“And gray divorce is not only emotionally trying, it’s financially trying. Splitting retirement assets can be very complicated,” Bertrand said. “Clients are looking to financial advisors for guidance in this area more than they ever have before. It’s a place to add value as your client goes through a very difficult time.”
Other areas, like making sure asset titles and asset beneficiaries are properly noted as per the client’s intentions, taking care of important paperwork like a power of attorney, adjusting to whatever tax changes come down from Washington, D.C., and making sure assets are tax-diversified should they need to be withdrawn, are all important, the panelists said.
Above all, creativity is an advisor’s best friend, they said.
“Women are earning a lot of money, they’re highly successful, they don’t necessarily have children, and the topic of Social Security will come up as part of the retirement conversation,” Kalyanamitra said. “I have one client who had built up her own wealth, who said she didn’t want to take Social Security. She wanted to just leave it. She didn’t need it, and she was very interested in social justice.”
Instead, Kalyanamitra said she suggested the client take the Social Security payment and use it to pay the premiums on a life insurance policy where the beneficiaries were the organizations the client wanted to support.
“That would end up being a huge donation,” she said.