Partnering like a pro: Advisors and eldercare consultants 

In 2010, Paul Bourbonniere learned that one of his clients was going through a tough time.  

The man was “estranged from his two sons and was obviously needing care,” Bourbonniere said. The client had passed out by his front doorstep, where he ended up lying for two days with no food, water or care until a neighbour found him.  

“It was clear that we had to sort of guide him,” recalled Bourbonniere, senior investment advisor and co-founder of Polson Bourbonniere Financial, which operates under iA Private Wealth Inc.   

Realizing he was not qualified to holistically support his client, he reached out to Pat Irwin, founder and president of ElderCare Canada, which provides senior care consulting services, for help. Bourbonniere had known Irwin for years at that point and considered her a “credible, reliable, efficient and compassionate individual.” 

Traditionally, he would refer clients to accountants or lawyers, Bourbonniere said. But working with several retirees or soon-to-be retirees made having an eldercare consultant to count on extremely important.    

“I thought, ‘This is a service I’m going to need in my repertoire, and I know that I’m not capable of doing it, and so it’s time to build out a team to deal with this the next time it happens, and hopefully prevent it from happening,” Bourbonniere said.  

Irwin stepped in to assess the situation and concluded that the client, who was taken to the hospital and later placed in a nursing home after being found at his doorstep, would be more comfortable living in a retirement residence.  

For his part, Bourbonniere contacted the client’s power of attorney to arrange for his home to be sold and crunched the numbers so the man could move to a retirement home that was within his budget.  

“Paul didn’t need to call me. And he could have said, ‘Too bad, old man, too bad.’ But he doesn’t do that, he goes the extra mile,” Irwin said.  

Ever since that experience, Bourbonniere and Irwin have worked together to guide several elderly clients and their families through in-home care or retirement home/long-term care arrangements and estate planning, among other things. 

THE PARTNERS  

• Advisor: Paul Bourbonniere, co-founder and certified financial planner with Markham, Ont.-based Polson Bourbonniere Derby Wealth Management, which operates under iA Private Wealth Inc.  
• Expert: Pat Irwin, founder and president of ElderCare Canada, which provides senior care consulting services for the adult children of aging parents 
• Number of households they’ve collaborated on: Six   
• How long they’ve worked together: 14 years 

Why they chose each other 

In his decades spent working with seniors, Bourbonniere said he’s learned to notice changes in some of his clients, which will “get our spidey sense up.”  

Once these mental or physical changes start to crop up among clients, his firm will schedule more frequent meetings with them.  

Typically, they are living alone, making them “the most vulnerable” clients, Bourbonniere said. He’ll go so far as to check up on these clients at their homes. 

“But at some point, we recognize there has to be more services brought to bear here,” he said.  

This is why Bourbonniere chose to partner with Irwin to serve clients in these positions. 

“[W]hen you have a restrictive licence as financial advisors have, there are a number of things that compliance departments of various investment dealers, the [Ontario] Securities Commission and regulatory bodies prohibit you from doing,” he said. “Collaboration has always been a very important component of how we deliver services.” 

Being able to bring in a specialist like Irwin, who guides clients and their families through things such as in-home care, housing options, relocation assistance, estates, wills and funerals, allows Bourbonniere to have deeper relationships with his clients and enhances the value of his practice in their eyes.

It also allows him to focus on the financial side of these decisions, while Irwin focuses on logistics and advocating for clients.  

“You can’t be so one dimensional in your relationship with a client that if it falls outside [of your responsibilities], that it’s somebody else’s problem,” Bourbonniere said. “The more holistic we can go, we think it makes for a better client relationship.” 

And when Irwin has clients who need to transition to a different housing option, for example, she will refer them to Bourbonniere, who will assess their financial situation and how much they are able to spend on a move. She’s then able to come up with appropriate recommendations.  

“There’s no point in talking to somebody about a lovely retirement home at six grand a month if they don’t have that kind of money, so that’s really my first question,” she said. “A lot of people have no idea what a retirement home will cost, so once they know things like that, Paul can take that forward into their future planning.” 

Trust in one another has also been key in their partnership. 

“You need someone that you completely trust, and I think that’s where both of us come in,” Irwin said. “I’ll say, ‘I don’t do money,’ and he’ll say, ‘I don’t do placements, I don’t do nursing homes. Over to you Pat.’ And then we dovetail it back.” 

A client example 

Irwin recalled a time when she referred an 88-year-old client who required care to Bourbonniere. She said the man had fallen in the snow and “was left for dead on his way to church” in Toronto.  

“They thought he was drunk, so he was sent to hospital,” Irwin said. 

With Bourbonniere’s help, Irwin said she was able to find out how much the man had in cash and assets, which allowed her to understand what arrangement worked best for the client according to his financial situation. From there, the two were able to gain the man’s trust and he became Bourbonniere’s client as well.  

Irwin was able to arrange for the man to be released from the hospital, a real estate agent to come in and sell his home, and for him to be placed in a retirement home where he could receive personal care. Bourbonniere made sure his finances were in order throughout this time.  

Years later, Irwin said the man “got it into his head” that he couldn’t afford care anymore, even though “care is what was keeping him going.” He had a caregiver tending to him from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.  

“So, he got rid of his caregiver, and within days, he had fallen, he developed pneumonia, he was back in hospital [and] he was looking for assisted suicide,” she said. “He was all over the map. A nephew called me, and I went, ‘whoa, OK,’ and called Paul.”  

She asked Bourbonniere if the client could indeed afford care, and once he informed her that the senior could, the two went to visit the client in person. They were able to talk to him and reassure him that having a caregiver was within his budget and necessary. 

“I went out in the hall with my cell phone, brought the caregiver back. I had her back in five minutes, with all things sorted out quickly, because he trusts us,” she said. “That level of companionship and attention to any red flags regarding health is essential to his well-being and he continues to thrive.”  

Bourbonniere said the two relay these kinds of stories to other clients to show them the importance of having a solid financial and eldercare plan. Some clients can be stubborn or afraid of change, but ultimately, Bourbonniere and Irwin strive to provide them with a complete picture of their options and make recommendations.  

Irwin said this growing understanding of eldercare has been “wonderful because awareness means less fear [and] means more people are getting help.”  

As an advisor with an eldercare consultant in his corner, Bourbonniere said good collaboration is an “extremely powerful business model.” 

“Understand what it is you do extremely well. Understand what is needed for the particular client base you’re working with, and make sure those needs are looked after by clusters of appropriate quality people,” he said.  

“It may take you a while to find them, but it’s well worth it.”