Psychology of Financial Planning

CHAPTER 18Helping a Client in Crisis

Sharon is scared. She doesn't know what to do, so she called her financial planner, Ricardo, for some advice. Earlier that evening she had to call 911. Steve, her husband of 40 years, had started acting paranoid. He had been angry with his doctors for weeks, and it all came to a head that day. Years ago, he was diagnosed with dementia but that night he was refusing to take his medication because he was convinced that his doctors, and now Sharon, were trying to poison him. He became belligerent and knocked over a lamp and was acting aggressively toward her. Sharon had never seen her husband lose his temper like this and she was afraid that he might hurt her. The police took Steve to the emergency room to have him evaluated, and the attending physician asked Sharon if she had power of attorney, so that she could make medical decisions for Steve. Although she had a solid estate plan with a springing power of attorney, Steve had not yet been declared legally incompetent. Sharon was also worried that Steve might try to access their accounts and do something with their money that was not in line with their financial goals, since he was acting so erratic. Sharon was stressed, worried, and was reaching out to Ricardo for his advice and support. If you were Ricardo, what would you do?

CRISIS EVENTS WITH SEVERE CONSEQUENCES

Clearly Sharon is in the midst of a crisis. For the purposes of our discussion, we define a crisis as an event the client experiences ...