RETIREMENT PLANNING SURVEY say this will be an issue for their clients.
And even though they list healthcare costs as the top threat to their clients’ retirement, only 17.2 % of advisors indicate that they offer extensive advice on health expenses.
Dan Moisand, principal and financial advisor at Moisand, Fitzgerald, Tamayo in Melbourne, Fla., says he is surprised at the low percentage of clients in the survey who prioritize healthcare.“ I hear worries about healthcare costs as well as the logistics of getting care in advanced ages. It comes up in our conversation all the time,” he says. His clients are worried both about themselves and their parents who are still around.
He adds that advisors are not usually the experts on healthcare.“ So we are just helping [ clients ] formulate their thinking before they go to an actual expert,” he says, noting that he had to take care of both of his parents before they passed away.“ It’ s like learning a completely new language.”
“ It’ s not an easy topic,” adds Laura,“ especially when you start getting into Medicare.” The topic requires general conversations about many subjects, such as long-term care, insurance and benefits, he says.
Advisors generally don’ t go far into nonfinancial topics, the survey found. Less than a third of advisors, for example, said they offer caregiving advice. That doesn’ t sit well with Cheryl Sherrard, senior financial advisor and the director of planning at Clearview Wealth Management in Charlotte, N. C., who assists aging clients with late-in-life decisions. She thinks this is an area that needs attention from more advisors.“ I think that it’ s a part of our job to plan for all the financial aspects of their life,” she says.
Clients face tough decisions, Sherrard
Where do your clients want to live in retirement?
They want to stay in place. 70.09 % They want to downsize. 18.58 % They want to move into a retirement community. 1.24 % They want to maintain two homes for different seasons. 10.09 %
Advisors said that 93.1 % of their clients who are still working do so because they enjoy it, while 48.8 % said the clients feel they are not financially ready to retire, and 37.8 % said the clients were doing it for health insurance.
says, about whether they can age in place with assistance or whether they’ ll have to move.“ There’ s a lot of choices.” And it’ s not a good idea for the clients to go find retirement communities on their own because they likely don’ t understand the structure of entry fees and refund options. Nor do they realize while doing the tours that they are getting a sales pitch.
An advisor with a passion for the topic helps.“ If as an advisor you don’ t want to go there— you don’ t want to deal with those things— then refer [ clients ] to somebody who will. It is not difficult to learn about the different communities that are in your city and how they’ re priced,” she says.
The Bigger Issue
The fact that advisors are not more proactive in providing healthcare and aging resources for clients speaks to a bigger issue in the advisory space, suggests Steve Gresham, founder and managing principal of consulting firm NextChapter. While industry data suggests that deeper family engagement is needed, the survey suggests that only about half of advisors meet with family beyond the primary spouses or partners, he says.
Gresham recommends that advisors begin to adopt integrated planning.“ This means embedding health, caregiving, family engagement, and protection strategies into every retirement review, not as add-ons but as core components.” Such an approach gets new family members involved and builds bridges between generations.
Investment Changes The advisors in the survey also said they had restructured individual clients’ portfolios in the past two years: Some 32 % said they added alternative investment positions; 31 % said they had rebalanced to increase equities; 30.1 % purchased annuities. Another 25.3 % increased allocations to cash, 19.7 % sold equities and 10.3 % sold fixed income.
The advisors also turned to a wide range of investments: Half invested in REITs, continued on page 58
Do you expect to recommend private equity and private credit to pre-retirees and retirees?
n Yes 36.81 % n No 63.19 %
Based on 565 respondents.
Do you offer non-financial solutions like access to caregiving support?
n Yes 31.5 % n No 68.5 %
Based on 565 respondents.
Have you trained younger, next-gen advisors to manage major family life events?
n Yes 50.8 % n No 49.2 %
Based on 565 respondents.
Based on 565 respondents.
DECEMBER 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 45