The best way for advisers to get their clients interested in estate planning is to tell them to be greedy, a panel has heard.
Peter Bobbin, managing director at Argyle Lawyers, said getting clients “engaged in the wealth transfer story” should begin with an emphasis on what they need from the people around them. By ensuring the people in their circle are covered, clients are doing the best thing they can to cover themselves.
“Do you want to know what the most important thing is, as far as my estate planning goes? It’s what my wife has done. My wife’s will is way more important, from an estate planning perspective, than my own,” he said, before joking, “The good thing is that I gave her a discount when I did it.”
Speaking at the Conexus Financial Post Retirement Conference, Bobbin also said the one thing advisers must not do is complicate estate planning.
“The three most important tools in estate planning are a blank sheet of paper, a pen, and a glass of red,” he explained. “Imagine [your wife] is dead, but the kids are alive and you’re alive,” he said. “Write down what you want to see happen, sip some wine and turn the page. Then imagine she’s dead and the kids are dead, but you’re alive. What do you want to see happen? Write it down, sip some wine, and turn the page.”
While the scenarios might be confronting, Bobbin said they were effective.
“What I find, from a client perspective, is they begin to think through the issues when you phrase it like this,” he explained. “If you’re greedy, and you help the clients be greedy, you’ll actually embrace proper, effective estate planning. That includes insurance. For example, do you know if your son-in-law has life insurance? Or rather, is your place big enough to accommodate your daughter and the children moving back in?”
Bobbin also made the point that when advisers ensure their clients take care of their estate planning, they are being greedy themselves, which is also a good thing.
“If you [make sure] your clients have an enduring Power of Attorney in place, you’re protecting your business,” he said. “How quickly do you think the public guardian might take them away from your management?”
The potential scope of funds at stake was emphasised by Colin Falls, senior business development manager, NSW, at Australian Unity, who pointed out that the next wave of older Australians includes the Baby Boomers and an incredible influx of wealth.
“The Baby Boomers have been the benefactors of some of the greatest wealth increases we’ve seen in history, and now we’re at an age where some of that is being passed through to Gen X, Gen Y and also some of the Millennials,” he said. “We, as advisers and as clients, need to invest in this wealth-transfer process to make sure it’s right.”
