Sounds too Good to be True? Financial Scams Targeting Seniors on the Rise

Category: Elder Law, Estate Planning, Financial Planning

An article on an unfortunate trend from USATODAY.com - Financial scams expected to boom as boomers age addressing the issue of aggressive marketing of estate and financial planning seminar to seniors, where the products offered through the seminars don't meet, or are inappropriate for the senior's needs.

"While people 60 and older make up 15% of the U.S. population, they account for about 30% of fraud victims, estimates Consumer Action, a consumer-advocacy group.

As this gargantuan generation of boomers starts to retire, 'You're going to see more of these seminars and more of these sales pitches,' says James Nelson, assistant secretary of state in Mississippi. 'Wherever retirees are congregated, you're going to have these people preying on them.'"

There is real money controlled by baby-boomers, which unfortunately can make them targets for unscrupulous marketers of products. The article states that "[b]oomers have more than $8.5 trillion in investable assets. Over the next 40 years, they stand to inherit at least $7 trillion from their parents, research firm Cerulli Associates estimates."

This does not mean that all seminars geared to estate planning and financial planning are scams - just the opposite is more likely true. Seminars are a wonderful opportunity for attorneys and financial planners to educate the public about complex areas of the law that may effect them, as well as investment opportunities to reduce those risks. But, you should exercise some caution and common sense in following up from these seminars. Some things to keep in mind.

• Only a licensed attorney in your state can prepare a Will, or should prepare any estate planning document, including a trust. You can contact your state or local bar association to see if the attorney is in good standing and if any complaints have been successfully filed against him or her.
• You and your goals and needs should be an attorneys first concern - not the goals of your children, the financial planner, or the attorney. If you don't feel that your goals and needs are the first priority, see some-one else.
• There are no magical solutions to estate and tax planning - there are tried and true techniques that an experienced estate planner can apply to your situation. If someone claims to have the secrets of a good estate plan, you need to know that there are no secrets.
• There is no one magic financial product that solves all woes - as with estate planning, the right product for you must be tailored to your specific asset mix, income, needs and goals. An experienced financial planner will not recommend a product until he or she has analyzed your needs. And be sure to ask for (1) the charges for the product, (2) the agent's commission, and (3) any penalties that might exist in liquidating the product.

If you do think you have been a victim of fraud, there is a sidebar in the article talking about your options.