{"id":5274,"date":"2026-06-17T10:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/?p=5274"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:35:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:35:54","slug":"why-advisors-firms-must-emphasize-dementia-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/articles\/2026\/06\/17\/why-advisors-firms-must-emphasize-dementia-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Why advisors, firms must emphasize dementia planning"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Senior PM & aging consultant explains why she sees this need growing more acute and how the industry can open difficult conversations. \n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Nobody likes talking about dementia, even though most of us are worried about it. A new study from Raymond James<\/span><\/a> <\/strong>found that 63 per cent of Canadians worry about how cognitive decline could impact their financial future, but only 29 per cent feel they have adequately addressed brain health as part of their or their families\u2019 financial plans. There\u2019s a gap between what\u2019s worrying clients and what they\u2019re planning for, one that some firms are seeking to close.<\/p>\n

Raymond James recently announced the launch of a new guide for brain health and financial planning, made in collaboration with the Baycrest Foundation. The goal is to provide robust, evidence-based conversation points that may open the door to a difficult, but necessary, conversation and eventual plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so stigmatized. And I think part of it is because there\u2019s a whole lack of understanding even when that diagnosis comes in, there\u2019s still independence, there\u2019s still greatness, there\u2019s still things to do. There\u2019s not just the fact that there will be eventual death,\u201d Explains Neela White, Senior Portfolio Manager at Raymond James. \u201cI think unfortunately, people\u2019s minds jump from here\u2019s, here\u2019s still that person, here\u2019s still that entity, here\u2019s still that client that you need to guide along and help their family along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her role as a portfolio manager, White is a certified professional consultant on aging and a certified dementia care provider with professional and personal experience navigating the challenges of dementia care for her clients and family members. She explained just how complex, challenging, and emotional the process of planning for dementia can be. She outlined why, despite all these challenges, advisors need to be opening up planning conversations about dementia.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The impetus begins at a macro level with Canadian demographics. An aging population and improvements in overall health care have resulted in more people facing cognitive declines and dementia diagnoses<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. Alzheimer\u2019s Canada estimates that in 2025 771,939 people were living with dementia. That number was 597,300 in 2020 and the foundation estimates it could rise to nearly 1 million by 2030.<\/p>\n

White notes that dementia is an extremely broad category for a series of highly specific conditions. Even Alzheimer\u2019s alone can vary hugely in its progression and nature. Some people see a very gradual loss of cognitive ability, while others progress more rapidly. There are a host of challenging comorbidities as well as a great deal of misunderstanding and stigma around the condition.<\/p>\n

Because dementia impacts cognition, its effects can be extremely far-reaching, raising questions of capacity and even the changing nature of personality. Recently diagnosed patients, as well as their families, can be highly emotional in their reaction and plans may need to change meaningfully as a result. Because this category of illness has such seismic impact, planning can make a major difference.<\/p>\n

The role of the advisor is to plan, fundamentally, for a host of outcomes. Given the likelihood that an older client may face some form of dementia or cognitive decline, White explains that there need to be plans in place. Those plans need to extend beyond just the potentially impacted individual to their designated caregivers. The role of caregiver can be extremely difficult, White explains, and she cites her own experience caring for family to show that even an educated, experienced, and prepared individual can be put into a very difficult situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the worst task. It\u2019s draining, it\u2019s disruptive. It\u2019s a job of love, it\u2019s a job of guilt. And people don\u2019t say \u2018I don\u2019t want to do this\u2019 because you\u2019re going to be stigmatized for what a bad child you are,\u201d White says. \u201cBut you got to give people space to say this is something I can and will do and this is something I cannot do and I do not want to do it and I can afford to do it. But that space is never given.\u201d<\/p>\n

White believes that advisors need to get comfortable having those very uncomfortable conversations. They need to be able to probe into clients\u2019 plans, asking whether their designated caregiver can actually do what they\u2019re asking them to do. They need to discuss options around home care, long-term care, assisted living, and the various costs involved with all of those options.<\/p>\n

These conversations, White explains, can happen at various key junctures in life, not just when a client is diagnosed. She notes that it could begin with a younger client whose parents are aging, who may see examples of dementia in their own family. That can open the door to a preliminary conversation about their own plans. The conversation with more middle aged clients can happen in the context either of family experiences or a sharpening retirement plan. If and when a client is diagnosed with a form of dementia, the conversation becomes even more focused, but that earlier groundwork can help.<\/p>\n

Storytelling, White insists, is key to discussing a challenging topic like dementia. She often shares her own stories of caring for family members to open up these conversations, allowing for greater specificity and vulnerability.<\/p>\n

Beyond the moral and demographic imperatives that should drive advisors to build out more of these dementia plans, White insists that there is a business case for dementia planning. Clients want a more holistic service, and if their advisor hasn\u2019t planned for arguably one of the most vulnerable periods a person can experience, then they\u2019ll find an advisor who will plan for it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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This article was written by David Kitai<\/a> and was first published on May 26 2026 in Wealth Professional\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grey divorce can reshape every part of retirement planning, from income and housing to tax, estate and long-term care considerations. For advisors, it is an important reminder that divorce after 50 is not just a division of assets, but a restructuring of later life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5274"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5287,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274\/revisions\/5287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}