End-of-life decisions don’t follow the rules advisors expect. When clients are faced with mortality—whether in estate planning, charitable giving, insurance, or healthcare—their decision-making often shifts in ways that are difficult to predict using traditional financial logic.
Join Professor Russell James as he draws on scientific and demographic research across a wide range of end-of-life decisions to reveal the consistent patterns behind how people actually make these choices.
In this session, you’ll learn:
- Why clients often make unexpected or inconsistent decisions at the end of life
- The psychological and behavioral principles that drive estate and giving decisions
- How to apply these insights to improve client communication and engagement
- Practical ways to frame conversations around estate planning and charitable giving more effectively
Understanding this “hidden code” will not only change how you think about end-of-life planning—it will fundamentally improve how you guide clients through some of their most important financial decisions.
*CE/CPE Eligible: 1.0 CE credit(s) is(are) available to FEN Members with these designations: CFP, CLU, ChFC, CDFA, and RICP. EA members will earn 1.0 CPE credit(s).
Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this session.
Advanced Preparation: None
Program Level: Basic
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
NASBA Approved
Financial Experts Network (Sponsor Id#: 145173) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.
Russell James, J.D., Ph.D., CFP® is a professor in the Department of Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech University. He holds the CH Foundation Chair in Personal Financial Planning and directs the on-campus and online graduate program in Charitable Financial Planning. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at the Texas Tech University School of Law where he teaches Charitable Gift Planning. He graduated, cum laude, from the University of Missouri School of Law where he was a member of the Missouri Law Review. While in law school, he received the United Missouri Bank Award for Most Outstanding Work in Gift and Estate Taxation and Planning. He also holds a Ph.D. in consumer economics from the University of Missouri, where his dissertation was on charitable giving.
