Your Retirement-Age Clients and Budget Politics

Your Retirement-Age Clients and Budget Politics

May 26, 2017 | aging, aging investor, elderly, finances for elders, senior investor

While advisors are there to serve those with investable assets, it is not only your clients who are affected by politics, the Federal budget and cuts to programs. It may be your clients' family members, their aging parents or struggling adult kids.

When family members are beneficiaries of various public programs that help them get by, your clients may not be affected except with feeling relief. But when programs are slashed, the reverberation can affect your own clients, who are likely to be better off financially and therefore expected to help. Every advisor needs to consider this. Cash flow projections on retirement savings can be totally disrupted when your client has to pitch in and give financial help to a low-income family member.

Imagine this: your Boomer clients are ready for retirement. You have carefully worked out what they will need to sustain their lifestyle and make their money last. One or the other of them has low income aging parents in their 80s. Their parents have part of their health care costs paid by Medicaid. Medicaid gets slashed. Your client has to help pay the 20% of costs Medicaid was previously covering for their parent's health care costs. And since those costs tend to rise with aging, your client will potentially pay the cost of a supplemental insurance policy or non-covered medications or other things.

Here's another thing to see in looking at how budget cut proposals can destroy your careful retirement income planning for your clients. Some have disabled siblings, adult children or others who benefited directly from the Medicaid expansion of the Affordable Care Act. Some of those folks are not yet eligible for Medicare and rely entirely on Medicaid for all health care coverage. With massive cuts to Medicaid, they are among the millions who would lose insurance altogether. If they have a well-to-do family member, your client, where will they look if a medical need arises and there is no way to pay for it? Probably to your client.

Then, lets look at your clients' lowest income family members who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called food stamps. Nearly five million seniors rely on this program in order to afford food. A massive cut (proposed) of $194 billion would surely affect them immediately. Can you imagine any client refusing a request from a low-income family member for money because he or she couldn't afford groceries? That grocery money contribution could be every week and go on indefinitely into the future.

Perhaps this is just a heads-up for every financial planner to build into clients' retirement planning that some cash may be needed on a monthly basis to help their relatives who can't get by without their help. In my own family, four of us pitch in every month to support a low-income sibling. He has Medicare and also Medicaid. For all of us who are Boomers and a bit older, a hit to the existing Medicaid benefit would cost each one of us more dollars every month than we are currently paying.

Your clients may be in the same situation. We at AgingInvestor.com hope you will bring up the subject and help your clients plan accordingly. You would do that by asking clients planning retirement if there is anyone in the family they may be called upon to help support.

Our political climate may not change for some time. And every lower income American who is a needy family member of your retirement-aged clients will be affected one way or another. Help them prepare for the anticipated expense.

 

Dr. Mikol Davis and Carolyn Rosenblatt, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney offers a wealth of experience with aging to help you create tools so you can skillfully manage your aging clients. You will understand your rights and theirs so you can stay safe and keep them safe too.

Dr. Mikol Davis, Psychologist, Gerontologist offers in depth of knowledge about diminished financial capacity in older adults to help you strategize best practices so you can protect your vulnerable aging clients.

They are the authors of "Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisors Guide To Best Practice," and "Hidden Truths About Retirement And Long Term Care," available at AgingInvestor.com offers accredited cutting edge on-line continuing education courses for financial professionals wanting to expand their expertise in best practices for their aging clients. To learn more about our courses click HERE
Give Your Aging Clients a Heads Up About Medicare Fraud

Give Your Aging Clients a Heads Up About Medicare Fraud

May 8, 2017 | aging, aging investor, declining health, elder investor, elderly, finances for elders, financial advisors, financial capacity, financial elder abuse, financial judgement, handling money for aging parents, senior citizen investor, senior investor, seniors finances

Your older investors are sure it will never happen to them but Medicare fraud can trick anyone. Even those without a hint of cognitive decline can get taken by scammers. At AgingInvestor.com, we educate advisors about protecting clients from elder financial abuse and we thought we had our own family covered. With a 94 year old mother, we are especially alert. We were stunned when mom told us that someone "from Medicare" had called and asked her to "verify" her personal information.

Alice is a sharp 94 year old, living mostly independently in a seniors' complex. She's active, does her own shopping and is engaged with her neighbors in the community. She had an issue with Medicare not paying a bill for a service she had received some months prior. With our help, she had undertaken an appeal process, which involves a lot of repetitive paperwork. When a man saying he was from Medicare called, she thought it was about the appeal. Of course it wasn't. The scammer asked her to "verify" her Social Security number, her address, date of birth and mother's maiden name and she gave him that information.

