Not surprisingly, the main focus of Financial Gerontology columns is on connections among aging and money. Even as the services being sold are primarily financial, in dealing with aging men and women alongside their middle-aging family, the financial professional is often asked for non-financial advice. Questions about long-term care, senior housing, estate and longevity planning often requires expertise beyond just financial choices and specifics. Sometimes the questions are quasi-emergencies, about a parent's possible memory issues, driving, where and when to move out of a large house. The experience of many financial professionals is that understanding such non-financial issues, having a supply of information and referral, helps to build a relationship of empathy, trust, and expertise. Several of the columns illustrate how the financial professional can at times act as a kind of geriatric consultant to their clients, including: “Alzheimer's Disease as 'Normal Aging'-- Retirement Planning and the New Longevity” (November 1993); Caring For Elderly Parents: Where Do You Look For Help? [Why Does a Financial Planner Need to Know About Geriatric Care?]” (July 1994); “Geriatric Assisted Living: When Mom and Dad Can’t Live Alone Anymore” (March 1996); “The Financial Services Advisor as a Geriatric Medical Consultant" (July 2002); “The Financial Professional’s Role in Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment” (March 2005).
