Step 1: definition of conundrum: a difficult problem, riddle, or puzzle.

Could there be anything more conundrummy (sic) than the “end of life” money issue for most seniors? If you’re young and have money, it’s easy to see what to do: enjoy it! While you may not have realized it at the time, that is a rational calculation based on the fact a young person has plenty of time to make more money. Or get raises. Easy come easy go, was a mantra in my young life. Cars, motorcycles, broads (apologies for the dated, sexist–but specific–label), booze, drugs, et. al., at first. Then, education, kids, kid’s education, vacation home, et. al. when maturity was realized. But in each “phase” the unanalyzed(sic) rationalization was enough money would be incoming to support me/us.

But senior financial life is different. As a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), and Certified Long Term Care Consultant (CLTC) in my later years as a Financial Planner, I became acutely aware of the major, deciding factor in any financial planning for most seniors on a fixed income. This factor is so important, I made it the first question of my customer intake questionnaire: How long will you live?

Early in my career, a polite, nice, old lady approached me after speaking at a “Planning Seminar”. She had a specific question: “I’m 77 years old and have $270,000 in my retirement account. How much should I spent today?”

She was articulating a sharp point about the seminar subject of making your money last your lifetime. She wanted me, the ChFc and CLTC, to tell her how long that lifetime would be. Many times, already, I’d been introduced to seniors living on bare necessities, as they anxiously pondered what to do with thousands of dollars in the bank, all the while never knowing if they would be alive when they woke up next morning.

The conundrum delineated: “How does a senior citizen enjoy the money they have before they–or the money–expire?” The word enjoy is the problem. The little, old lady from the seminar, for example, was asking how to spend $270,000 that day as she assumed she would die overnight and not need money anymore, the following morning. She also wanted to know if she did last another 20 years, how could she make sure there was money left in year 20 to support her.

My advice (and any other Financial Professionals) was worthless because it would be based on speculation. I could only give her options. Several senior clients embarked on strict financial plans with complicated financial products to make the money last long, only to die early in the process. And then there were clients who threw caution to the wind and spent like drunken sailors, eventually having nothing for the later years. They outlived their money, but enjoyed doing it.

Note, there are many so much better off than others, with pensions and assets making decisions easy, and erasing all notion of a “conundrum”. But the rest of us will be okay with careful planning, as long as nothing goes wrong with the planning, and if we avoid the major medical issues and family crises which threaten the delicate ecosysyem of our solutions to The Conundrum.

In that past life I was a ChFC, CLTC, CSA, CEP, and licensed Insurance Agent, but was clueless in decision making. I know the options, and share them, but each decision made by a senior has to be based on the guess about longevity and health, a hunch, even a belief in where our lives are going and how long it will take.

Once the decision is made, The Conundrum is gone. And all that is left is hope.

Not a bad thing, really. But scary.