Ell added that more than 80 percent of women leave their financial advisors after their husbands die because they feel they are misunderstood by the advisor.
“One of the ways to prevent that is to make sure at every meeting—and that goes for same-sex couples as well as traditional married couples—that both have to be part of the process and the education as we go along,” she said.
On the topic of fees, Ell noted that fees definitely matter when creating portfolios because women live longer and have more health problems, so the money has to last the duration.
“Those internal expenses are critically important in evaluating the kinds of vehicles we put into a portfolio,” she said. “We do asset allocation, but we spend a lot of time on cash-flow management and how you can manage risk by managing cash flow to make sure there are enough liquid assets available over time so the client can maintain a steady stream.
“We work more not in preventing risk or trying to avoid risk, but in trying to manage the cash flow so they’re living the life they want to in a way that’s comfortable for them,” she added.
An audience member asked the panelists whether they employed qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs), annuities or long-term-care insurance into their risk management and cash-flow strategies.
Ell said she’s not one of those “never an annuity” type of people, but she did say she uses annuities and similar products for only a narrow spectrum of needs.
“I think the utility of QLACs is limited, and it’s under very specific situations such as someone continuing their career well into their 70s or even into their 80s,” she said.
“Otherwise, I think they’re too expensive and not worth it. As far as annuities are concerned, sometimes they make sense, but it’s on a case-by-case basis because some people have portfolios that are large enough where they can afford to take some risk and market volatility without impacting their lifestyle. And the same goes for long-term-care insurance. We do a deep analysis of whether the couple or person has enough assets to self-insure themselves.
“But we look into everything, and whatever is right for the client is what we do,” Ell added.