Frequently Asked Questions

A Daily Money Manager (DMM) is a financial professional who provides personal financial services to individuals and families, and who manages personal daily money matters such as bills, budgets, and record keeping and much more.

These professionals provide personal financial services to older adults, people with disabilities, busy professionals, high net worth individuals, and the small businesses they may own.

The typical DMM holds a bachelor’s degree and has three or more years of experience. These diverse professionals may have worked in businesses or social service agencies before starting their private practice and they can be found across the U.S. in small towns and major metropolitan areas.

The expertise of DMMs covers a broad range of tasks. The actual work they do depends on their background and client need; however, the scope of personal financial services generally includes:

• Bill paying, including calls to payees regarding incorrect bills and preparation of payments for client approval.
• Reconciling checking accounts and investment statements.
• Preparing and making bank deposits.
• Organizing tax documents.
• Negotiating with creditors.
• Reviewing medical insurance papers and verifying proper processing of claims.
• Providing general organization of financial papers and systems.
• Referring clients to legal, tax, and investment professionals and to community resources.

Additional DMM Services

Some, but not all DMMs will also provide additional services, such as:

• Notary services.
• Accepting responsibility to act as power-of-attorney or representative payee for Medicare.
• Fiduciary services such as trustee, executor, conservator, guardian, or health care proxy.
• Preparation of payroll checks for home employees including calculation of Federal and state withholding and FICA taxes.
• Financial counseling.
• Preparing budgets or spending plans.
• Preparing plans to reduce debt.

Certified Daily Money Managers (CDMM®)

CDMMs are financial professionals who have demonstrated advanced knowledge in the management of personal financial matters and have earned certification. These daily money managers have earned the designation Certified Daily Money Manager (CDMM®) by meeting eligibility requirements and passing an intensive examination. The certification process was developed by the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM) as part of its mission to assure high standards of practice and delivery of quality service by DMM professionals.

• Older adults can benefit from the services of a DMM as the task of handling bills, deposits, and payments becomes much more challenging as we enter our later years
• People who are constantly on the road for work or pleasure
• Those who prefer to pay someone to handle their daily finances
• Busy professionals who have more money than time
• Persons with disabilities that prevent them from being able to handle their financial matters themselves
• High net worth individuals and families with complex financial lives

Why not just have a friend or neighbor handle your day-to-day money matters? While the low cost may be appealing, asking even a well-intentioned amateur to handle necessities like monthly bill payments, tax preparation, balancing checkbooks, decoding medical bills and negotiating with creditors can be risky as personal financial matters become more complicated. And the growing risk of elder financial abuse is well documented.

Why not just have a CPA or attorney perform money management tasks for you or your older relative? Well, the cost is likely to be much lower per hour for a DMM than for a CPA or attorney. And you need to have your personal money matters taken care of on a regular basis, so it’s better to have the CPA or attorney provide insight periodically, rather than paying them high rates to do bill paying and other daily financial tasks.

A DMM is one of the professionals that you should hire to help you manage your personal finances along with:

• A CPA or Enrolled Agent (EA) for tax preparation and financial advice
• A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) or Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) to help you manage your investments
• An attorney to help you with your will, estate, or trust

The separation of duties between the DMM, CPA, financial advisors, and attorney not only saves money, but prevents any possible conflict of interest that might arise when the person handling your cash is also the one who does advising, tracking, and reporting. What’s more, the oversight provided by each professional helps to ensure that there is no occasion for commission of fraud or theft.

A DMM does not take the place of professionals in the accounting, investment, or social service fields. Their work complements the specialization of other professionals by facilitating the completion of your day-to-day tasks.

For example, a DMM organizes and maintains accurate financial records and can easily compile the necessary documents for tax preparation by an accountant. When the accountant has prepared the required tax returns, the DMM makes sure they are correctly signed, that the appropriate checks are attached, and that returns are mailed on time.

The expertise of DMMs covers a broad range of tasks, and the actual work they do depends on client need. However, the scope of a DMM’s work generally includes the following:

• Bill-paying, including calls to payees regarding incorrect bills
• Balancing checkbooks and maintaining organization of bank records
• Preparing and delivering bank deposits
• Organizing tax documents and other paperwork
• Negotiating with creditors
• Providing referrals to and working with legal, tax, and investment professionals.

Most DMMs charge for their services on an hourly basis – rates varying with geographic areas and expertise. In addition to the hourly rates, most DMMs charge for their travel time and for out-of-pocket expenses such as postage costs incurred for their clients and or other purchases made on the client’s behalf. Some DMMs request payment at the time of service and others bill on a monthly or bi-weekly basis. You may also find some DMMs are willing to set a flat rate for service each month.

On the contrary, hiring a daily money manager will enable you to maintain your independence as the DMM is there to assist you with your finances while keeping you involved in any decision-making.

As a senior, they can give you the comfort of another set of eyes reviewing documents and ensuring bills are paid, potentially delaying any need for family members to step in. As a busy professional, they can free you up to focus on other important things like your family and career while keeping you informed of where your finances stand, avoiding late fees and poor credit because things will no longer fall through the cracks. For high net worth clients, you can be assured that someone else is watching over your financial life to make sure whatever tasks are required to be done to keep your household operating, they are done. The involvement of an outsider in personal financial affairs may be intimidating for some, but most clients of DMMs find that once they have established a relationship with their DMM, they don’t know how they survived without one.