It's important to ask clients when they're still well how they would you feel if something did go wrong.Feodora Chiosea/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Neela White was well-versed in all the issues related to aging. With a degree in gerontology and experience working in long-term care, she was familiar with the system and the diseases that come with growing old.
But it was only when her own parents got sick about 15 years ago that she fully appreciated the strain on families.
“My dad was suddenly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 18 months to live, and I had to navigate through the system and discover the cost that most people are completely unaware of,” says Ms. White, senior portfolio manager with the Blue Wing Advisory Group at Raymond James Ltd. in Toronto.
That’s when she really started talking about the cost of aging and the planning required for care.
Raymond James partners with the Baycrest Foundation, the Toronto-based fundraising arm of Baycrest, a research centre for aging and brain function.
That partnership includes expert webinars and events for clients as well as advisor education on aging, recognizing cognitive changes and planning for care.
“The best way to do it is to start these conversations early,” Ms. White says. “Planning is a gift of love – chaos isn’t."
Globe Advisor spoke with Ms. White this week about identifying and discussing cognitive issues with clients and where to find additional resources.
How do cognitive issues show up in financial management?
It might show up when you’re having conversations with your client and questions are repeated a little bit more; maybe their ability to respond to you is a bit delayed. It might be more noticeable changes than just the usual [forgetting] about a conversation – it might be not remembering or getting confused about facts or figures.
It could also be that their ability to make decisions is a little bit impaired, [or] their concentration is off. You might notice them … forgetting transactions or maybe even starting to do different sorts of transactions than they did for their entire investment history.
Aging and mental capacity are sensitive topics and not all clients are open to discussing them. How can advisors approach these topics without offending clients?
For me, personally, when I’ve had these conversations, I’ll talk about my own mom and dad, who are now dead, and what I went through: what they were diagnosed with and how I had the conversations with my parents.
They can see, ‘She’s talking about something that I’m afraid of, but we’re discussing it because she’s gone through it.’ That helps relate to a client and brings them to a level at which they feel a little more comfortable discussing something that will impact the trajectory of their life and their family’s life.
When everyone’s doing well, before a diagnosis comes in, it’s really important to say, ‘If something did go wrong, how would you feel?’ Most people are able to say how they would feel.
When something starts to happen, it’s about saying, ‘I’ve noticed a couple of changes – have you felt anything change? Would you like to talk about it? And can we write down some ideas, some paths, and start to discuss openly what your family’s role is?’
It’s about being able to have that conversation as well about who your support is. Have you had that conversation with them? How do they feel about it?
[And] let me help be the mediator. The advisor tends to be more objective than a family member, so they can help guide the conversations along so that what’s created in the end is something that’s organized, that makes sense to everyone, that’s fair [and] transparent, and that’s logical regarding costs.
The key is that it doesn’t have to be all at once. It can be evolving. No one does well with a fire hose, but the conversations and the seeds have to be planted.
We’ve seen a few firms partner with health institutions or even bring health or aging experts directly on board in new roles for wealth management firms. Why is this important?
It’s what really holistic wealth management is all about. We’re dealing with the lifespan of a client. We could have clients from the time they’re in their 40s until they’re well into their 80s and see multiple generations.
So, that’s to be able to put a plan in place that’s best for the family and for leaving a legacy, and providing self-sustainability within the care spectrum.
From a planning perspective, better decisions are made when we’re equipped with more knowledge. This is an area [that’s] only going to grow.
We have to have that education and understanding [about] how brain health affects decision-making to be able to educate our clients … so they understand why making these plans earlier on than later on is so important.
What training is available to advisors to help them manage issues related to aging, and what’s the best place to start or the most useful credentials to pursue?
The elder planning counsellor designation gives a great overview of all sorts of issues affecting seniors, from housing to Alzheimer’s disease to social isolation, so it covers a broad range of topics.
Then, the certified professional consultant on aging designation; that’s also a great course. It delves a little deeper into all of those topics.
Also, when you go to sites such as Baycrest, the Alzheimer Society or the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there’s so much information now at your fingertips that you can just go on and research these topics and ideas, and come up with an understanding of what the issues are affecting seniors as they age.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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