Most clients of financial advisers know someone with Alz-heimer's disease or someone with a family member who has it.
Most clients are familiar with its progressive nature, how it slowly robs its victims of their precious memories and independence. And most know that there is no way to prevent the onset or stop the progression of symptoms.
What most clients don't know is that there is a good chance that they, too, will be diagnosed with the disease. By 2025, the number of people 65 and older with Alzheimer's is expected to reach 6.7 million, a nearly 30% increase.
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Most clients of financial advisers know someone with Alz-heimer's disease or someone with a family member who has it.
Most clients are familiar with its progressive nature, how it slowly robs its victims of their precious memories and independence. And most know that there is no way to prevent the onset or stop the progression of symptoms.
What most clients don't know is that there is a good chance that they, too, will be diagnosed with the disease. By 2025, the number of people 65 and older with Alzheimer's is expected to reach 6.7 million, a nearly 30% increase.
LIVING LONGER
As a result, financial advisers would be wise to assume that their clients need a plan to help them handle the devastating financial and emotional impact of this disease.
Because of medical advancements, healthier life-styles and improved diets, doctors are beating many forms of cancer and heart disease, and Americans are living longer. More than half of healthy 65-year-olds can expect to live to 85.
The benefits of a longer life include the opportunity to pursue interests and spend more time with family and friends. The downside is that as the elderly enter their 70s and 80s, they are more likely to have a chronic condition such as Alzheimer's.
As more boomers enter retirement, the potential impact of Alzheimer's is expected to reach epidemic proportions. By 2050, an estimated 16 million people will be at high risk for developing the disease.
In addition to the emotional toll, Alzheimer's can carry a significant financial impact. At a societal level, payments for care this year are estimated to be $200 billion.
Individually, people with Alzheimer's may be forced to retire sooner than planned and their savings are likely to be depleted by health care costs often three times higher than a healthy person their age.
The financial costs aren't limited to the afflicted. A recent study by AARP concluded that family members and friends who care for those with Alzheimer's and other diseases lost $450 billion a year from lost wages and promotions, and out-of-pocket expenses.
Alzheimer's shouldn't be mistaken for the forgetfulness or confusion that can sometimes occur as we age. It is natural for alert and healthy seniors to take a little longer to remember things.
MEMORY LAPSES
It isn't, however, natural for people to have significant lapses in memory or changes in their behavior or personality.
Those symptoms are often the result of dementia, of which Alzheimer's is the most common form. It is characterized by symptoms that interfere increasingly with an individual's usual activities.
A diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is determined if tests confirm abnormalities in two or more of the following areas:
• Memory: The inability to acquire and remember new information.
• Language: Difficulty with speaking, reading or writing.
• Visual/spatial: The inability to recognize faces or common objects.
• Executive dysfunction: Im-paired reasoning, problem solving, financial capacity.
• Personality changes: Uncharacteristic mood fluctuations, apathy, social withdrawal.
Given that almost half of people 85 and older have some level of Alzheimer's, a boomer couple can expect at least one of their parents to develop the disease. This means that as many as 45 million Americans will provide care to a spouse or family member during their lifetime.
Every day, researchers are testing new approaches and medications, but a cure isn't likely for many years. Planning not only helps to protect your client financially, but it could help reduce stress and enhance their ability to cope with the disease.
As Alzheimer's disease moves to the national forefront, advisers who are prepared to address these needs will have a competitive advantage.
If people knew 10, 20 or 30 years in advance that they would develop Alzheimer's disease, convincing them to create a contingency plan would be easy. However, there is no way to predict who will be stricken with Alzheimer's, so it is imperative that advisers raise these concerns with clients who aren't raising them on their own.
Remember, a cost-effective plan has to be implemented before a diagnosis, while the client still qualifies for insurance coverage.
Additionally, research the latest strategies for protecting your clients' financial assets. There are many products, such as long-term-care insurance and life insurance with chronic-care riders to consider.
But with many companies exiting the business, increasing prices and introducing tougher underwriting standards, advisers need to understand the full extent of available options before they can give clients the advice that they so sorely need.
Dr. Robert Porkorski is a physician and the chief medical strategist for The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.
