As seniors age and become less independent and in need of assistance, their adult children often face the difficult choice of whether to hire a home caregiver, or to even move their parents into a managed care facility.
It’s a difficult decision to make, and one that the elders often resist.
“It’s usually a pride issue … Making that transition, it really needs to be their decision,” said Aaron Steele, financial planner and owner of Steele Capital Management, who has advised many families grappling with this issue. “It needs to come from mom and dad that they made this decision to sell that house. If they’re not safe in the home and the kids initiate care in the home or move them to a facility and it’s not mom and dad’s idea, then they tend to resent the caregivers, they resent the facilities.”
Steele Capital Management, based in the Seattle area, offers financial and retirement planning services to clients who are looking for help in achieving their financial goals later in life.
Steele told “Advisors Magazine” during a recent interview that a forced transition can leave elders feeling hopeless and alone.
“If that’s the case then the senior can deteriorate from a health standpoint very fast,” he said.
Steele has worked with many families and investors to plan their retirement so that they can gracefully transition into their golden years without running out of money. At the heart of his philosophy is a focus on what happens to clients’ money after they accumulate wealth.
Steele Capital Management uses a “house approach” in caring for clients’ money, with the foundation being income, the walls standing in for accumulation of wealth, and the roof symbolizing insurance and asset protection. It’s the third phase that many advisors neglect, Steele said.
“The conversation is always about that accumulation dollar,” he said. “More time is needed to help identify client objectives, concerns, client ways to mitigate risk.”
Mitigating risk – a skill Steele picked up after years in commercial lending – includes defensive measures such as insurance and guaranteed income, he said. A proper mitigation plan can prevent clients from running out of money, and prepare them for unexpected events such as a death or the need for long-term care.
“If you have sufficient income, as long as there’s not a huge financial need, then continuing to take things off your portfolio without diluting the portfolio, that tends to be the case with retirees who make it work,” Steele said.
For more information see www.steelecap.net
Steele Capital Management. All rights reserved 2017. Investment advisory services offered through BWM Advisory, LLC (www.BWM.Investments). Independent producer of insurance services offered through Insurance Marketing Organizations and Insurance FMOs (www.Bedrockfs.com). BWMAdvisory, LLC (BWM) is registered as an Investment Adviser with the SEC and only conducts business in states where it is properly licensed, notice filed or is excluded from notice filing requirements. Registration is not an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators and does not mean the adviser has achieved a specific level of skill or ability. Different types of investments involve higher and lower levels of risk. There is no guarantee that a specific investment or strategy will be suitable or profitable for an investor’s portfolio. There are no assurances that a portfolio will match or exceed any particular benchmark. Any comments regarding guaranteed income streams or similar refer only to fixed insurance and annuity products. They do not refer, in any way to securities or investment advisory products. Fixed insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the claims‐paying ability of the issuing company and are not offered by BWM.
