October 30, 2012
--- Discussing health care costs in retirement is new
for many advisers, and few say they have the knowledge and resources to do it
well. ---
Four
in five advisers say they know being capable of having these discussions will
help retain clients, according to a Nationwide Financial survey. “There
are not enough advisers right now talking about future health care costs with
their clients, but more will soon learn how—or risk losing customers to an
adviser who can,” said John Carter, president of distribution and sales for
Nationwide Financial.
Fifty-seven
percent of advisers say their clients are interested in talking about their
health care costs in retirement, the survey found. More than half of advisers
admit it is challenging to discuss information about their clients’ health, and
only 30% say they are confident in their ability to estimate their clients'
health care costs in retirement.
Almost
half (43%) of advisers say their clients show little interest in discussing the
subject; three in four advisers say many of their clients don’t seem to realize
how crucial it is to plan for health care costs in retirement and, on average,
more than half don’t have a plan to pay for those costs. More than half of
advisers say they remind their uninterested clients of the importance of the
discussion before switching topics, and 37% say they urge them to have the
discussion before switching topics. Only 4% insist on discussing it.