 2 years ago:

What a sketchy new AAII strategy: For the rest of the story (how much does this service cost) you need to have a membership to AAII Retirement Investing. And this is the second article this month with this "rest of the story" approach. The other was the Benz bucket strategy article. Every non profit organization becomes corrupt. Instead of providing a service for the betterment of society; the organization focuses on enriching the administrative staff. And so it is now with the AAII whose mission was to educate individual investors. And instead has morphed into selling multiple specialty newsletters and short changing the life time and annual members.


HARRY B from TX posted almost 2 years ago:

Totally agree with this sentiment as AAII drifts into a self serving, self dealing marketing organization continually creating products and services to generate revenue instead of focusing on increasing services with membership current fees or modest fee for service model.


JOHN B from CA posted almost 2 years ago:

Thank you for this article. I am willing to pay a reasonable price for curated, quality information like this. I have found AAII resources to be very helpful and wish you good luck as you try to find a business model that allows you to continue this service and still pay your bills.


ROBERT M from NC posted almost 2 years ago:

As above, "self serving, self dealing". I am weary of the barrage of emails advertising additional services and subscriptions. I did not purchase a membership in order to enjoy the privilege of making additional purchases.


ROBERT A from NC posted almost 2 years ago:

I echo the sentiments of those above who are disgusted by the nonstop upselling from AAII. Fortunately, in regard to this article, I don't need to read any more about PAYING somebody else to manage my expenses. Barry put it best: NO way!


KURT N from IA posted almost 2 years ago:

This is my first comment on an article since becoming a life member in 2012. I too am appalled at the constant upselling by AAII. Robert M captured my feelings exactly when he posted this above: "I am weary of the barrage of emails advertising additional services and subscriptions. I did not purchase a membership in order to enjoy the privilege of making additional purchases." I did subscribe to the AAII Retirement Investing newsletter, and I have found it to be incredibly light on content - like sitting down to dinner expecting a meal and getting cotton candy on a stick instead. At renewal time, I'll look for a competing product to try instead.


BARRY J from TX posted almost 2 years ago:

We Baby Boomers have accumulated more than our fair share of the national wealth. This is mostly because we were born in the world’s most prosperous country at an auspicious time from the late 1940s through the early 1960s when first, Modern Portfolio Theory was creating and opening paths to build wealth beyond the self-imposed limitations of the prevailing Old School “white shoe” brokerages (1926-1968) that focused on "helping" widows and later Nixon democratizing access to employment-subsidized investing through ERISA retirement funds (1974). It was John Bogle’s singular brilliance to foresee and implement ETFs as the divide that democratized investing and reset expectations from trying to beat the market to trying to match market returns by lowering the costs of fund management (1976). AAII hitch-hiked on the tailwinds of the evolving investment panorama in 1978. And so, here we are about 50 years into the AAII era later after working, saving, investing, and compounding. To our credit, Boomers survived 10 or more major market "drawbacks." Today US Boomers have more money than any generation that ever walked the earth. And like some life lessons, some blessings beget a curse. Our Trojan Horse is the rapidly expanding retirement investment industry. No matter how innocuous and “concerned” these nice folk comport themselves in the interviews, articles, and books THEY ARE ALWAYS SELLING SOMETHING. As the Trojan priest Laocoön warned fellow citizens of Troy: "Fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts." He was referring to the Trojan Horse the Greeks used to breach the walls of Troy. I see parallels in today's ”Retirement Reset Investment Industry ” (“RRII”) the same trepidations Eisenhower saw in the "military-industrial complex" in 1961. I also remembered what Ron Reagan famously said in 1986, "I've always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I’M HERE TO HELP.”' Source: 8/13/86 NYT. That wisdom helps me focus. Replacing “government” with “RRII" and the qualities are balanced across both sides of the equation. When the Feds asked Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he said, “That’s where the money is.” Are RRII books free? Are RRII organizations fee-free? Are RRII seminars free? ”RRII advisors know now, just as Willie knew in 1931, that Boomers are “where the money is.” They fully intend to “reset” whatever money Boomers have into THEIR retirement plans. There is one big difference between Willie and the RRIIers -- Willie usually carried a pistol or a Thompson submachine gun because as he said, "You can't rob a bank on charm and personality." The new RRII crowd is much more evolved; their lede is charm and personality. The new “most terrifying words in the English language are” I am a “certified” retirement planner and I’M HERE TO HELP.” If you feel you need advice, read and heed the distilled wisdom in the above comments from your fellow AAIIers who are selling nothing and hope their lessons help you keep and grow whatever funds you have. As Cajuns say, "Lache pas la patate." ("Hold on to your own potato." It translates as a proverb ... "What you have may be the best thing you ever have, don't lose it, you'll want it back." Bon conseil mon ami.


