Suzi Williams remembers 30 years ago when a male client would come in for retirement advice and other long-term goals, and if married and his wife came in too, she would sit quietly.

"Over the past decade, things have changed. More women are getting involved in the household's finances," said Williams, vice president of wealth management and a CUNA Brokerage Services Inc. financial adviser with the $496 million Solarity Credit Union in Yakima, Wash.

Now Williams asks married male clients to bring their wives. When they ask why, she'll say, "What would happen to your wife if something happens to you."