Remember those anti-drug commercials of the 1980s with the egg being cracked into a frying pan? “This is your brain…this is your brain on drugs… any questions?”
What if something similar happens to your clients as soon as they start retirement? What if, on the very day that they leave work, their brain begins to shrink and shrivel, taking them on a slow march to forgetfulness, confusion, and even Alzheimer’s or dementia? “This is your brain…this is your brain on retirement…any questions?”
It’s a startling thought and topic that a growing number of boomers and seniors are concerned with. In a 2013 study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 13 percent of people 60 or older reported confusion or memory loss occurring more often or getting worse over the past 12 months. Another Met Life/Harris poll suggested that boomers fear memory loss ahead of both cancer and heart disease.
While studies and polls like these give us a glimpse into what’s going on with boomers and seniors, they only paint a small picture of the real potential impact. The entire global economy is being affected by the aging body and mind. The worldwide population of people over 80 is expected to more than quadruple to nearly 400 million by 2050. That means the aging brain will become problematic and an increasing burden for individuals, couples, the health care system and financial professionals.
Therefore, advisors need to become more aware of the impact that a client’s brain, or more specifically, their memory, can have on their life after work. Advisors don’t need to become neurosurgeons but should understand a few key concepts to help clients connect the dots between what is going on with their mind and the impact it has on their everyday life.
The interesting thing about the brain is that its functionality peaks in our early 20s and gradually declines for the rest of life. In our late 30s and 40s is when many people start to notice subtle changes. Forgetting names is typically the first thing we notice, followed by misplacing things like our car keys, glasses or wallet. Many people also begin to have those “tip of the tongue” experiences where they know something or someone but just can’t seem to recall it, and they may even walk into a room and not remember what for.
There are several natural and common causes for mental decline including decreased blood flow to the brain as well as slower production of hormones and proteins that protect and repair brain cells. We also know that the region of the brain that plays a key role in the formation and retrieval of memories, the hippocampus, deteriorates with age.
I don’t know about other advisors, but some of my clients can’t get their hands around terms like alpha and sharp-ratio, making a discussion on things like the hippocampus or beta-amyloid, seem even more difficult. But it’s actually not that hard or difficult if you can put things into the right perspective for them.