How Advisors Can Protect Older Clients from Financial Scams

When it comes to scams preying on the elderly, Chris Wilbratte, founder and partner with Echelon Financial in Austin, Texas, is all too familiar.

His assistant's 84-year-old mother was once caught in a sophisticated swindle where the criminals posed as representatives of Publishers Clearing House; their emails even had all the logos from the FDIC, IRS and Federal Reserve Bank.

"It involved multiple calls with the various 'departments' at Publishers Clearing House where they built up their credibility, framed their requests for secrecy and access to investment accounts as part of the normal course of business," Wilbratte said.

What made the con all the more believable was that his assistant's mother had actually won money years before from Publishers Clearing House.

"This seemed even more natural, right?" said Wilbratte. "She won once. Why not? Why couldn't you win twice?"

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How to Freeze Your Credit

You have the right to add a security freeze, more commonly called a credit freeze, to all of your credit reports for free. Doing so can limit access to your credit reports, which may help protect you from some types of credit fraud. There are several ways to freeze your credit at each of the three credit bureaus, but freezing your credit online might be the easiest option.

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Ten Types of Cognitive Biases That May Hurt Your Portfolio

Cognitive biases can have a negative impact on an investor’s ability to make rational decisions, potentially derailing their investment goals. These mental shortcuts and distortions that we make affect how you perceive information and thus make decisions, often leading, unfortunately, to poor investment choices. Cognitive biases in investing can lead to overconfidence, misjudgments, and a reliance on emotion rather than logic. But if you can recognize and address these biases before they impact your investment portfolios, you can avoid common pitfalls and make better choices that enhance portfolio performance over time.

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How Self-Efficacy Shapes Financial Outcomes

Many financial decisions are made in an uncertain environment. For example, people evaluate whether the expected benefits of saving for a rainy day may or may not outweigh the cost of reducing consumption today.

Borrowers struggling to repay loans compare the potential benefits of avoiding default, such as preserving a good credit score, to the costs of reducing spending today or getting a second job to avoid defaulting on their debt. Many middle-aged people evaluate whether insuring their long-term care is worthwhile at the expense of the insurance premiums each month.

In all these choices, people consider a trade-off involving an action that is costly today and has an uncertain effect on how future outcomes might look. Therefore, people's subjective perception of this trade-off is likely to influence their decisions.

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You Bought Gold. What Are the Taxes When You Sell It?

Gold is glittering. Recently, the spot price was around $2,403 an ounce, up about 21% in the past 12 months. Some buyers are snapping up gold bars and coins, while others are investing in funds holding bullion.

For many reasons, today’s gold buyers could become tomorrow’s sellers, and—as this column often warns—the time to learn about taxes on an investment is before buying, not after. Being aware of the tax rules on gold sales could help avoid costly mistakes.

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How Advisors Can Protect Older Clients from Financial Scams

How to Freeze Your Credit

Ten Types of Cognitive Biases That May Hurt Your Portfolio

How Self-Efficacy Shapes Financial Outcomes

You Bought Gold. What Are the Taxes When You Sell It?

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