What To Watch For: Aging Clients and The Sweetheart Scam

Apr 24, 2017 | aging, aging investor, diminished cognition, elder investor, elderly, finances for elders, financial advisors, financial capacity, financial elder abuse, financial judgement, handling money for aging parents, handling money for seniors, investor, scammers, senior citizen investor, senior investor, seniors finances

What To Watch For: Aging Clients and The Sweetheart Scam

If it didn't happen so often, there would be no need to warn your single, widowed clients about it. But every day, someone gets taken in by a "special someone" who appears to have only your client's interests at heart. The special someone is a scam artist who knows just how to get an unsuspecting lonely man or woman into the web of deception. And then they finagle money out of your client and run.

Some of these scammers are skillful repeat offenders. Some just see an opportunity and proceed to milk it for all it's worth. Take the case of Tommy, whose wife was ill with cancer. He used to take his clothes to the local dry cleaner every week and he got friendly with the woman who ran the business. She loved to chat and gossip and he was lonely with his caregiving, cooped up with the daily chores he had to do for his ailing wife. Norma, the dry cleaner heard all about it.

Just after his wife passed, Tommy got a visit from Norma. She was so consoling and comforting. He felt like he had a real friend. She had heard about his wife's illness for over a year and was ever so sympathetic. She also knew he had money. Within a month she had moved in with Tommy.

Over the next six months of giving Tommy her undivided attention, she managed to persuade him to give her "loans" of over $300K. She promised to stay with him forever. He loved the flattery and feeling special. No sooner had Norma gotten the last of what she could easily take, she promptly sold the dry cleaning business and disappeared. This is not such an unusual story.

Here's what every financial professional needs to know about the Sweetheart Scam. Professional predators comb the obituaries for stories about the beloved widow or widower left behind. They look for those who have been with a deceased who was a business leader, a banker, a financially successful person. They choose the ones who may be likely targets, the survivors who have means. They scope out how to meet them and seize the opportunity to take advantage of loneliness. They will stop at nothing to get in the door. And sooner or later they always need "a temporary loan" or a little help to get out of an unfortunate jam. If it works, they up the ante. This can go on until they have bankrupted a widow or widower. It will at least drain available cash if no one is watching.

That's where you come in, the financial professional with the ability to notice when unusual withdrawals are coming out of your client's account. Once the scammer has gotten control over your client's emotions, it may be too late to stop the scam. Your client is "in love" or at least addicted to the showered on attention. She won't believe your warning then. The heads-up must come early, before an opportunist has a chance to cast a spell.

Here's the takeaway: any recently widowed client in your book is a potential target. Do these things:

Gently raise the subject of being careful of any stranger he/she meets soon after the loss of a spouse. Warn with empathy and facts.
If your client claims he's met a "special someone" do some digging. Google the person he names. Ask a few probing questions. See what your client may not be able to see. Share the data you glean with your client.
Be sure you have contact information for a family member or trusted friend of your client whom you can call if you see something suspicious. Call them if you think your client is in danger, particularly if your client doesn't want to hear your warning.

That protective posture you take on can save your client from disaster.

Financial elder abuse takes many forms besides the Sweetheart Scam. It is called "the crime of the century", it is so prevalent. With the right know-how, you can stop it and keep your clients safer. Take a deeper dive into this subject in a book written just for you, Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisor's Guide to Best Practices. Get a look at it here.

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist

AgingInvestor.com and AgingParents.com

Dr. Mikol Davis and Carolyn Rosenblatt, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney offers a wealth of experience with aging to help you create tools so you can skillfully manage your aging clients. You will understand your rights and theirs so you can stay safe and keep them safe too.

Dr. Mikol Davis, Psychologist, Gerontologist offers in depth of knowledge about diminished financial capacity in older adults to help you strategize best practices so you can protect your vulnerable aging clients.

They are the authors of "Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisors Guide To Best Practice," and "Hidden Truths About Retirement And Long Term Care," available at AgingInvestor.com offers accredited cutting edge on-line continuing education courses for financial professionals wanting to expand their expertise in best practices for their aging clients. To learn more about our courses click HERE

If You Wanted To Report Financial Abuse, Would You Know How?

Apr 11, 2017 | aging, aging investor, declining health, diminished cognition, elder investor, elderly, finances for elders, financial advisors, financial capacity, financial elder abuse, financial judgement, handling money for aging parents, handling money for seniors, senior citizen investor, senior investor, seniors finances

In a recent issue of Investment News, a study of financial advisors looked at this question. 591 advisors were asked about their experiences with elder financial abuse. One of the surprising findings focused on those advisors who knew or suspected abuse but did not report it.

