Client Reviews

Last week, I talked about reviewing your book of business in order to mine opportunities.  In all likelihood, you already do client reviews but, it serves as a  reminder that best way to grow your book of business is with the clients that you already have.  The second part to this is that the review also helps you insulate your business from the impact of extended care events.

This is a proactive exercise to identify your clients who might benefit from an adjustment to their plans.  If you wait until they are too old or unhealthy, it will diminish the impact for your client, their family, and you!

According to a report from Northwestern Mutual, less than one-third (32%) of Baby Boomers and Gen-X say that they have planned financially for the possibility that they will require LTC support & services themselves.

I implore you to have the planning discussions and (at a minimum) play out an extended care situation with your client and hear what their thoughts are. 

Is that a risk that is worth dismissing? 

It’s important for your client to verbalize how they see things playing out when an exted care situation occurs.  This may not be the most comfortable conversation and they (likely the man) will attempt to deflect the conversation or minimize the risk.  BUT, it is too big of a risk to dismiss.

According to the American Association of Long-Term Care Insurance, 51% of the female population age 65 today will require care during their lives compared to 35% of men.

Here is a common mistake that many planners make – rather than having a planning discussions, they jump into a product discussion or (even worse) they deny that there is even a possibility of an extended care situation occurring and never have a meaningful conversation.  In both of these situations – everyone is shortchanged. 

One other point to remember is this – we are all born with a default plan in place.  It requires no effort and will (for a majority of Americans) be the case for the remainder of their lives unless they make the conscious decision to move away from it. 

Well, the default plan is simply this – the plan of hope where:

You hope that you have a healthy life, and if you don’t

You hope that the situation is not significant, and if it isn’t

You hope that the issue does not last a long time, and if it isn’t

You hope that you have the resources to manage the event, and if you don’t

You hope that it doesn’t decimate your plans.

To me, this isn’t the best plan.  Arguably, it will work for some (if they get lucky from a health perspective or if they have massive wealth).  But, for most, it will be uncomfortable on multiple levels.

So, meet with your clients and review their extended care plan.  This is a listening exercise, not a problem solving exercise.  Unless you know how they are thinking and feeling, you cannot make any credible recommendation.  So … ask questions and take notes.

While this doesn’t tell you everything, it does tell you that there is a distinct need for planning discussions and action to be taken to move from a default plan of hope to an intentional plan of action.

The next move is yours – review your book of business and identify your clients who are under the age of 87 in reasonable health with some wealth and engage in a planning conversation.