Memory loss is widely recognized as a dementia symptom, but problems with money often appear earlier.
Brain changes from dementia can cause poor money management before cognitive decline becomes obvious. People might accumulate debt or miss bill payments well before memory issues surface.
Dr. Winston Chiong, a neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco, told the New York Times, “One of the reasons why financial mismanagement can be a sensitive indicator is just because it’s so complicated.”
Early dementia symptoms
The NHS notes that dementia affects everyone differently. Common early signs include:
- Memory loss
- Poor concentration
- Confusion with familiar tasks, like calculating change when shopping
- Trouble finding words or following conversations
- Confusion about time and place
- Changes in mood
Dementia and money problems
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, people with early dementia might still manage simple financial tasks but struggle with complex decisions like changing utility providers or managing investments.
Research from the National Institute of Aging shows that money problems are “one of the first noticeable signs of the disease.”
“As the disease progresses, the person may try to hide financial problems to maintain independence. Or the person may not realize they’re losing the ability to handle money matters.”
Warning signs include:
- Unpaid bills piling up
- Unusual credit card purchases
- New items appearing at home
- Missing money from bank accounts
The Institute warns to watch for “trouble counting change, paying for a purchase, calculating a tip, balancing a checkbook, or understanding a bank statement.”
Early sign of a rare type of dementia
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is uncommon and often causes money troubles very early. People with FTD may go on spending sprees or fall victim to scams.
Dr. Chiong noted that FTD patients are particularly open to “different kinds of manipulation” and tend to be “more careless with money.”
“People with frontotemporal dementia are less sensitive to potential negative consequences,” he said.
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration explains that FTD patients might:
- Fall for financial scams
- Develop gambling problems
- Ignore bills
- Avoid taxes
- Overspend and build debt
- Lose jobs or mismanage businesses
The organization adds: “Because FTD is often a young-onset dementia, most commonly occurring between ages 45 and 64, families impacted are either going deeper into debt (like paying off a house, or student loans) or trying to save for retirement.”
11 More Signs of Dementia That Often Appears Before Memory Loss
1. Changes in personality or mood
People with early dementia often undergo surprising shifts in how they act. A once-patient person might start getting irritated easily.
Someone social and outgoing can become withdrawn and quiet. These changes happen gradually but family members usually notice them.
The brain changes related to dementia affect emotional control centers first in many cases. This causes mood swings that seem out of character.
A normally calm individual might show sudden anger or cry without clear reason. Their reactions to situations often seem exaggerated compared to their usual self.
Such personality changes are frequently dismissed as stress, depression, or simply “getting older.” Yet they represent important warning signals when combined with other symptoms.
Friends and family typically spot these emotional shifts before the person experiencing them realizes anything unusual is happening.
2. Difficulty with abstract thinking
Abstract thinking involves understanding concepts beyond concrete facts. People developing dementia often struggle with numbers first.
They may find it hard to balance a checkbook or follow a recipe with measurements. Simple math that was once automatic becomes challenging.
This symptom extends beyond numbers. Understanding metaphors, jokes with dual meanings, or sarcasm becomes difficult.
A person might take figurative language literally or fail to grasp the point of a story. Concepts like “saving for tomorrow” become harder to process since they require thinking abstractly about future events.
Tasks requiring sequential steps or planning become problematic. Playing strategic games that were once enjoyable might become frustrating.
The person might avoid activities that demand this type of thinking without explaining why. Many compensate by sticking to familiar, concrete activities while avoiding situations that require abstract reasoning.
3. Poor judgment in decision-making
Decision-making abilities often deteriorate as dementia begins. A person might make financial choices completely out of character, like spending large amounts on items they don’t need or giving money to obvious scams.
Their ability to weigh consequences against actions becomes impaired. Safety judgment lapses appear in various ways. Someone might wear a heavy coat on a hot summer day or drive in dangerous weather conditions.
They might leave doors unlocked, and stoves on, or walk alone in unsafe areas. These decisions seem puzzling to family members who know the person’s usual careful nature.
Social judgment suffers too. A typically polite person might make inappropriate comments to strangers or ignore social norms they always followed before.
They might share very personal information with cashiers or make insensitive remarks without realizing how others perceive them. This poor judgment extends across many areas of life well before memory problems become apparent.
4. Loss of interest in favorite activities
A subtle but telling sign involves abandoning longstanding hobbies and interests. The avid gardener who stops tending plants or the dedicated reader who no longer picks up books may be experiencing early cognitive changes.
This withdrawal happens because activities once enjoyed now feel too complicated or overwhelming.
Brain changes can affect motivation and pleasure centers. Activities that previously brought joy might no longer trigger positive feelings.
The person might sit watching TV instead of engaging in crafts, sports, or social clubs they participated in for years. When asked why, they often offer vague excuses rather than admitting confusion or difficulty.
Family members notice this symptom when holiday traditions or regular activities get abandoned. The weekly card game, book club, or fishing trip gradually disappears from the schedule.
The person might show momentary interest when reminded of old hobbies but quickly loses enthusiasm. This apathy differs from depression because it specifically affects activities requiring mental effort while basic pleasures like eating remain enjoyable.
5. Difficulty completing familiar tasks
Routine activities that were second nature became surprisingly challenging. A person might struggle to follow their morning sequence or forget steps in regular household chores.
They might stand in the kitchen unable to recall how to make coffee they’ve prepared daily for decades.
Work performance often suffers first. Complex job responsibilities become harder to manage, with missed deadlines or incomplete tasks.
