The agent is showing problems with managing their own finances, then it may not be a good idea to trust your own finances to them. Work experience. It may be important to choose an agent or an attorney-in-fact that has experience or level of expertise in finances or in legal matters. Organization and documentation skills. They are also called agents because they also serve as liaison officers and go-between or more formally, attorney-in-fact because they are only licensed by a common person. Because it can have legal consequences, the transfer of power or the authorizing is written as a legal contract, which is shown to people before the attorney-in-fact can proceed with his dealings on behalf of the client or the principal. Financial/material abuse is the second highest rate of elderly abuse with 42%, following psychological abuse (59%). Financial abuse would include misusing the power of attorney, using the adult s money for other purposes, pressuring adults to sell their home or property, cashing out the adult s pension or cheque, or pressuring the adults to buy alcohol or drugs. Should you wait until you become mentally or physically disabled and regret later for not doing it earlier? If you want to protect your assets and secure your financial future, then preparing a POA is one of the best decisions that you will ever make in your life. A lot of people have wrong notions about powers of attorney. For instance, you can authorize an agent to sign a business contract for you but only that business contract and no other documents. Some are also given a section, for instance, a special power of attorney to look into the financial matters and to manage it and sign documents pertaining only to financials. There is a specific power of attorney which requires the attorney-in-fact deal with only one particular issue. Specific issues would include bank transactions, debt collection, loan application, managing real estate property or businesses, making financial decisions and handling government financial or other concerns.