MARK P from MA posted almost 2 years ago:

I clicked the link for the "story continues in AAII Retirement Investing". The link is broken, it takes me to the home page https://retirement.aaii.com/home.cfm I am a subscriber to the AAII Retirement service. It shows me as logged in. Searching for "Marbury" shows no results. Searching for "daily money manager" shows no results. How am I supposed to continue reading the conversation?


JIM L from MI posted almost 2 years ago:

Wondering about AAII upsell behavior? AAII has been bleeding assets the last decade and has significant negative worth; the issue seems to be that while they are showing breakeven, it comes from recognizing deferred revenue (hello fellow life members) which they don't have actual assets in the bank to back: they spent it delivering services. They need new cash flow: new members, new paid services, or donations (eg annually from life members) but can well imagine the howls if they asked life members to pay an annual fee/donation; I'd guess if we paid $25 a year they'd be ok. They may have not charged enough or had too many life members to be sustainable with the present new/annual member rate. So now I get dubious emails that "partners" are paying for: ad revenue. If you want free services for the next 10-20 years, somebody has to pay. You can see for yourself if you look at their 990 at propublica: you all can analyze financial statements, right?


ROBERT A from NC posted almost 2 years ago:

I've looked at AAII's Form 990, and I agree with Jim L above that it doesn't look pretty. But that brings up the question: Why? Did they charge too little for a lifetime membership? Did they spend those lifetime membership dues like Congress? Perhaps an open and honest discussion of what is going on at AAII is in order. I've actually been considering a donation to AAII, but the lack of any CLEAR statement as to its tax deductibility in the last solicitation I received is off-putting. If AAII needs more revenue, there ought to be a better way than by aggravating the fool out of existing members. (FWIW, I am NOT a lifetime member. I've always thought that those memberships were sold too cheaply, and I wondered whether the organization would be able to survive on such low prices for the rest of my life. It looks like I was right.)


JIM L from MI posted almost 2 years ago:

There's at least some evidence that it's tax deductible (if you're itemizing): from the Propublica AAII page: EIN: 36-2976274 Tax-exempt since Feb. 2017 (?! surprised so late) "Type of Nonprofit Designated as a 501(c)(3) Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn't provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. Category: Public, Society Benefit — Multipurpose and Other / Financial Institutions, Services (Non-Government Related) (NTEE) Donations to this organization are tax deductible." That's better than I could find on aaii.com was "The American Association of Individual Investors is an independent, nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of assisting individuals in becoming effective managers of their own assets through programs of education, information and research." I'm treasurer of a nonprofit, so I'm used to thinking about nonprofit finance, which is not easy for any nonprofit organization. I agree heartily with Robert A that a frank discussion with membership would be helpful. I am surprised that current life membership cost is actually less than I paid over 30 years ago. I had looked at Charity Navigator for AAII first, but it didn't have direct links to the 990's (which is there for many charities), but one of the comments is "liabilities to assets ratio -446%: 0 of 15 points. To be clear, I have benefitted significantly from my AAII membership, and hope to see it continue providing thoughtful, useful information. From the president and editor: offer us frank conversation on a way forward, please.


ROBERT A from NC posted almost 2 years ago:

I've satisfied myself on the IRS website that my contribution to AAII would be deductible. But I find it curious that, unlike many organizations to which I contribute, AAII does not make a definitive statement about it. Is AAII becoming a business instead of a nonprofit? All the pop-up ads, the nonstop email marketing, and the upselling within the Journal tend to indicate "yes," and that's distressing. AAII has been beneficial to me, especially through the Journal and the online message boards---two things that are in sync with AAII's original mission and are "free" to all members.


JIM L from MI posted almost 2 years ago:

Having income other than memberships donations or grants does not invalidate an organization's nonprofit status, though a nonprofit might have to pay tax on revenue not sufficiently tied to its mission, and too much such income could invalidate nonprofit status.


JEAN H from IL posted almost 2 years ago:

To commenters who are frustrated by AAII emails about our premium products, please go to My Account (under your Name at the upper right) when logged in and select My AAII Emails to opt out of all promotional emails.


JEAN H from IL posted almost 2 years ago:

Mark P - Apologies, the Retirement Investing article with more of the Marbury conversation has not been posted yet. We'll update the link here when it is available. Thanks for your support of AAII and Retirement Investing.


Peter N from TN posted almost 2 years ago:

When asked "How do you get access to bank accounts?" Susie Marbury says "The clients give us access." What does that mean--does the form a client signs authorize the DMM to access the client's accounts online and in-person? Is it a power of attorney POA form? A link to that DMM authorization form would be helpful.


BARRY J from TX posted almost 2 years ago:

A parallel article this month, "The Lessons We Learned From Caregiving and Estate Settlement" (by Charles Rotblut, October 10, 2024), discusses the multitude of estate administration issues that have to be addressed. Many AAII members contributed a growing sample of unforeseen issues they faced that were not addressed. That sample of estate administration experiences indicates that it is nearly impossible to construct a checklist that anticipates more than 90% of the possible issues an administrator can expect. That 10% includes the thorniest issues. If highly financially literate AAII investors cannot anticipate all the issues estate administration brings, where is the definitive DMM checklist that prevents these surprises?


BARRY J from TX posted almost 2 years ago:

Note to Jean H from 25 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60611. The comments I have read harping about the additional costs of the AAII Premium offering indicate that the issue with the AAII Premium offering is that the emails deprive members of the "quiet enjoyment" they expected from their original "lifetime" member agreement. I think that argument has legal merit, but the costs of enforcing this are prohibitive outside a possible class action suit and I don't believe a lawyer would take the case. As I read these complaints, the issue IS that AAII is perceived as pestering/harassing them by asking some "lifetime" members to pay additional fees for "new" service offerings that they believe were reasonable to have been expected under the concept of a "lifetime" membership agreement. To resolve this dilemma personally, I decided to sign up for AAII Premium when I saw a plea for deductible donations near the same Platinum offer. I prefer paying for services to help AAII cover rising expenses than making a charitable donation. Once started, charity is a tough strategy to break-even since "new needs" keep walking in the door with every new hire with a hot idea. "No good deed goes unpunished" as I found out that signing up for AAII Platinum meant I would receive WEEKLY 50-75 pages (in Word, 1" margins, Calibri 13 pt, 6 pt leads that can be shrunk down 33%-40% not counting the ancillary spreadsheets which require reformatting to fit standard pages) to pan through the noise-to-signal ratio to find the information nuggets that fit into my investing strategy. I have found that some of the Platinum offerings are more valuable than others and that the quality of writing varies by topic and author. Specifically, authors who follow the AAII Style Sheet more loosely are easier to follow. Overall, the LEARNING EXPERIENCE Platinum offerings provide is more than worth the price. The VALUE Platinum provides comes from the time you invest in USING the information provided. I thank God that AAII has not implemented a DMM offering. That's where I jump ship and lawyer up.


ROBERT A from NC posted almost 2 years ago:

Jean H, I went to my account and opted out of promotional emails. A few hours later, I got another email trying to upsell AAII's retirement add-on. Also, I wish I could opt out of all the pop-ups on AAII's website---and all of the inter-article push notifications and baits.


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