From time to time, we all make money mistakes. In most cases, these are just boneheaded errors that — while painful — simply serve to remind us that we are human.
But in some cases, money struggles reveal something more worrisome about the state of our health.
Here are financial mistakes and behaviors that might signal early signs of dementia.
1. Missed mortgage payments
It is not unusual for mortgage delinquencies to occur more than three years before someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another memory disorder, according to researchers at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
For more on the study that came to this conclusion, which was published in 2024, check out “2 Money Woes That Could Signal Alzheimer’s Years in Advance.”
2. Missed credit card payments
The same researchers who identified missed mortgage payments as a possible sign of dementia also found that an increased level of credit card delinquency is not unusual more than five years prior to a memory disorder diagnosis.
A separate study published in an American Medical Association journal in 2020 came to a similar conclusion.
3. A bad or falling credit score
Both the studies referenced earlier came to the same conclusion: A bad or falling credit score may be an early indicator of dementia.
The 2024 study found that credit scores often fall about five years before someone is diagnosed with dementia, as we reported in “Falling Credit Scores Are an Early Warning Sign of Dementia.”
The 2020 study found that people are more likely to have subprime credit scores — meaning scores in the “fair” range or lower — as early as 30 months prior to diagnosis of dementia.
4. Giving away money
Research indicates that as people grow older, they tend to become more altruistic. However, in some cases, this spike in generosity has been linked with a decline in cognitive function.
As part of a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2022, researchers gave participants $10 and offered them the opportunity to give some or all of the money away. Participants who were more generous were more likely to perform worse on measures of brain function that can show changes related to Alzheimer’s disease.
We explain the study findings in more detail in “This Generous Behavior May Indicate Early Alzheimer’s Disease.”
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