HEALTH AND WEALTH

Align health and wealth in your financial planning

As people age, their health increasingly affects their wealth. Larger medical expenses, assisted living costs and cognitive decline can pose significant challenges to any financial plan. These topics may be difficult to discuss with clients, but addressing them proactively can help you build stronger, more authentic relationships.

Health and wealth

  • 01

    Plan for a transition of financial decision-making

    Ensure your clients have a plan in place that secures their wealth and allows for a seamless transition of financial decision-making in the future.

  • 02

    Consider future living arrangements

    Where your clients live can significantly impact their quality of life, which in turn, affects their health and wealth. Consider location, type of accommodation and access to health care facilities when helping clients decide where to live.

  • 03

    Discuss health care wishes

    Health problems and medical emergencies can lead to difficult decisions for a client’s loved ones and caretakers. Encourage your clients to communicate their wishes clearly with family and doctors, and to have the necessary documents in place to ensure their wishes can be promptly acted upon.

Add longevity (planning) to your business

Incorporate health and longevity planning into client discussions to help differentiate your practice, boost client loyalty, retain assets and authentically connect with the next generation.
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Host seminars on health and wealth

Plan for a transition of decision-making to protect clients’ wealth

Ensure clients are well prepared to transition financial decision-making responsibilities. Encourage clients to take these actions now to help their financial caretaker in the future:
Appoint a financial representative
The appointee should be both competent and trustworthy to act in your client’s best interest should they become unable to act for themselves.
Organize accounts and arrange access
Clients should create a comprehensive list of financial assets with instructions on how to access them. Offer our worksheet below to help clients get started.
File a Power of Attorney (POA)
Encourage clients to keep their POA on file with financial institutions and review annually. Partner with an attorney to offer their services if clients don’t have a POA.
Document wishes and communicate plans
Ensure a financial caretaker and/or family members know where important documents are kept and instructions for managing assets are understood.

Consider future living arrangements with health and wealth in mind

A client’s health can have an impact on where and how they live. Build a network of service providers who can help clients as they consider which living arrangements will be most suitable for them.
At-home service providers
Clients may need caregiving, transportation services or help maintaining their home (e.g., a cleaning service, handyman).
Long-term care consultant
A local consultant can help clients select a long-term care or assisted living facility and provide guidance on costs and payment options.
Long-term care insurer
A long-term care policy helps cover costs of care in a variety of settings (e.g., home, assisted living facility, nursing home) for clients with chronic conditions.
Real estate agent
A trusted local real estate agent can help clients who want to relocate.
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Is it time to move?
Use our open-ended questions and action items to help clients think through the different phases of retirement and the living arrangements that are right for them.
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Decide where to live in retirement
Do your clients know where they want to spend their retirement? The answer may change over time. Discuss key questions with clients so they can plan where to live.

Discuss heath care wishes before choices need to be made

Loved ones should not be taxed with heart-wrenching decisions in a time of emotional distress. Advise clients to clearly articulate their health care wishes and ensure that the necessary documents are in place to empower a family member or friend to make the right choices if necessary.
Advanced directive (AD)
Also known as a “living will,” an AD provides instructions for a person’s care should they become incapacitated or otherwise unable to communicate their wishes.
Health care proxy
The health care proxy appoints someone to make decisions in accordance with the instructions in the AD. The AD and health care proxy are often combined into a single document.
POLST/DNR
A POLST outlines any end-of-life treatments that a person does or does not want. A DNR is an order to not resuscitate a person in certain situations.
Last will and testament
This document articulates a person’s wishes to be carried out after their death, mainly with respect to the distribution of their assets and the guardianship of dependents.
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Support critical family conversations
Discussing healthcare and end-of-life care is often uncomfortable and emotionally charged, which is why you should encourage clients to start the conversation early.
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Help your clients select an appropriate Medicare plan
Choosing a Medicare plan is complex. Share Healthpilot’s online platform to enable your clients to enroll in an appropriate plan for their health needs and financial plan.

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