Did you know that almost twenty percent of baby boomer women don’t have children? This is nearly twice the rate of childlessness seen in previous generations. The reasons for this dramatic rise are fairly evident. Over the past 40 years, options for careers and contraception have changed women’s lives dramatically. Pursuing a career path, never marrying, and not raising kids have become socially acceptable.
We don’t have exact numbers for men, but since it takes two to tango, it’s probably fair to assume that their numbers are similar. Now that baby boomers are the current “older adults,” it means one in five will have no grown children to help them as daily life gets more difficult.
In addition to the unprecedented numbers of boomers who didn’t bear children, many more have children who live far away, are estranged from their parents, or are not suitable as trusted caregivers. This puts even more boomers in a position where they will have to plan for their own care in later life without the safety net of adult children. This holds true for both single and married people. Since we don’t have a crystal ball, we have no way of knowing which partner will be widowed, so the idea of taking care of one another only goes halfway.
Who will be there for your clients if they live into their late 80s, 90s, and 100s? Their chances of living into those decades are better than ever, thanks to medical science, but so are their chances of needing assistance with daily physical or mental requirements. Household upkeep, money management, shopping, and even personal hygiene are just a few of the myriad chores adult children often take over for their aging parents. Your clients may expect to age gracefully and healthfully without needing this kind of assistance, but statistics paint a very different picture. Health problems of one sort or another begin to afflict people with dramatically higher frequency as the decades mount.
Most financial advisors I work with have clients who go back decades in their practice. This puts you in a unique position to help them sort out some of the difficult decisions that go along with aging. Here are the key ways you can serve your solo ager clients:
Deciding Where to Live
Many baby boomers react negatively when faced with the prospect of moving to a retirement community. They often fear they would have to give up their autonomy and the right to make their own decisions. Many boomers’ only experience with “senior living” is visiting a grandparent in a nursing home. Today’s senior living communities are a far cry from what was available even 20 years ago. Familiarizing yourself with the available options will be important if you are going to help them.
Today, the expanded definition of senior living includes:
- Active Adult Communities (also known as “55+” communities). No care included.
- Continuing Care Retirement Communities (people move in as independent residents and when they need additional care, it is available to them onsite).
- Assisted Living Communities (care focused).
One very important point and common misconception: The choices above are all private pay (Medicare does NOT cover any kind of assisted living) and each kind of community has a different financial model. In some of them, you purchase a home or the right to use an apartment; in others, it’s a pay-by-the-month model. They are all very different from one another. A good way to understand senior living a little better is by visiting the consumer-facing page on the website for ASHA, the American Seniors Housing Association. There you will find lots of examples and definitions.
Once you familiarize yourself with the many options for senior living, you can encourage your clients to check out some of the options in their area.
Legal Documents
For solo agers, having an estate plan is critical. Even though you are not an attorney, you can be instrumental in helping your clients better understand the need for these documents and how to make choices appropriate for their circumstances.
Today, a good estate plan encompasses a power-of-attorney (POA) for finances, a POA for health care decisions, a will, and in most cases, a trust. Although your clients will need to engage the services of an attorney to create these documents, your encouragement and knowledge of the subject will be extremely helpful in moving them along.
For solo agers, the POAs are especially critical. The legal parameters for how these documents should be written differ in each state, but in all cases, it amounts to:
- Choosing someone to manage their finances if they are incapacitated.
- Choosing someone to make health-related decisions if they are unable for physical or mental reasons.
Choosing these agents or proxies is often the hardest part of the estate planning work for solo agers. If you have a strong, ongoing relationship with your clients, you are very likely in a better position to help them make these decisions than an attorney they just met.
Your clients may be thinking along the lines of “I don’t have any heirs, so I don’t care what happens when I die.” This is short-sighted thinking, and you may be in a good position to steer them in a healthier direction.
In selecting proxies, the following qualities can be a good way to evaluate options:
- Trustworthy (has integrity and has proved to be honest).
- Capable (able to make difficult decisions in less-than-ideal circumstances).
- Available (able to take the time to manage their affairs or their health decisions).
- Compatible (plays well with others they name).
Possible candidates could include a niece, a younger sibling, or the son or daughter of a good friend. Encourage solo ager clients to consider younger people. Many solo agers default to a good friend who agrees to be their proxy, but this choice is far from ideal because of the age similarity.
As a generation, boomers are already re-inventing the retirement chapter of their lives, but they also need to re-invent older age. Help them emerge from their denial and start thinking about that chapter too!
About Author:
Dr. Sara Zeff Geber, Ph.D., is an author, professional speaker, and blogger on the subject of baby boomer aging, with a strong focus on Solo Aging. Her 2018 book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, was an Amazon Bestseller and is considered the seminal work on solo aging in the United States.
Sara is a sought-after speaker on meeting the challenges of solo aging. She is also a regular contributor to Forbes.com on the topics of aging and retirement.
To find out more about Sara Zeff Geber and to inquire about her speaking, please visit her website, SaraZeffGeber.com.
