Worried about my families financial problems. Need advice

[MaxPowers]

My father died at the age of 68 in July. My mom, 64, is in a HUGE house with my brother, 27.
Sorry if I rant, it is just hard to organize my thoughts on this subject. My mom pulls in a little under $4000 a month, but spends over $5000. A lot of her expenses are wants, like super digital TV, or internet that she doesn't use. She also supports my brother who has 2 bachelor degrees in the biology field, and is supposed to find a job, but isnt putting to much work in finding one. Why when my mom buys you everything you need. So he takes advantage of her. But her biggest expense is the house. A HUGE house. The biggest house and lot in the neighborhood. Austin Texas address, but they are actually in Round Rock. She knows she needs to find a new place, and is putting money into getting the current house fixed up, (paint walls, redo the kitchen) but I think she is scared to move. She also thinks it will be cheaper to stay where she is.

She is also talking to a financial adviser about her situation, but I want to offer her my own advice because I believe financial advisers will try to sell her things she doesn't need or get her to put her money into something she shouldn't. She doesn't need any risk. Where would be the best place to put a large sum of cash? bonds?
This is approximately her assets.
401k 250k
savings 230k
CD 75k
equity of house ~140k

So I am working with her to try to get her to understand things she doesn't need and show her where she can cut down in her spending. She has never learned to budget and is the type that will buy the most expensive thing because she thinks it must be the best. She will also be getting my father's social security soon. She is working on the paper work. She will also get her pension in a couple years. So I guess the bottom line questions are
1. She is loosing money every month. What is the best way to handle this?
2. Would I continue to pressure her into finding a cheaper house? Should I learn about real estate or leave it to a Realtor?
3. How do you get someone to be financially smart? She reads a lot and I mentioned she should read financial books or something relevant to her situation but she said that would be boring. She is the type that buys expensive food thinking it is the best. I talked to her about this and she promises to cut back on shopping, but I am not there to "regulate".
4. What would someone in her situation do with a large sum of cash? She needs income generation with low risk.

thank you for any advice you may have. It is hard because I live in another state. My brother lives there and helps her with some things, but he frustrates me because he is lazy and takes advantage of her. He is looking for a job in biotech. He has a biology and a biomedical engineering degree. From what I see when I come home, he has given up on finding a job and plays games all day. I am tired of giving him advice. I can google biotech jobs and come up with things he didn't know existed, but he shoots down the idea giving a generalized pessimistic outlook on everything.

[disneysteve]

1. She is loosing money every month. What is the best way to handle this?

Stop doing it. It is unsustainable. If her income is $4,000, she needs to immediately cut her spending to $4,000 or less.

2. Would I continue to pressure her into finding a cheaper house? Should I learn about real estate or leave it to a Realtor?

I think a professional realtor would be fine. Perhaps you should look up the ELP for the area on Dave Ramsey's site.

3. How do you get someone to be financially smart? She reads a lot and I mentioned she should read financial books or something relevant to her situation but she said that would be boring. She is the type that buys expensive food thinking it is the best. I talked to her about this and she promises to cut back on shopping, but I am not there to "regulate".

You shouldn't have to "regulate" what she does with her money. She isn't a child. She is a 64-year-old woman. Buy her a copy of "The Total Money Makeover."

4. What would someone in her situation do with a large sum of cash? She needs income generation with low risk

.
If she can't afford to risk principal and needs monthly income, your options are pretty limited. If she can just get by on the income without having quick access to the principal, CDs and high-grade bonds would be the things to look at.

My brother lives there and helps her with some things, but he frustrates me because he is lazy and takes advantage of her.

This is much more difficult to fix and won't ever get fixed unless your mother decides to boot his lazy butt out of the house or demand that he pay his way. What does he plan to do if/when she sells the house? I think the 3 of you need to sit down and discuss the fact that mom is spending $12,000/year more than she earns and that can't continue. The house is unaffordable and she can't continue to support her adult child who refuses to support himself.

[littleroc02us]

I would think it would be hard to tell your mom what to do with her money. Imagine being in her position. I don't think my parents would want to hear my suggestions on money when they are the ones who raised me. What I would suggest is to pass it along to her as an offering (ex. Tell her you are worried about her finances and if she wants some help then to let you know) and if she doesn't except any help there isn't much you can do.