Discovery Call

Book a call

Fifteen Minutes to Work Out What You Are Actually Dealing With

You do not need your questions organized first. Most people book this call with a stack of paperwork they do not understand, a sibling who has stopped returning messages, and no idea which problem to solve first. That is exactly the call.

15 minutesCall length
VirtualAnywhere in the US
CPA + CDPWho you talk to

What the call is for

Fifteen minutes with Jessica Cannon, CPA and Certified Dementia Practitioner, to work out whether this is something she can help with. She handles the money side of a dementia diagnosis: the financial, legal and system-navigation decisions a family has to make while someone’s mind is slipping away.

1

You describe the situation

Where your parent is, who else is involved, and what has just happened. No preparation required, and no need to have the story in order.

2

She tells you what she is hearing

Often the urgent problem and the expensive problem are not the same one. Jessica reads a Medicare denial letter, a memory care contract and a dementia timeline together, which is where the money usually turns out to be.

3

You leave with a next move

Sometimes that is working with her. Sometimes it is a question for an elder law attorney, or a phone call to the state that you can make yourself that afternoon.

If coaching isn’t right for you, I’ll tell you and point you somewhere better.Jessica Cannon

Whether this is the right call

It probably is, if

  • You are making money decisions under a dementia diagnosis and no one has explained the costs ahead.
  • Siblings disagree about care, money, or who gets to decide.
  • You are somewhere inside Medicaid, Medicare, or VA benefits and cannot tell what applies to you.
  • You are the one who ends up doing all of it, and it is starting to cost you your job, your health, or your marriage.

What this call is not

Jessica is a CPA and a Certified Dementia Practitioner, not an attorney or a physician. She provides financial coaching, not legal or medical services.

She does not draft wills, powers of attorney or guardianship papers, does not diagnose anyone, and does not decide eligibility for any government program. For the legal instruments themselves you need a licensed attorney in your own state.

Nothing is required, but if you have these in front of you the fifteen minutes goes further

  • The denial letter, the facility contract, or whatever paperwork prompted you to book.
  • A rough sense of the monthly cost of care now, and who is paying it.
  • Who holds power of attorney, if anyone does yet.
  • The diagnosis, and roughly when it was given.

Pick a time

Choose a slot that works for you and you will get a confirmation with the link. If nothing on the calendar fits, call 512-766-7231 or email info@proactivecaregiver.com and Jessica’s team will find a time.

Jessica Cannon, CPA and Certified Dementia Practitioner

Who you are talking to

Jessica Cannon is a CPA with 28 years of financial experience and a Certified Dementia Practitioner. Financial advisers do not know dementia and dementia specialists do not do the money. She is both.

She also lived it. She cared for her own mother through four years of misdiagnoses, vascular dementia, then bipolar disorder, then early-onset Alzheimer’s, and finally frontotemporal dementia, and she lost her health, her marriage and her identity to it. She is the author of The Proactive Caregiver, and has published more than 470 videos and 110 podcast episodes on caregiving and dementia.

Common questions before booking

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How long is the discovery call?

Fifteen minutes. It is a short call by design, long enough to describe the situation and hear what Jessica makes of it, short enough that you can take it between appointments.

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What happens on the call?

You describe where things stand, Jessica tells you what she is hearing, and you finish with a next step. Sometimes that step is working with her. Sometimes it is a call to an elder law attorney or to the state, which you can make yourself that afternoon.

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Is Jessica an attorney or a physician?

No. Jessica Cannon is a CPA with 28 years of financial experience and a Certified Dementia Practitioner. She provides financial coaching, not legal or medical services. She does not draft legal documents, diagnose anyone, or determine eligibility for a government program.

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Do I need to live in Texas?

No. Jessica works with families across the United States virtually, with in-person work in Austin and Central Texas. Texas program detail on this site is an example of how these systems work rather than a limit on who she works with.