Description
As humans, it’s easy for us to take our brain functions for granted, yet the loss of those functions can have severe impacts on your clients’ health, finances, and overall wellbeing.
The costs of an unhealthy brain can be significant. The average lifetime cost of having dementia is $392,874, which can include medical expenses, caregiving, home modifications, lost income, legal fees, hospice, and end-of-life care. Given that, financial professionals must understand the need to help protect against those unexpected—and often catastrophic—financial risks.
Additionally, financial professionals should understand the impact of brain health on older clients’ financial decision making, risk of financial fraud, unpaid debt, potential loss of income, and dependence on family members.
But financial professionals should also understand simple lifestyle choices that can help lessen the risk of poor brain health, both for themselves and their clients. More and more research reveals a powerful message: that we—not our genes—can have control over our cognitive health today and the long-term destiny of our brains.
Financial professionals already focus on helping ensure a client’s wealth lasts as long as the client lives. By understanding the simple tips we’ll share in this presentation, they can help ensure a client’s brain health lasts longer, too.
Learning Objectives
• Why your clients’ brain may not be the same age as they are
• How brain health can affect your clients’ lifestyle and finances
• Simple tips to help clients age-proof their brains
• Understand what Medicare and Medicaid will and won’t cover
• How clients don’t necessarily plan to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and are therefore financially unprepared for their future needs
• Understand the types of expenses related to cognitive decline: Medication, caregiving, housing, and memory care
• Learn the legal documents that may be needed for cognitive decline: Durable power of attorney, trusts, a living will, and a durable power of attorney for healthcare.
• Practical tips to clients can take to age-proof your brain and prevent or delay cognitive decline
• Why it’s important to plan early for cognitive decline
• How a financial professional can help clients develop a plan to pay for the costs of dementia including choosing investment options and creating a retirement plan that considers potential costs of dementia
• How understanding the causes of cognitive decline and its financial implications can help a planner develop a relationship of honesty and trust in client interaction