Business Innovators Radio - Episode #65 – 28 Billion Lost To Scams – The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcast – With Mark Triplett & Troy Westendorf

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

We believe that every dollar has a purpose and a timeline. When and how your retirement assets will be used should be understood before making important financial decisions.The Triplett-Westendorf Purpose and Timeline 5 Step Planning Process (PT5) begins with Discovery.Understanding where you are now, and then defining where you want to go (Your Purpose) and when you want to get there (Your Timeline), programs your financial GPS. Our Purpose and Timeline 5-step process (PT5) programs your financial GPS.Learn more: http://triplett-westendorf.com/ | https://mypt5.com/The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/episode-65-28-billion-lost-to-scams-the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast-with-mark-triplett-troy-westendorf

Welcome to the 15-minute financial feast podcast, bringing you 15-minute segments to help you retire with purpose on time. We're serving up food for thought and bread for the head. Are you hungry to learn? Here are your hosts, Mark Triplett and Troy Westendorf. Welcome to another episode of the 15-minute financial feast. Today, you are listening to the audio from a live television interview where one of our favorite local news station anchors asked us questions about a financial feast. topic on the minds of many hardworking folks in our community who are trying to make good decisions and get ahead. According to the AARP, criminals steal over $28 billion from senior citizens,

billions. Much of that money is never recovered. Local 5 is a financial professional, Mark Triplett, joined us now with three red flags to watch out for. That could be signs. Your senior loved one is being targeted. Mark, this feels like a special kind of evil that someone would do this. Who is targeting seniors? It really is. Yeah, there are many different sources of scammers that are impacting these type of folks. But believe it or not, most commonly, it's actually family or caregivers. Strangers steal about $8 billion. But caregivers, friends, and other family members steal about $20 billion from seniors each year. And often this goes unreported because the seniors want to protect that family member or friend who is actually taking advantage of

them. That's not an answer that I wanted to hear. But why are seniors targeted? That means the people closest to them, unfortunately, are preying on their own family. That's crazy. It does. Seniors are often retired. Many of them have large sums of money. They're attempting targets for criminals. Many of them are living alone. They're very trusting of others, which is unfortunate because it makes it very difficult for them to maintain their lifestyle. Many of them that are retired are living on a fixed income. And when those resources are gone and unrecoverable, that could really impact their ability to maintain their lifestyle. So let's talk solutions. What's being done on a national level to protect seniors? What can we do about it?

Well, legislators, law enforcement organizations really try to prevent and educate folks about fraud. There is some financial legislation floating through Congress right now for the Financial Exploitation Act of 2003. If passed, it would allow mutual fund companies to delay withdraws that are made if they feel that fraud is expected. Unfortunately, though, there's not a lot that can be done other than preventing and educating folks on how to look for these types of scams. And what are the signs? How can you tell that your loved one is getting scammed? What are those noticeable details? If you see senior members of your family or elderly friends that are suddenly making withdrawals, large withdrawals from their accounts, or sending an unusual number of money orders, start asking questions. Who are you sending it to? Why are you sending it to them? I know it can be uncomfortable to talk about, but it's important that you too. And if you see the unexpected changes in their financial documents, maybe they're adding somebody to their will and you don't know who that person is.

It's normal to make changes to your will and update it. But if you start seeing things that are out of the ordinary, ask questions. I think too with social media, getting catfished is extremely easy to happen these days and you can get someone to send you money. And you don't even know if you're really sending it too. Are you seeing an increase in social media scams with seniors? Social media scams, a lot of them are telemarketers too, though. And you'll know they're scammers because they're asking to be compensated or paid or settle up with them, however it is, through things like gift cards. I go to the store and get gift cards and then read the number off to me and then you'll get whatever I promised you. Or if there are many scammers are posing as government officials from Social Security or the FBI,

saying that you're in trouble and you owe back taxes and you're going to be put in jail if you don't give us money. Look, the government is not going to contact you by phone or email and demand that you pay them. And if they start asking or somebody starts asking for payment methods like gift cards or debit cards or things that are untraceable, that's a big red flag. Mark, thank you so much. This is good advice to better protect our loved ones. We appreciate your time as always. Thank you for having me. You've been listening to the 15-minute financial feast podcast. Remember, every dollar has a purpose and every dollar has a timeline.

If you have questions about today's topic, schedule a call with a team member. Visit www.mip5.com. Until next time, be sure you're taking steps to retire with purpose on time. Mark Triplett is an investment advisor representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management LLC, an S. EEC registered investment advisor. Nothing contained in this program should be considered an offer to buy or sell securities. Different investments have different risks associated with them, and not all investments are appropriate for all investors.