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A recent HSBC advertisement points out that "two thirds of the people who have ever reached 65 are alive today." Baby boomers, the more than 77 million individuals born between 1946 and 1964, are indeed at or nearing retirement age. As they enter into their golden years, boomers stand to impact society as a whole in new and unprecedented ways.
Generally, boomers are a well educated generation and one that has acquired significant wealth. Nevertheless, their savings habits may leave many facing the prospect of a reduced standard of living going forward. In addition, others saw lifetime savings eroded severely by the stock market collapse in the last few years and now contemplate a seriously altered lifestyle in retirement.
Boomers also face the very real potential of having to delay retirement due to changes in Social Security regulations. Due to recent changes in the law, most boomers will necessarily be looking to retire at 66, 67 or later. Some in Congress have proposed that the retirement age be reset from 65 to 70 across the board. So, this generation will be in search of strategies that can simultaneously conserve wealth and maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
Other concerns include age-related illness. The large number of aging baby boomers will also strain our nation's health care delivery systems as well as available funding programs. Care management as well as the fiduciary services professions are poised for growth on an exponential trajectory.
So recruiting and training new fiduciaries capable to addressing the complex financial and health needs of this new, massive population of the elderly has never been more pressing. The community of professional fiduciaries obviously has a vested interest in assuring that freshman fiduciaries are well trained to meet the challenges our altered "Boomer" reality presents.
Even so, fiduciary training carries with it significant increased liability hazards. For example, trainers and mentors could well be pulled into disputes regarding a newbee's mismanagement of a case that the trainer consulted on. "Negligent referral" also presents liability pitfalls.
Recognizing this category of new, and increased liability, as part of the NGA-sponsored professional liability program, Lloyd's of London is now offering Fiduciary Trainer liability coverage by way of endorsement to the standard Fiduciary Professional Liability ("FPL") policy. This optional endorsement provides the following straight forward definition of this newly insurable capacity:
"Fiduciary Trainer" means one who provides Fiduciary educational or training services to others. The main policy form itself has also been revised to include coverage for any fiduciary acting as "a volunteer or in an official pro bono capacity." An increasing need for volunteer guardians, especially for the indigent population, is becoming more and more apparent.
Contemplating these coming trends, the HBSC ad concludes with this provocative query: "We see a world of potential. Do you?".
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