Financial Professionals Need To Get Ready For A Wave Of Clients With Alzheimer's Disease
And this "epidemic" will add pressure on advisors and their practices, writes Mary Beth Franklin in Investment News.
As cognitive functions decline people with Alzheimer's struggle with financial tasks. "One of the first skills to decline is the high-level function required to accomplish financial tasks such as paying bills, balancing a checkbook or reading a brokerage statement," Franklin writes.
Advisors that have clients with Alzheimer's face legal and ethical problems. Some say that a written policy will help advisors avoid such problems.
Steve Starnes with The Monitor Group says advisors should do a few things if they notice their client's cognitive functions are deteriorating. These steps include updating the client's legal documents and estate, encouraging them to see a doctor, and helping them pick an advocate.