Martin asks his clients point-blank what they want to do with their wealth—even the ones not charitably inclined.
“You can’t make people philanthropic overnight,” Valas says. “They can be encouraged to be philanthropic, though, by recommending that they dip their toes in the waters with low-cost vehicles like donor-advised funds.”
But electing to give away most of one’s wealth late in life isn’t always because of a proclivity for generosity, says Charles Lowenhaupt, chairman of Lowenhaupt Advisors im St. Louis.
“Many people without direct heirs or children make substantial gifts to charity as a way to take the money out of the hands of other relatives like nephews and nieces,” Lowenhaupt says. “Advisors can make that a more satisfying engagement by finding charitable causes important to the client.”
Martin says that his current crop of retirement clients, mostly born in the 1940s and early 1950s, have children they can designate as heirs—but that he is also seeing more wealthy, childless and single clients.
The risk of not planning is too great not to approach single, high-net-worth clients with the topic, Martin says.
The Prince estate serves as the best example of how those types of situations end up.
“If there are people or causes that they care about but they fail to plan, they’re setting their families up for disasters after they’re gone,” Martin says. “These lead to the most horrific estate planning mistakes.”