A few hours later, she mentioned what had happened and said she had been wondering if it was right to give out that information. We were shocked! How is it that she didn't see the potential ID thief when we talk about this all the time? We knew we had to jump on this right away to stop the thieves from using the information to open new accounts in her name. Hours were spent the next day calling the two banks where she had accounts, her credit card company, the credit reporting agencies and Social Security. We had to stop the auto debits on her bill payments. We cleaned up the mess.

So far so good. No unauthorized transactions have happened. Her old accounts were closed and new ones opened. Social Security sends her payments to the new account. Fraud alerts are on everything now. Whew! This was a lesson that even the alert older person can get fooled with the right pitch on the phone.

Here's the takeaway.

Warn your clients: Medicare will NEVER call and ask you for your personal information. Never give it out unless you place a call to order something that you know is legitimate.

Medicare fraud can happen in many forms. This was just one of them. I believe that there was probably a connection between her Medicare appeal and the fraud attempt. It's too much of a coincidence that they called when she had communication with Medicare going on already with her appeal. The appeal had not yet been resolved. This information got into the wrong hands, making it easy to trick a sharp person by saying he was calling from Medicare. Mom could be just like any one of your older clients.

Why is this important? You're on the front lines and you have a trusting relationship with clients. Speak up and make basic efforts to educate them about these scams. A lot of money can be drained from an account instantly with all the client's personal information out there. Make yourself look good. A word from you can remind your aging clients that you care about their financial safety and that you are looking out for them.

Learn more about protecting aging clients from financial abuse in Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisor's Guide to Best Practices. Click here to purchase it now. You'll build your knowledge about aging investors fast.

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney, & Dr. Mikol Davis, Psychologist, Gerontologist, co-founders AgingInvestor.com

 

 

Dr. Mikol Davis and Carolyn Rosenblatt, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney offers a wealth of experience with aging to help you create tools so you can skillfully manage your aging clients. You will understand your rights and theirs so you can stay safe and keep them safe too.

Dr. Mikol Davis, Psychologist, Gerontologist offers in depth of knowledge about diminished financial capacity in older adults to help you strategize best practices so you can protect your vulnerable aging clients.

They are the authors of "Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisors Guide To Best Practice," and "Hidden Truths About Retirement And Long Term Care," available at AgingInvestor.com offers accredited cutting edge on-line continuing education courses for financial professionals wanting to expand their expertise in best practices for their aging clients. To learn more about our courses click HERE
What To Watch For: Aging Clients and The Sweetheart Scam

What To Watch For: Aging Clients and The Sweetheart Scam

Apr 24, 2017 | aging, aging investor, diminished cognition, elder investor, elderly, finances for elders, financial advisors, financial capacity, financial elder abuse, financial judgement, handling money for aging parents, handling money for seniors, investor, scammers, senior citizen investor, senior investor, seniors finances

What To Watch For: Aging Clients and The Sweetheart Scam

If it didn't happen so often, there would be no need to warn your single, widowed clients about it. But every day, someone gets taken in by a "special someone" who appears to have only your client's interests at heart. The special someone is a scam artist who knows just how to get an unsuspecting lonely man or woman into the web of deception. And then they finagle money out of your client and run.

Some of these scammers are skillful repeat offenders. Some just see an opportunity and proceed to milk it for all it's worth. Take the case of Tommy, whose wife was ill with cancer. He used to take his clothes to the local dry cleaner every week and he got friendly with the woman who ran the business. She loved to chat and gossip and he was lonely with his caregiving, cooped up with the daily chores he had to do for his ailing wife. Norma, the dry cleaner heard all about it.

Just after his wife passed, Tommy got a visit from Norma. She was so consoling and comforting. He felt like he had a real friend. She had heard about his wife's illness for over a year and was ever so sympathetic. She also knew he had money. Within a month she had moved in with Tommy.

Over the next six months of giving Tommy her undivided attention, she managed to persuade him to give her "loans" of over $300K. She promised to stay with him forever. He loved the flattery and feeling special. No sooner had Norma gotten the last of what she could easily take, she promptly sold the dry cleaning business and disappeared. This is not such an unusual story.

