Most clients initially engaged their Financial Advisor for their expertise in growing assets so they could retire comfortably. However, with almost 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring each day, advisors must come to understand the different issues, and related financial impacts, their clients will face as the aging process continues such as:
- Increased likelihood of medical emergencies
- Exorbitant costs of long-term assisted or skilled care
- The physical, emotional & financial toll when caring for an aging loved one
Because of these issues, advisors need to shift their investment approach from asset growth to one of asset preservation, making sure clients don’t outlive their financial resources.
Research has also shown (Advisor 2020 GAMA) that retiring baby boomers have turned from seeking pure asset management services from their advisors to desiring a more holistic,” life-management” approach. Every day they see ads from robo-advisors offering to manage their money for a fraction of what they are paying their current advisors. As result they are looking for more than just pure investment returns and are starting to ask the question “What is my advisor doing for me?”
Financial services industry consultant, Bob Veres, in his book, The New Profession, has predicted that the traditional financial advisor who focuses his practice on building assets under management and charging a fee based on the total may soon start to lose market share.
Veres also states that “Professional Financial Planning is reaching the evolutionary stagewhere the individuals who genuinely care for and about their clients are capturing the public’s mindshare and market share.” In the future, financial advisors may look more like a financial coach or financial therapist.
Unfortunately, most advisors have never been trained to deal with the issues of aging. They have not spent time helping their clients develop a long-term care plan nor are they aware of the agencies and services available to their clients who are beginning to have health concerns. They have stayed far away from any discussions of end of life planning or strategies to transfer assets to their children.
Compounding this, America’s 65 and older population will nearly double in the next three decades resulting in the largest wealth transfer in the county’s history; approximately $40 trillion will be handed down to the next generation by 2050. However, statistics also show that 75% of adult children have never met their parent’s Financial Advisor and, more so, over 90% of offspring leave their parent’s advisor upon receiving their inheritance.
In order to help financial planners capitalize on these trends, the founders of Plan4Life have created the Certified Elder Planning Specialist program specifically to educate practitioners on the unique needs of their aging clientele along with providing the skills needed to enhance & expand the advisor/client relationship.
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