Planning for Aging
As of 2019, the population of those 65 and older reached 54.1 million or 16% of the population. By 2040 this number will be closer to 22%. Healthier lifestyles and better medical care means that people will live longer. Even though we have better medical treatments, the mind/brain is one of the fields of medicine in which we still have a lot of work to do.
In conjunction with establishing an estate plan which includes a power of attorney, we recommend that you add a trusted contact(s) on each of your accounts. This will allow the trusted contact to communicate with the custodian (Schwab), if/when the account holder becomes unable to handle the account due to mental and/or physical decline. In a study done by Schwab, people's cognitive decision making tends to peak at age 53 then gradually declines. As people reach their 70-80’s, they lose the capacity to process new information. Once someone reaches their 80’s, about half of the population has a medical diagnosis of substantial cognitive decline. These are all unfortunate realities of getting older, and reasons why you should have trusted contacts attached to your accounts.
Listed below are instructions for establishing or amending your trusted contacts and beneficiary designations for those with online access at Charles Schwab and Company. If you do not have online access you can contact us to provide the necessary forms for each.
Home Page (Schwab.com) after login
-> My Profile (top right, next to search bar, drop down menu)
-> Trusted contact (second tab, middle of page)
-> Input information of your Trusted Contact
-> Save
Home Page (Schwab.com) after login
-> My Profile (top right, next to search bar, drop down menu)
-> Beneficiaries (third tab, middle of page, next to Trusted Contact)
-> Input/check information of your Beneficiaries
-> Save
If you have any issues or questions, please contact me at (847) 991-6050 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..