Here's what every financial professional needs to know about the Sweetheart Scam. Professional predators comb the obituaries for stories about the beloved widow or widower left behind. They look for those who have been with a deceased who was a business leader, a banker, a financially successful person. They choose the ones who may be likely targets, the survivors who have means. They scope out how to meet them and seize the opportunity to take advantage of loneliness.   They will stop at nothing to get in the door. And sooner or later they always need "a temporary loan" or a little help to get out of an unfortunate jam. If it works, they up the ante. This can go on until they have bankrupted a widow or widower. It will at least drain available cash if no one is watching.

That's where you come in, the financial professional with the ability to notice when unusual withdrawals are coming out of your client's account. Once the scammer has gotten control over your client's emotions, it may be too late to stop the scam. Your client is "in love" or at least addicted to the showered on attention. She won't believe your warning then. The heads-up must come early, before an opportunist has a chance to cast a spell.

Here's the takeaway: any recently widowed client in your book is a potential target. Do these things:

  1. Gently raise the subject of being careful of any stranger he/she meets soon after the loss of a spouse. Warn with empathy and facts.
  2. If your client claims he's met a "special someone" do some digging. Google the person he names. Ask a few probing questions. See what your client may not be able to see. Share the data you glean with your client.
  3. Be sure you have contact information for a family member or trusted friend of your client whom you can call if you see something suspicious. Call them if you think your client is in danger, particularly if your client doesn't want to hear your warning.

That protective posture you take on can save your client from disaster.

Financial elder abuse takes many forms besides the Sweetheart Scam. It is called "the crime of the century", it is so prevalent. With the right know-how, you can stop it and keep your clients safer. Take a deeper dive into this subject in a book written just for you, Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisor's Guide to Best Practices. Get a look at it here.

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist

AgingInvestor.com and AgingParents.com

 

Dr. Mikol Davis and Carolyn Rosenblatt, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney offers a wealth of experience with aging to help you create tools so you can skillfully manage your aging clients. You will understand your rights and theirs so you can stay safe and keep them safe too.

Dr. Mikol Davis, Psychologist, Gerontologist offers in depth of knowledge about diminished financial capacity in older adults to help you strategize best practices so you can protect your vulnerable aging clients.

They are the authors of "Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisors Guide To Best Practice," and "Hidden Truths About Retirement And Long Term Care," available at AgingInvestor.com offers accredited cutting edge on-line continuing education courses for financial professionals wanting to expand their expertise in best practices for their aging clients. To learn more about our courses click HERE

If You Wanted To Report Financial Abuse, Would You Know How?

If You Wanted To Report Financial Abuse, Would You Know How?

Apr 11, 2017 | aging, aging investor, declining health, diminished cognition, elder investor, elderly, finances for elders, financial advisors, financial capacity, financial elder abuse, financial judgement, handling money for aging parents, handling money for seniors, senior citizen investor, senior investor, seniors finances

In a recent issue of Investment News, a study of financial advisors looked at this question. 591 advisors were asked about their experiences with elder financial abuse. One of the surprising findings focused on those advisors who knew or suspected abuse but did not report it.

A significant percentage of those who did not report abuse gave as a reason that they did not know who to contact. What is most troubling about this finding is that not knowing who to contact is such a simple problem to solve. Historically your regulators have never required that you have the name of a trusted contact for your client in order to open a file for that person. Here at AgingInvestor.com and AgingParents.com, where elder financial abuse comes up often, we think it is extremely short-sighted to be without a trusted contact or two in every client's file. Isn't it obvious that you need someone to call if a client gets into danger, whether it's elder abuse or not? No one gets out of here alive and a client can live for quite a long time, developing cognitive impairment along the way. That puts a person at much higher risk for financial abuse.

New FINRA rules will require that you make "reasonable efforts" to get a trusted contact from your clients. We assure you, reasonable efforts are a lot easier to make when your client is signing up than they are when your client is 92 and forgetful or suspicious of everyone's motives.

From us, two professionals who have worked with countless elders and their families over the last 10 years, we have three tips for every financial professional handling a client's finances:

  1. You can't ensure that your client will be competent for financial decisions forever. Be realistic! People are living longer and they may develop dementia or other cognitive impairment. Get at least two trusted contacts in every file for every client age 65 or older. Why two or more? One trusted contact might end up being the very person who is abusing your client--a family member.
  1. Get smart about the basics of recognizing red flags of diminished capacity. We offer a simple free checklist to help you. Click on the green button here to get yours now. These signs are warnings that your client is more vulnerable to manipulation by others.
  1. Know how to report financial elder abuse. You don't have to be certain that abuse has occurred. You do need to know who may be doing it, when and how, in general (e.g., pushing your client into large, unexplained withdrawals). A reasonable suspicion is enough. It's ok if you're wrong. And you can do it anonymously. Call Adult Protective Services in the county where your client lives if you think someone is ripping off your vulnerable client.

