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The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force estimates three million LGBTQ elders live in the United States. As Baby Boomers age, that number will grow. For many LGBTQ older adults, a lifetime of employment discrimination and other factors contribute to disproportionately high poverty rates, according to the National Consumer Law Center. However, despite that, some LGBTQ seniors have been financially successful and some may be your clients.
Here are some issues senior LGBTQ clients face and how you can help them.
Discrimination in care facilities likely mirrors society-wide discrimination, adding to the difficulties any aging person must face in deciding where to live and how to receive care in a dignified way. There may be no one to take on the task of caregiving. Family may have rejected them or disowned them due to their gender identity.
LGBTQ seniors may fall into the category sometimes called "elder orphans," those without family to attend to them as they age. They may not have an appointed trusted contact, or the ones appointed may no longer be available or willing to serve in the capacity of an attorney-in-fact on a durable power of attorney document or as an agent on an advance healthcare directive.
What can a financial advisor do in such situations?
Your client may or may not be married and may or may not have a supportive family or a community. Many who identify as LGBTQ are childless, leaving them without concerned offspring who might normally take them in or attend to their care needs as they age. The advisor can look ahead, which is what your job requires, and do your research to protect your older client in his or her special circumstances. The usual way of planning for retirement may not be feasible. Your research may need to include whether the area in which your client lives has services and friendly places to go when the need for care arises. You may need to direct your client to move to a place where suitable care is available without forcing them to go back “in the closet” just to get needed assistance.
First, consider that financially successful LGBTQ clients who need some care in their daily lives with aging may not be comfortable in just any nearby assisted-living facility or with any home care provider agency. Discrimination and ignorance will prevail, as they do in the larger society,unless a particular effort is made to create services and locations that are LGBTQ friendly.
The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) is the only federal law that prohibits discrimination in most private and public housing on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability and familial status. But there are no explicit FHA protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression for LGBTQ individuals. Therefore, if your client needs assisted living in some unfriendly places, no legal protections mandate acceptance of an application to live there.
In response to this gap in protection, some forward-thinking people have created senior housing communities designed to be supportive environments for LGBTQ elders. An example is Fountaingrove Lodge in Sonoma County, CA. It was created by a family with a personal interest in LGBTQ issues. Members of the LGBTQ community approached the Gallagher family and got their commitment to do the project. They wanted aging people to be welcomed, and not judged, in a beautiful retirement.
The project has 70 homes of varying sizes and offers a continuum of care including independent living, assisted living, memory care and hospice care. It filled quickly after opening. This is an upscale place, according to its marketing staff, for those who can afford the hefty entry fees and monthly rent. Staff training at Fountaingrove Lodge includes advice about what language to use that is considered politically correct for its population. The staff are taught to respect everyone, what challenges their residents are likely to face and how to deal with sexuality. Employees are carefully chosen to screen for an open attitude and willingness to accept everyone without judgment. There are other LGBTQ- friendly projects across the U.S., but according to Fountaingrove Lodge staff, none of the others offer a continuum of care, with memory care and hospice also available.
For those who live longer than their portfolios can comfortably support them, low-income seniors housing for the LGBTQ community is beginning as well. The first affordable LGBTQ-welcoming housing project, 55 Laguna, was created by a nonprofit organization, Openhouse in San Francisco, after years in development. According to its announcement it has 26 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments. Another similar project is in development nearby as well. Combined, these two housing sites will be the largest affordableLGBTQ-friendly housing project in the nation. Openhouse's executive director reports in the publication Angels in America that the LGBT Aging Task Force found that 50% of LGBTQ seniors have faced discrimination in the prior year right in San Francisco, where much of the fight for LGBTQ rights began. She further states that almost 90% of them report feeling that staff in care facilities would discriminate against an LGBTQ elder if they were “out.”
In the eyes of many, elderly LGBTQ folks just do not exist. Some will be forced into miserable living situations unless careful planning is done well in advance to address their possible needs. For those who have been out of the closet for some time, it would seem to be very depressing to have to go back to it and hide one's orientation in order to get needed assistance in a care facility, senior's apartment complex or assisted living
You get the picture of how it may go for your clients if they are part of the LBGTQ community. Being rejected when they want to be in a care facility, being mistreated when they try to get needed care, and feeling lost and fearful as they lose their independence are all daunting challenges.
What can the advisor do?
The best thing the advisor can do is to open the discussion as to how your client wants to age and where. Then you must go over the options. In some parts of the country, there will be few if any choices. In other parts of the U.S., more options may exist, and to get into any LGBTQ-friendly place may take years of advance planning. This is particularly true for those who are not high income. Finding good quality low income seniors housing is difficult enough without adding the vastly more difficult issue of finding such housing that will be friendly to your LGBTQ client.
Here are six sample questions to ask your aging or retirement age LGBTQ clients. The discussion should begin at age 65 or before, depending on individual factors. You know your client. Consider these points to raise with him or her.
1. Have you considered where you want to live in your later years?
2. Have you considered how you would manage if you lost your complete independence and needed some help with basic care?
3. If you did need help with your care at some point, is there anyone in your life who would provide that for you? Have you discussed this with that person(s)?
4. If you had a major health crisis, like a disabling stroke for example, would you be able to stay where you are now? If you had to use a wheelchair, would your current living space work for that?
5. Have you ever considered moving to a location where there are gay-friendly seniors housing opportunities?
6. Can I help you with the research about availability of places where you might get care in a place that would not discriminate against you?
Summary
LGBTQ seniors face aging differently than your other clients. The body may age and the mind may decline the same regardless of gender identity, but the options for care and where to receive it differ. Sensitive and forward-looking advisors will consider all of these factors and explore them with clients. Initiate the discussion. Planning ahead is your trademark.
Carolyn Rosenblatt is a Registered Nurse and elder law attorney, and is a founder and principal of www.aginginvestor.com.
Resources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolynrosenblatt/2014/04/24/do-gay-people-de…ire-with-dignity/
Read more articles by Carolyn Rosenblatt
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives
