Overview

• A 10-year analysis of 2,800 older adults found that those without cognitive impairment saw steady gains in both perceived and actual financial abilities.
• Participants assessed their own competence and completed tasks such as paying bills and projecting long-term costs to measure self-awareness.
• Individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s experienced anosognosia, causing gaps between their perceived and actual money management skills.
• Researchers warn that unrecognized declines in financial insight can expose older adults with Alzheimer’s to fraud, unpaid bills and other risks.
• Study authors recommend early financial planning safeguards that preserve autonomy and plan to explore brain activity during math tasks and digital banking literacy.