If you are like many seniors, you rely on your carefully planned finances to provide for your needs. If someone were to take advantage of you and con you out of your money, you would face a very difficult situation.
Unfortunately, as the population ages and millions of Americans reach senior citizen status, financial con artists are increasingly turning their attention towards senior citizens as their main victims.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, wrote an article in the AARP Bulletin in which he details how American seniors are becoming increasingly targeted by financial fraudsters. Last year alone, experts say that American seniors lost $2.9 billion to financial swindles. As 10,000 baby boomers retire every day, that number is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.
Unfortunately, not all cases of financial elder abuse come about because of con artists or professional identity thieves. In many situations, a senior’s own family members take advantage of the elderly person for financial gain. In many of these situations the elderly person feels embarrassed or ashamed and is reluctant to report the abuse, while in others the senior may not even be aware it is going on.
Regardless of your current circumstances, it’s important you investigate ways to protect yourself against the possibility of falling victim to financial fraud. Whether you create financial powers of attorney and delegate your decision-making authority to a trusted advisor, or use asset protection strategies that limit what a potential thief might have access to, you need to speak to your estate planning lawyer if you’re worried about falling victim to fraud.
To learn more, please download our free estate planning for Florida seniors report here.
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