{"id":119435,"date":"2025-09-04T13:53:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T13:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119435\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T13:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T13:53:21","slug":"pain-points-and-reaching-the-next-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119435\/","title":{"rendered":"Pain points and reaching the next generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s an example: Hugo and Alice, married for 45 years, have three children in their late 30s and early 40s. All advisor meetings and calls over the last 15 years were with Hugo; Alice was absent.<\/p>\n

You ask Hugo if he has a power of attorney (POA) document and a will. Yes, on both counts. Alice and their daughter Stephanie will share POA and executor duties. The three children are the will beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

You ask to be introduced to them. No need, says Hugo.<\/p>\n

You press on. Don\u2019t your children need my help assuming they ultimately inherit your wealth? It\u2019s at this point that Hugo responds with one or more versions of:<\/p>\n

My children are fine.<\/p>\n

My children have their own advisors.<\/p>\n

My children are DIYers.<\/p>\n

My children use robo advisors.<\/p>\n

My children are sophisticated and independent \u2014 they have their own advisors.<\/p>\n

My children are not interested.<\/p>\n

The better way<\/p>\n

The problem with this approach is that it is advisor-focused, not client-focused. Sure, you can provide Hugo\u2019s kids with valuable advice, but what he\u2019s hearing is that you want a referral. You\u2019re afraid of losing the assets when Hugo and his wife pass, and you want his help.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a better way. Find your senior clients\u2019 pain points and address them, even if the solution does not directly benefit you. Put your clients at the centre of your efforts, not yourself and your goals.<\/p>\n

Ask Hugo if he has any concerns about his and Alice\u2019s financial future. Find a way to meet with Alice, even if Hugo is more knowledgeable and seems to stand in the way. (I wrote about \u201cinvisible clients\u201d in chapter 8 of Advisor at Risk<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This is a legal and regulatory obligation. And it makes good business sense, given how many widows move away from their deceased husbands\u2019 advisors. A 2023 survey by Sun Life Global Investments reported that\u00a080% switched advisors\u00a0following their husband\u2019s death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The truth is that you risk losing the assets even before they go to the next generation, especially if you\u2019ve never met Alice. Moreover, establishing a relationship with her might allow you to learn some of the couple\u2019s pain points and help solve them.<\/p>\n

For example, Hugo didn\u2019t share with you that Alice is the main caregiver of their disabled adult son, Frederick. Hugo needs a plan to provide care as Alice grows older, and ultimately, may predecease Frederick. But he hasn\u2019t told you that.<\/p>\n

Hugo won\u2019t discuss the issue with Alice either. This is a serious pain point for both Hugo, who cannot talk about it, and Alice, who lives in fear of having no plan for her son.<\/p>\n

This is where you might be able to suggest options, for this and other pain points. You might recommend that a trust be set up for Frederick\u2019s care, or that certain insurance policies might be available. You might need to meet one of the other children, Stephanie or Ronald. Perhaps they can be part of the plan.<\/p>\n

Addressing Hugo and Alice\u2019s needs will earn you a meeting with one or more of their adult children.<\/p>\n

The trusted contact person<\/p>\n

The other benefit of meeting Stephanie and Ronald \u2014 again, for the clients\u2019 benefit rather than yours \u2014 is to ensure you have someone to call if something happens to Alice and Hugo. For example, one of the couple\u2019s investments is doing so well that the account needs a rebalancing.<\/p>\n

You call Hugo and then Alice, but there is no answer on their home or either of their mobile phones. You leave messages and send emails but get no response. Months later, you learn that Alice suffered a stroke, and the strain of caring for her led Hugo to suffer a massive heart attack and pass away. Alice had appointed Stephanie as her POA and Stephanie is moving the assets to her advisor.<\/p>\n

You made a mistake \u2014 years ago. You didn\u2019t take your obligation to identify a trusted contact person (TCP) for Alice and Hugo seriously, and allowed them to skip that step by signing to confirm that they did not want to identify one.<\/p>\n

Without the name and contact information of one of their adult children as TCP, and without the knowledge that Alice was the primary caregiver of Frederick, you missed an opportunity to provide the service they needed and build a meaningful relationship with the adult children.<\/p>\n

So, before you ask for a referral, consider your approach. Put the clients\u2019 interests at the centre and use your regulatory tools to address clients\u2019 pain points \u2014 for their benefit, and ultimately, yours. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s an example: Hugo and Alice, married for 45 years, have three children in their late 30s and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132],"class_list":["post-119435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}