Above all, listen

Name:

Don (not his real name)

Location:

Montreal

Age:

late 50s

Has an advisor?

Yes

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This article is part of the Advisor’s Edge 20 Ways to Be a Better Advisor feature package, published in the June 2018 edition of AE. Click here for more tips and to learn about our 20th anniversary.

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Don, a Montrealer in his late 50s, has a specific concern when he meets with financial professionals: providing for his disabled daughter both now and after he and his wife are no longer around.

His daughter was born with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by weak muscles, intellectual disability and constant hunger. She attends a special program at a public school, and won’t be able to care for herself when she’s older.

“The main question is what happens when we’re not there anymore. That has to be taken into account the minute we walk in,” he says.

Various steps are required to ensure her financial security, and Don discovered many through his own research. There are tax credits, such as the disability tax credit and the child disability benefit. He opened an RDSP when his daughter was nine or 10, and contributions can be made until she’s 59. “It’s a cushion for the long term,” he says of the RDSP.

A notary created a trust in his daughter’s name. Leaving her money through a trust means her provincial social benefits won’t be clawed back, as they would if she received a regular inheritance.

Don also works with an advisor, who must understand all the elements involved in securing his daughter’s financial future. “The advisor has to look at it holistically—not only over our lifespan but the lifespan of our child also.”

To get to that point requires a lot of listening. “Asking questions is part of listening, but above all, listen,” he says. “We want to be listened to.”

At the end of their first meeting, their new advisor restated “what we needed to take into account in our financial situation to, long term, be able to provide for our daughter.”