Steve Gresham NEXT CHAPTER
Risk Of Diminished Capacity
90 %
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80 % 70 % 60 % 50 % 40 % 30 % 20 % 10 %
■ Risk Of Alzheimer ’ s
■ Risk Of Other Dementias
■ Risk Of Mild Cognitive Impairment ( MCI )
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50 60 70 |
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• Engage their family to discuss their incapacitation ( or otherwise determine that the client has no family support );
• Optimize the client ’ s finances for risk , taxes , income and long-term care , keeping in mind how the choices will affect more than one generation .
Don ’ t Ignore This Moment
If you are winding down your advisory career , you might be doing the math and saying that in 10 years you will be on a beach living “ la vida más fina .”
Your clients likely know your plans too . But when you win clients , you have a “ contract ” with them — something noted by Ross Levin , founder of Accredited Investors Wealth Management , at our Next Chapter Rockin ’ Retirement event in May . And your relationships with aging clients likely determine your firm ’ s valuation , something noted by another speaker , Tom Bradley of Schwab . If you skip out on these clients , the value of what you ’ ve built will be eroded or destroyed .
The Price Of Ignorance
I ’ ve spent a lot of time worrying about this issue on behalf of big company clients , and I count five significant risks from keeping our heads in the sand about this issue :
1 . We can lose our current clients and their assets .
2 . We might lose the ability to consolidate the assets that our clients hold elsewhere .
3 . We could lose the clients ’ families if we fail to take care of a member in turmoil . ( Surviving spouses and adult children will have no sympathy for us if our response to a difficult topic is inertia .)
4 . We could draw scrutiny from regulators if we don ’ t really sufficiently “ know our clients ” and their needs , which is part of our fiduciary responsibility .
5 . Finally , we also risk our reputations . When it comes to aging clients in financial trouble , the more colorful cases tend to make headlines .
Other Than That Mrs . Lincoln , How Was The Play ? Every corner of the financial industry has benefited from the historic demographic of retiring baby boomers , a powerful wave lifting all our boats . It ’ s time to pay it back by at least meeting the needs of loyal clients and their families , all of whom will soon be dealing with the less pleasant issues that come with increased longevity . Our ability to serve them will be a function of both our will and skill . I ’ m completely confident we have the skill . Do we have the will ?
STEVE GRESHAM is on a mission to improve longevity and “ retirement .” He leads an industry initiative , Next Chapter , and is CEO of the Execution Project LLC , a consulting firm . He is also senior educational advisor to the Alliance for Lifetime Income .
26 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2022 WWW . FA-MAG . COM