Don W. Nicholson SR., a certified financial planner in Wilmington, Del., once shopped for rubber-soled shoes for an elderly client to help her walk without slipping on the wood floors of her own home. He drove another woman to Bible study, and escorted a third to buy a car.

Mr. Nicholson, 59, is a financial gerontologist — a new breed of financial planner who caters to the elderly with services that may go far beyond portfolio management and estate planning. "If all we focused in on is finances and how to make money," he said, "then we're only doing half the job."

Taking care of the finances of older Americans is a huge and potentially lucrative field, and the market is growing. As of July 2004, according to the Census Bureau, 36.3 million Americans were 65 and older. That number is expected to reach 86.7 million by 2050. In a 2004 report, the Investment Company Institute, which represents the mutual fund industry, found that fund shareholders born in 1945 and earlier had mutual fund portfolios worth an average of $247,400.

The wealth of some older Americans, of course, is enormous. Attracted by this market, many financial planners have shifted their focus to it — and bring widely varying attitudes and professional training to the consultation table. Training and certification in financial gerontology is now being offered by at least four groups.

The Securities and Exchange Commission does not regulate these groups — or any other groups that provide financial planning certification, for that matter. 

"The S.E.C. does not endorse any professional designation," said Susan Wyderko, director of the office of investor education of the S.E.C. 

The absence of government supervision is a problem, said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. "There's an opportunity for fraud," he said, adding that older people need to be very careful about whom they trust for advice.

Financial planners disagree about the usefulness of this specialized training, on the importance of providing nontraditional services for the elderly and even on basic approaches to investing.

Mr. Nicholson, for example, who helped found the Delaware Valley chapter of the Alzheimer's Association after his mother died of the disease in 1980, doesn't have certification in financial gerontology and doesn't believe it would be useful, at least not for him. "I've been in business 36 years and I could teach the courses," he said. 

He believes strongly in the importance of providing services for the elderly outside the traditional bounds of financial planning. "The industry is so insensitive to individuals," he said. It's important to build trust by talking to clients about "who they are and what they want," he said, and then helping them achieve their goals, calling in a geriatric care manager and other appropriate professionals when his clients need them.

On the other hand, Shane M. Chavez, 35, a certified financial planner in Denver, holds a certificate in financial gerontology — he earned the Chartered Advisor for Senior Living designation — but does not provide nontraditional services to clients. Fundamentally, he said, such services are a form of "client-relationship building."

"I'm pretty busy, so I don't do a lot of that stuff," he said. Instead, he said he builds trust by educating his clients and by "being a resource to them," relying, in part, on what he learned in the training program. "A lot of it is about preservation of assets," he said, so that people don't exhaust their money prematurely.

Not every planner takes his approach. Kathleen Lenover, who is also a certified financial planner in Denver, holds a Certified Senior Advisor certificate, another professional gerontology designation. She says that many older people are so fearful of tapping savings that they aren't living comfortably, so she gives them "permission to spend their savings, shifting their attitude from frugality to prosperity."

"I raise their conscious level about their old thinking, and I invite them to embrace the new way," she said. Ms. Lenover said she used software to project the probability of various financial outcomes for her clients. "We can make them and their money run out at the same time," she said. If clients want to leave a legacy for their heirs, she said, she can help plan for that, too.

Other certifications include Registered Financial Gerontologist and Certified Retirement Financial Advisor. It takes more than a year to complete the requirements for the Chartered Advisor for Senior Living certificate — the designation held by Mr. Chavez — while the others can be earned in a few days. Training in all of the programs includes topics like long-term-care financing, ethics, taxes, estate planning, communications and marketing. 

According to the organizations that grant these certificates, there are about 150 Registered Financial Gerontologists, 260 Certified Retirement Financial Advisors, 3,500 Certified Senior Advisors and 1,000 Chartered Advisor for Senior Living graduates now active in financial management. In addition, people in fields like health care and insurance sometimes hold these certificates. 

Only a small fraction of the thousands of financial planners in the United States hold any of the gerontology certificates. For example, more than 50,000 people are certified financial planners, another professional designation. 

Certified financial planners are required to have three years of experience in facets of financial planning and must meet certain educational requirements and pass an examination. Beginning next year, a bachelor's degree will be required.

Several granting organizations have programs to investigate complaints. The Society of Certified Senior Advisors, for example, has a board of standards for that purpose, said the society's president, Ed Pittock. Of 13,000 active certified members — a figure that includes people working in fields other than financial management — about 20 have had C.S.A. certifications revoked over the nine-year history of the organization, he said.

Regardless of any planner's credentials, the S.E.C. and consumer organizations say the best approach is "buyer beware." 

Do due diligence, said Clare Hushbeck, an economist at AARP. Investing poorly "can have many, many years of repercussions," she said. Older people who need help with nonfinancial issues may find assistance by contacting a local Area Agency on Aging. These are private, nonprofit organizations with community referral services. 

Investors can learn how to check the background of a financial planner, including any disciplinary actions, at the S.E.C.'s Web site, www.sec.gov. Such background checks, along with a discussion about an adviser's approach to investing, are well advised before signing up with a planner. 

"We see too many investors who might have avoided trouble," Ms. Wyderko of the S.E.C. said, "if they had asked basic questions right from the start." 

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