The person might ask for help with procedures they mastered years ago. At home, they might leave laundry half-done or meals partially prepared, forgetting to return to finish what they started.
Technology often highlights this symptom. Using the microwave, television remote, or cell phone becomes confusing despite years of familiarity. The person might avoid using devices altogether rather than admit confusion.
Family members notice when someone who always handled certain household tasks begins asking for help or leaving things unfinished. This difficulty applies specifically to learned sequences rather than physical limitations.
6. Trouble with spatial awareness or visual processing
Visual perception problems appear early for many people developing dementia. They misjudge distances when driving, reaching for objects, or walking through doorways.
This causes bumping into furniture, difficulty parking, or problems navigating familiar spaces.
Reading becomes challenging as tracking lines of text require complex visual processing.
The person might lose their place frequently or misread words. Maps and directions become confusing even in familiar areas. Someone who never got lost might suddenly struggle to find their way home from routine destinations.
Depth perception issues create practical problems. Stepping onto escalators, climbing stairs, or judging the height of a curb becomes risky. The person might spill drinks when pouring or miss when reaching for items.
They often compensate by moving more cautiously or avoiding activities requiring spatial judgment. These visual processing problems occur even with perfect eyesight because the brain, not the eyes, struggles to interpret what’s seen.
7. Language problems (struggling to find words)
Communication difficulties often emerge subtly in early dementia. Someone might pause frequently during conversations, searching for basic words that were once automatic.
They might call things by the wrong name or substitute generic terms like “that thing” when specific words escape them.
Sentence structure typically becomes simpler as the complex language gets harder to manage. The person might abandon complicated explanations in favor of brief responses.
Conversations requiring quick thinking become frustrating, leading many to avoid group discussions where they can’t keep pace with the back-and-forth exchange of ideas.
Following along with fast-paced TV shows or movies becomes challenging as processing spoken language slows down. Family members notice these changes when someone articulate begins using vague descriptions or incorrect words.
Many people compensate by speaking less or sticking to familiar topics where vocabulary feels more secure. These language problems often occur years before significant memory loss, particularly affecting nouns and names.
8. Misplacing items in unusual places
Finding car keys in the refrigerator or a wallet in the laundry hamper signals potential cognitive issues.
Everyone misplaces things occasionally, but putting items in completely illogical locations suggests problems with mental tracking. The frequency also increases dramatically compared to occasional forgetfulness.
Unlike normal memory lapses where retracing steps help locate missing objects, people with early dementia place things in spots that make no logical sense.
A person might put their dentures in a desk drawer or reading glasses in the sugar bowl. When questioned, they often have no recollection of doing so, making the items nearly impossible to find again.
Accusations of theft commonly arise from this symptom. The person genuinely believes someone must have taken their belongings because they have no memory of placing them in unusual spots.
Family members find household items tucked away in bizarre places weeks or months later.
This pattern extends beyond valuables to everyday objects like remote controls, medication, or food items that turn up in strange locations throughout the home.
9. Withdrawal from social activities
Social retreat often happens gradually as cognitive challenges make interactions more difficult.
Conversations require processing multiple inputs simultaneously—words, facial expressions, context, and appropriate responses. As this becomes harder, many people pull back from gatherings they once enjoyed.
Fear of making mistakes or appearing confused drives much of this withdrawal. Someone might decline invitations, claiming fatigue or lack of interest rather than admitting they feel overwhelmed in social settings.
They might leave early from family gatherings or sit quietly without participating in group discussions.
The complexity of planning also contributes to social isolation. Coordinating transportation, remembering times and locations, and preparing appropriately become challenging tasks.
Many find it easier to stay home than navigate these logistics. Close friends often notice this change first when regular lunch dates or weekly activities get repeatedly canceled.
This withdrawal typically happens while the person can still function well in familiar, structured environments.
10. Decreased personal hygiene
Changes in self-care routines can signal cognitive decline before memory problems become obvious. Someone who was always well-groomed might begin wearing wrinkled or stained clothing.
They might forget to change clothes regularly or wear combinations that don’t match seasonal needs or social situations.
Bathing frequency often decreases as the multi-step process becomes confusing. The person might forget whether they’ve showered recently or find the sequence of washing, drying, and dressing too complicated to manage without prompting.
Dental care, hair washing, and nail trimming might be neglected entirely unless reminded.
Family members notice these changes in contrast to the person’s lifelong habits. Someone meticulous about appearance suddenly seemed unaware of spills on clothing or uncombed hair.
When gently questioned, they might insist they’ve already handled their hygiene or become defensive about the topic. This neglect isn’t laziness but rather confusion about timing, sequence, or even recognizing the need for regular self-care.
11. Impaired sense of time (confusion about dates or seasons)
Time perception problems manifest in various ways during early cognitive decline. Someone might consistently miss appointments despite reminders or show up on the wrong day entirely.
They might call family members at inappropriate hours, not realizing it’s the middle of the night.
Seasonal awareness becomes distorted, with the person dressing inappropriately for weather conditions or decorating for holidays months too early or late.
They might ask repeatedly about upcoming events or seem surprised when long-anticipated dates arrive. Daily rhythms often shift, with unusual sleeping patterns or meal times that don’t align with their previous routines.
Calendar concepts become increasingly confusing. The person might refer to events from decades ago as if they happened recently or express confusion about their current age.
They might struggle to arrange events in chronological order or estimate time intervals accurately.
Family members notice when someone who was always punctual begins showing up at strange times or seems genuinely confused about what day, month, or even year it is during casual conversation.
Featured Image: Credit: Science Photo Library — ZEPHYR. / Getty Images
