Financial advisor and physician Carolyn McClanahan, co-founder of Whealthcare Planning LLC, is hearing three main themes from advisors who’ve begun using the company’s new health and eldercare financial planning software with clients.
The clients are surprised by the magnitude of their projected health care expenses and startled to learn they are less financially literate than they think they are. They’re also “shocked,” she says, to discover they’re not expected to live as long as they think they will.
The Proactive Aging Plan module of the Whealthcare Planning software asks clients questions about their height, weight, current health status, exercise, diet, social interaction, alcohol consumption and smoking habits. It also asks clients how much they sit. The software then takes average life expectancy tables and adjusts the numbers based on an individual’s risks associated these topics.
McClanahan, who specialized in family medicine and emergency medicine before founding her Jacksonville, Fla.-based fee-only planning firm, Life Planning Partners, Inc., uses the software’s life expectancy quiz with her own clients. That’s how she discovered a 72-year-old client was neglecting his health problems and would likely only live to 76—fewer years than the client expected.
“I knew he had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and was overweight,” she says, “but I didn’t know he was a closet alcoholic.” According to McClanahan, the client was drinking a 12-pack of beer a day and wasn’t getting adequate treatment. “It was an eye opener,” she says, although she notes that people often deal with these issues in secret. She had a conversation with the client and helped get him into treatment. This made his wife very happy, she adds.
McClanahan acknowledges that financial advisors often feel inadequate or uncomfortable initiating health-related conversations with clients, particularly since this is generally well beyond their realm of expertise. However, what is most important is that “we care about them enough to talk about the hard things,” she says, and without judgment. Advisors should approach clients with empathy and be able to point them towards some resources. “You don’t have to be a doctor to refer people to get help,” she says.
She prepares agreements in advance with her clients that indicate whether or not they grant her permission to speak with their family members if she is worried about the client. Clients are usually fine with this, she says, as long as she agrees to first discuss her concerns directly with them. Clients should also share their health care decisions with their family members, preferably in writing, she says.
It may be impossible to alter one’s projected life expectancy. Yet McClanahan thinks it’s better to proactively acknowledge health problems -- and plan accordingly -- rather than to remain in denial. According to literature from Whealthcare Planning, people should understand what they can and cannot control about their health, share with their doctor what they are willing and unwilling to do to participate in their health care, and understand the potential outcomes of their actions.