Helping Clients Facing A Terminal Illness: Planning Strategies & Talking Points
A unique element of financial planning is that client relationships can last for a very long time, with many advisors assisting clients over the course of decades as their financial planning needs evolve in step with their personal lives. Due to this aspect of the planning relationship, it is almost inevitable that an advisor will encounter a time when a client is diagnosed with a terminal illness. And while it is important for the advisor to review technical areas of the financial plan (from cash flow to estate planning) with these clients, an even more critical consideration is how to best communicate and interact with a client whose thoughts are consumed by their illness. If the advisor isn’t aware of the strategies for working with a client with a “sick brain”, all the best financial plans will be useless.
Join expert guest Carolyn McClanahan, M.D., CFP, at the September Kitces Month webinar where advisors will learn:
- How to communicate with a client who tells you they have a serious illness
- How to guide clients through the planning process when they don’t feel well
- How to address end-of-life financial concerns around cash flow, insurance, estate planning, tax planning, and investment planning
Continuing Education (CE): 1 Credit
For those who attend the live session for at least 50 minutes, we will report your attendance directly to the CFP Board, IWI and American College within 72 hours as long as you enter your certification numbers during registration. You will also receive a completion certificate that you can use to report CE to other organizations. We don't report for state level insurance licensing although some states may accept completion certificates if you self-report.
Recordings:
Non-Members: Those who are NOT Kitces.com Members will have access to the recording for 30 days. Though continuing education is available for the live session, the recording is not CE eligible.
Kitces.com Basic & Premier Members: The video presentation and a recording of the live Q&A will be available on the Webinars page in the Members Section. Note: If you were not able to attend the live session for the full 50 minutes, successful completion of a quiz will be required in order to receive CE for viewing the RECORDED VERSION posted to the Members Section.
Realizing the similarities between medicine and financial planning, and feeling more empowered by being able to help people plan for their future, Dr. McClanahan decided to make a career change into financial planning. In addition to working in her financial life planning practice, Dr. McClanahan provides education to financial planners and health care professionals on the interplay between health and financial issues, particularly regarding insurability, health care costs, and health care reform. She writes for Barron’s, Forbes, and CNBC covering issues intersecting money and medicine. Investopedia ranked her as a top 10 advisor making significant contributions to critical conversations about financial life-stage planning. Dr. McClanahan is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA,) the Financial Planning Association, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. She serves on the CNBC Financial Advisor Council and is quoted regularly in numerous publications such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the Washington Post. She has also appeared on CNBC, Hardball, AC360, and NPR.
