Trust 2.0

In my last blog, we reminisced and outlined how Trust is built, felt, and ultimately destroyed.  

There is a reason this keeps coming up, aside from it being the basis of our business.  

We encounter individuals who have placed their trust in a system for decades, a system they trust will honour the agreement they signed on years ago. The ugly truth is that without a well-maintained relationship with their advisor, their expectations versus the current state of their policies can be shocking. 

So much so that it can impact retirement planning and estate planning.  

A case I am working on currently is with a gentleman who has had his policy since 1981.

He has not been serviced by an advisor in 20 years. The policy he was planning on drawing on for some supplemental retirement income is in arrears. 

How can this be?  Both his blank stare and stutter (when he did begin to speak) communicated the betrayal he was encountering with our conversation.  Is there hope to resurrect his current policy? Yes.

Will it ever regain the luster it once had?  No. 

So what’s the solution? 

Due to recently retiring, his group benefits do have some options he could convert into.  

Maybe that’s the answer. 

We can request a change from his current cost of insurance, which is yearly renewable (meaning each year the cost of insurance gets more expensive), to a level cost. 

Or we could look at a brand-new product, which is the best idea, only if they can pass through medical underwriting without major issues. 

In all of this, I have not included my bias, because what’s right for the client today is what is affordable for retirement.    

The idea we may land on is a permanent policy, where we design it to be paid for 10 years, and then he never has to pay again.  

At this time, the priority is rebuilding the trust.   

No matter the direction we take, it needs to be felt by this gentleman and his family that we have done all we can to ensure this next move is the right one, and the last one.  

"What is the solution?", As in every relationship worth maintaining, constant communication is the key.

My commitment is to be in contact on a regular basis, so there are no surprises in the future.

If you are looking for this type of relationship with your advisor, and want a second opinion, please reach out to our office.

Liam