The main goal of retirement planning is to make sure your money lasts as long as you do.

It’s often been said, with humor of course, that perfect financial planning is when you’re out of breath and running out of money on the same day.

In reality, as life expectancies continue to rise and given inflation and market volatility, it’s a real challenge to get through retirement before your nest egg runs out. financial advisor, I’ve been blessed with some great clients, many of whom know more than just their finances.

They share stories about their spouses, children, friends, grandchildren, and sometimes even great-grandchildren.

When you work with people year after year, you really get to know how they think and what’s on their minds. Not only their financial goals, but also their personal goals and objectives.

In real life, things rarely go as planned. Sometimes people get sick and their lives can end far too soon. As a counselor, it is my duty to help individuals and their families prepare for such life-changing events. And then there is another circumstance that is rarely discussed in the world of financial planning. It is also not often discussed among family members.

I am referring to the mental deterioration of an aging parent.

Very often, aging parents have built up significant nest eggs during their lifetime. And unfortunately, this makes them vulnerable to financial predators. There have been more than a few occasions where I’ve noticed a client who wasn’t quite mentally sharp. When this happens, I contact the adult child of the client to express my concern.

I also suggested to the client that perhaps he should bring his son or daughter with him when we next meet. I have noticed over the years that older people are more likely to make poor financial decisions. And that’s often because they tend to have very big hearts.

I remember when my wife’s aging grandmother, who had very few assets, sent money to a TV preacher who eventually had a major personal scandal. Even a family member could approach Grandma or Grandpa for a loan that will probably never be repaid. Or a son or daughter with good intentions will step in to “help” because an article online has convinced them that they are suddenly qualified to give investment advice.

You know how it often ends. And they are the good guys.

The bad guys are even more dangerous and there are plenty of them. They are dedicated, hardcore scammers who focus on aging because they know there’s a good chance they’ll end up in their wallets.

What can you do to prevent this from happening? I believe the key is communication.

It is important that adult children have open discussions with their parents but also with the parents’ financial advisor. As long as they are mentally healthy, I suggest parents allow their counselor to interact with a trusted son or daughter if they have concerns about their mental health.

A good financial advisor should be a trusted lifelong member of the family team. A lifelong financial advisor who communicates with extended family members can certainly help minimize some of the financial problems that tend to plague aging people with assets.

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