A little-known hearing loss epidemic from teens to centenarians is sweeping the country.
Advisors who let this warning go in one ear and out the other do so at their own risk.
An unheard or misheard “yes,” “no,” deadline or number by either party in a conversation between an advisor and a client can cause trouble with a capital “T.”
The number of Americans with hearing maladies has doubled since the 1980s. It is a problem that is expected to get worse as the share of all adults afflicted is projected to soar from 15 to 23 percent in the next 40 years.
Two-thirds of adults over 70 are hearing-impaired.
The need for advisors to be cognizant of the issue is stressed in AARP’s “A Financial Professional’s Guide To Working With Older Clients.”
However, advisors should be attuned to possible hearing loss in everyone, not just older people.
Forty million people from the ages of 20 to 69 have the difficulty, too, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Roughly one out of every 10 teenagers has the onset of hearing loss.
Notoriously Hidden Problem
Hearing loss is a notoriously hidden health problem. It often creeps up gradually and many of the afflicted view hearing impairment as a sheepish embarrassment, so they simply elect not to have it diagnosed and treated.
What has caused the overall surge in recent years is the advent of earbuds which can assault an ear as directly as a knife to a limb.