Ten Steps to Becoming the Retirement Advisor Your Clients Need

If you’re looking for ways to become more integral to your clients this year, here are some ideas that Barry LaValley, founder of the Retirement Lifestyle Center, presented at our 2016 National Education Conference:

Starting to Slip

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who repeatedly asks you the same question or who tells you a story they just told you a few minutes earlier? Most of us have. Common as it is, it can still be awkward and, the first time it happens, incredibly easy to justify away. Whether you have experienced this with a friend, colleague, family member or even a client, the real trick is recognizing when it has become a problem.
 
For me this is a topic near and dear to my heart as my mother-in-law is in the throes of Alzheimer’s now. What started as forgetfulness and stories on repeat has now become an emotional and financial family roller coaster that’s impacting three generations. Knowing the emotional toll really cannot be alleviated, I often think about whether or not our experience would be any easier had we done some planning in advance of the illness settling in. I wonder if her advisor had pointed out a behavioral shift in spending and we acknowledged it all at the start, if we would be in a better position. Seems like a pretty easy “yes” … but then I wonder how prepared her advisor was for it too.