Money leaves a trail. When that trail suddenly swerves off course, it often tells a story long before a doctor ever does.
We tend to think of cognitive decline as misplaced keys or forgotten names, yet financial behavior often changes earlier and more dramatically than casual memory lapses. Research shows that difficulty managing money ranks among the early functional changes in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Financial tasks demand memory, judgment, organization, math skills, and impulse control all at once. When the brain struggles, the bank account frequently reflects that struggle.
