I write or record often about the increasing observations of client cognitive issues. As I get older, of course, so do my long term clients. Part of the reason I notice these isues is that I am sensitized after going through years of cognitive therapy following a traumatic head injury when I was younger. In many cases I observe a simply a memory failure attributable to information overload in this modern tech-driven world. In other cases there are underlying mental health issues. Yesterday I ran into two examples of the first simple type after working through a difficult and more serious issue in the weeks before. What made them stand out was that they were from people who are known to me – and to others – to be at the top of their game in intellectual work performance. I’m not suggesting that any implication can be drawn from isolated performances, but rather that the overall pattern is worth noting as it affects my work. I included the ages of the individuals in each case because I suspect that the underlying issues in dealing with technology are related to age.
In the first case a person whose job it is to be on top of every detail – a 60 year old paralegal in a prominent law firm – called with a concern that IRS did not deduct authorized tax payments from his bank account for the past two years. I offered to order the transcripts and take a look. An hour’s work and a few days later, I documented the zero balance due on the IRS account and the transaction details as expected for the two bank transactions. These were sizable transactions relative to the individual’s personal finances, so I wondered how they could have been missed. No harm done, just an hour of my valuable time wasted. (In this specific circumstance, I am unable to bill to recover it).
In the second case a business owner in his 50s emailed with a question about his 2025 personal tax return. We were struggling with the business tax return (that had to be completed first as a flow-through organization) and I just finished that last week. He expressed disappointment with my slow pace. I pointed out that I sent a tax organizer at his request early this spring and did not see any response. Since we are on extension while resolving the business tax issue, this seemed perfectly normal to me. Then it got interesting. He said that he sent the information in a multi-page PDF. The thing is that with today’s secure portal technology, we can both see every document that was shared in chronological order. As far as I can tell, he was thinking about a document package that he sent the prior year (sent in early 2025). He sent the missing documents yesterday, piecemeal, not as part of a multi-page PDF. Yet despite this fact pattern, he still insists that he sent them to me earlier and that (implied), I am responsible for the delay. I am aware that the subconscious brain’s lingering perception of fault will survive long after the facts prove otherwise.
These two simple examples from yesterday follow a more serious case a few weeks ago of major cognitive and mental health collapse of an 80 year old business owner where I had to withdraw and make referrals to law enforcement and senior services. As out clients get older, they become more vulnerable to fraud and abuse. It is unrealistic to expect them to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technologies that affect them.
The point of this post is to raise the question about whether I need to boost internal controls and perhaps automate responses to help clients compensate for cognitive failures. Tax professionals and financial advisers quip phrases among ourselves like “Your failure is not my crisis”. Yet, in the end, we do pay a price when a client has a memory lapse, fails to act appropriately, or mistakenly blames us for a result.
What are your thoughts? Are you seeing the same pattern?