Best Gift for Mom: Financial Security

So, type up a gift certificate for an estate plan. Better yet, contact an estate-planning attorney in your parents' state and set up an appointment for mom and dad. Tell the attorney to send the bill to you.

No one likes to plan for such a dark day, but once you've done this for your parents, they'll feel better, and so will you. Take it from me. An estate plan was my joint Mother's Day/ Father's Day gift to my parents several years ago.

The Gift of Long-Term-Care Insurance

Nothing can devastate a family's finances at a faster rate than the need for long-term custodial care. Current costs average $6,000 a month, whether for care in the home or in a nursing home. And those prices will escalate as that kind of help becomes more in demand for baby boomers.

Long-term-care insurance policies are designed to cover those costs, whether they are at home, in an assisted-living facility or a nursing home. For a Mother's Day starter, you can go to a Web site such as MagaLTC.com or LongTermCareQuote.com just to get a policy quote. Then you and your siblings might want to start the application process and even pay the annual premiums. If one or both of your parents need this type of care, believe me, having a long-term-care insurance policy will be invaluable.

Instead of just giving Mom flowers and a card with a poem in it, give her the promise of a policy that will eliminate the "bag lady" worry.

The Gift of a Reverse Mortgage

Earlier this week, I wrote about reverse mortgages that can give seniors a monthly tax-free check for converting their home equity into income. Many older moms are silently scrimping on food and other basics as they struggle to keep up the family home. When heating bills and property taxes rise, the worries overwhelm them -- and retired parents don't qualify for home-equity loans.