Some advisors are worried that they'll get sued for reporting suspected financial abuse. This is incorrect. Your regulators want you to report it. If you do what is reasonable, you are not a target. However, if you know that your impaired client is being financially abused and you do absolutely nothing, liability for failure to act is certainly possible.

by Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney, & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

 

Dr. Mikol Davis and Carolyn Rosenblatt, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney offers a wealth of experience with aging to help you create tools so you can skillfully manage your aging clients. You will understand your rights and theirs so you can stay safe and keep them safe too.

Dr. Mikol Davis, Psychologist, Gerontologist offers in depth of knowledge about diminished financial capacity in older adults to help you strategize best practices so you can protect your vulnerable aging clients.

They are the authors of "Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisors Guide To Best Practice," and "Hidden Truths About Retirement And Long Term Care," available at AgingInvestor.com offers accredited cutting edge on-line continuing education courses for financial professionals wanting to expand their expertise in best practices for their aging clients. To learn more about our courses click HERE
Danger! Your Client Has Serious Memory Problems

Danger! Your Client Has Serious Memory Problems

Apr 3, 2017 | aging, aging investor, Alzheimer's disease, diminished cognition, elder investor, elderly, investor, senior investor

Have you ever found yourself in a situation with an older client who can't seem to remember anything any more? You may have known the client over a number of years and feel responsible. But you are at a loss now. What are you supposed to do with this client? She's pleasant and just loves you. But you are worried.

You are pretty sure your client is experiencing a slow, but steady cognitive decline. She has a daughter in another state but maybe she isn't paying attention to what is going on with mom. She has a son she's not close to, though he lives in the same area she does. You asked her once if she had someone to be her agent, her power of attorney. She hadn't gotten around to that yet.

No one acts. No one insists that your client choose a relative or friend and sign the Durable Power of Attorney document. She says he doesn't want to talk about it and you just back off and never mention it again. You suspect she may have Alzheimer's disease, from your experience with your own family member.

Here is what can happen to your client.

She steadily loses judgment about what is a good thing to spend money on or invest in; therefore, bad decisions happen. We have observed savvy and intelligent clients who were once financially comfortable start falling for obvious scams. They buy worthless coins or stamps or fly-by-night property investments that take their money and disappear. Perhaps no one knows because the elder is in the secrecy habit. Time passes and the client's cognitive ability declines even more. There is no stopping dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease.   The predators find an easy mark. As long as there is cash to spend or credit cards to run up, the elder keeps getting into deeper and deeper trouble. Unquestionably, financial decimation can result.

These situations are real. Here at AgingInvestor.com, we're in the consulting business. We have talked to the families of elders who have probably been impaired for years, hearing them say they wished someone had done something sooner. No one but the financial professional knew what the client had nor where his money was going. The family thought the elder's finances were fine. Now, with too much drained out by excessive giving, the family may well end up having to support their aging relative just at the time when extensive care is needed and the expense of it skyrockets.

How do you prevent the worst? By engaging in discussion with your client's family or appointed other early in your relationship. If you have an ongoing connection with that trusted person in your client's life, you stand a better chance of protecting her from dumb and destructive decisions if her mind starts to go, later on in life. Even if you can't imagine how a perfectly alert, intelligent person could get dementia, it happens to millions of people as they live longer. 5.6 million of them are diagnosed with the disease right now in the U.S. alone. The risk rises with age.

If you have never had conversations with your older clients' families, now is the time to start. You need to educate your client about the importance of having someone else named by her for you to reach out to if she gets sick or has an accident.

You need to develop the skill of conducting family meetings while each client is fully competent. Even if a client has a few memory lapses now it is not too late to have a meeting with family to figure out the path forward in case of trouble ahead. This is a "soft skill" every advisor needs. If you want to learn how to conduct a family meeting or get better at this, you can learn the techniques in a hour.

Putting these skills to work takes some practice. It is especially important to know what to do when a client's family is difficult, or there is a history of conflict among them. That's tricky and you will need some outside help. Get a one hour accredited crash course on conducting successful family meetings by clicking here.

 

By Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney, & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist co-founders of AgingInvestor.com