How to provide value to stretched 'club sandwich generation'
Looking at his experience at BlueShore, he said things are tougher now because the grandparent generation is living longer, and thus has more chance of dementia. Many of the parent generation are also helicopter parents, so are helping their kids even after they’ve left school or started out on their own.
“My sense is that the sandwich generation is stretched to the limit now because the aging demographic has really pulled it on one end and being helicopter parents has pulled it on the other,” said Cindric.
Caring for this generation can mean a lot of things – but it always means listening to what clients say about their lives and what they’re juggling, and developing a financial plan, he said, so “they can be proactive with the things they can control and have a plan for the things they can’t. That’s a great way to help them get peace of mind.”
“We have to get them to see things that they haven’t even thought of yet, and then it’ll be a lot more seamless,” said Cindric. “They may not even know they have a problem yet. So, we have to point those out to them. As advisors, I think that’s one of our main responsibilities.”
He noted this means ensuring they have all of ther financial basics in place, including emergency funds, wills and powers of attorney, and adequate insurance before they invest to build their wealth. But, it also means ensuring that they are saving for retirement and that helping the other generations isn’t eroding how they’re also going to be taking care of their own needs in the long run.
