As your parents age, there’s a good chance they will need long-term care. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than half of Americans turning 65 today will develop a disability serious enough that they will need daily help with the basic activities of living. Most will need care for less than two years, but 1 in 7 will need assistance for more than five years.

As tough as it might be to imagine your parents being unable to care for themselves, the thought of discussing this possibility with them probably seems even harder. But it’s important to talk to your parents sooner rather than later to develop a plan for long-term care if they ever need it. If you wait for an emergency to strike, emotions will be running high and you’ll likely have fewer options to deal with your parents’ need for care.

Do you ask your clients for trusted contacts?

Since 2018, brokerage firms have been required by FINRA Rule 4512 to ask their retail customers to provide the name and contact information of a trusted contact person. Although the rule applies only to broker-dealers, it’s still a best practice for all wealth management and financial advisory firms to gather this information from clients. 

Unfortunately, time-strapped advisors too often treat getting trusted contacts as an administrative task versus an opportunity to grow their practice. Trusted contact record-keeping should be thought of as a critical practice infrastructure, contributing far more than a list of emergency numbers. If you’re not already asking clients for trusted contacts, here are two key reasons why you should.