A significant percentage of those who did not report abuse gave as a reason that they did not know who to contact. What is most troubling about this finding is that not knowing who to contact is such a simple problem to solve. Historically your regulators have never required that you have the name of a trusted contact for your client in order to open a file for that person. Here at AgingInvestor.com and AgingParents.com, where elder financial abuse comes up often, we think it is extremely short-sighted to be without a trusted contact or two in every client's file. Isn't it obvious that you need someone to call if a client gets into danger, whether it's elder abuse or not? No one gets out of here alive and a client can live for quite a long time, developing cognitive impairment along the way. That puts a person at much higher risk for financial abuse.

New FINRA rules will require that you make "reasonable efforts" to get a trusted contact from your clients. We assure you, reasonable efforts are a lot easier to make when your client is signing up than they are when your client is 92 and forgetful or suspicious of everyone's motives.

From us, two professionals who have worked with countless elders and their families over the last 10 years, we have three tips for every financial professional handling a client's finances:

You can't ensure that your client will be competent for financial decisions forever. Be realistic! People are living longer and they may develop dementia or other cognitive impairment. Get at least two trusted contacts in every file for every client age 65 or older. Why two or more? One trusted contact might end up being the very person who is abusing your client--a family member.

Get smart about the basics of recognizing red flags of diminished capacity. We offer a simple free checklist to help you. Click on the green button here to get yours now. These signs are warnings that your client is more vulnerable to manipulation by others.

Know how to report financial elder abuse. You don't have to be certain that abuse has occurred. You do need to know who may be doing it, when and how, in general (e.g., pushing your client into large, unexplained withdrawals). A reasonable suspicion is enough. It's ok if you're wrong. And you can do it anonymously. Call Adult Protective Services in the county where your client lives if you think someone is ripping off your vulnerable client.

Some advisors are worried that they'll get sued for reporting suspected financial abuse. This is incorrect. Your regulators want you to report it. If you do what is reasonable, you are not a target. However, if you know that your impaired client is being financially abused and you do absolutely nothing, liability for failure to act is certainly possible.

by Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney, & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Dr. Mikol Davis and Carolyn Rosenblatt, co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney offers a wealth of experience with aging to help you create tools so you can skillfully manage your aging clients. You will understand your rights and theirs so you can stay safe and keep them safe too.

Dr. Mikol Davis, Psychologist, Gerontologist offers in depth of knowledge about diminished financial capacity in older adults to help you strategize best practices so you can protect your vulnerable aging clients.

They are the authors of "Succeed With Senior Clients: A Financial Advisors Guide To Best Practice," and "Hidden Truths About Retirement And Long Term Care," available at AgingInvestor.com offers accredited cutting edge on-line continuing education courses for financial professionals wanting to expand their expertise in best practices for their aging clients. To learn more about our courses click HERE

Danger! Your Client Has Serious Memory Problems

Apr 3, 2017 | aging, aging investor, Alzheimer's disease, diminished cognition, elder investor, elderly, investor, senior investor

Have you ever found yourself in a situation with an older client who can't seem to remember anything any more? You may have known the client over a number of years and feel responsible. But you are at a loss now. What are you supposed to do with this client? She's pleasant and just loves you. But you are worried.

You are pretty sure your client is experiencing a slow, but steady cognitive decline. She has a daughter in another state but maybe she isn't paying attention to what is going on with mom. She has a son she's not close to, though he lives in the same area she does. You asked her once if she had someone to be her agent, her power of attorney. She hadn't gotten around to that yet.

No one acts. No one insists that your client choose a relative or friend and sign the Durable Power of Attorney document. She says he doesn't want to talk about it and you just back off and never mention it again. You suspect she may have Alzheimer's disease, from your experience with your own family member.

Here is what can happen to your client.

She steadily loses judgment about what is a good thing to spend money on or invest in; therefore, bad decisions happen. We have observed savvy and intelligent clients who were once financially comfortable start falling for obvious scams. They buy worthless coins or stamps or fly-by-night property investments that take their money and disappear. Perhaps no one knows because the elder is in the secrecy habit. Time passes and the client's cognitive ability declines even more. There is no stopping dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease. The predators find an easy mark. As long as there is cash to spend or credit cards to run up, the elder keeps getting into deeper and deeper trouble. Unquestionably, financial decimation can result.

These situations are real. Here at AgingInvestor.com, we're in the consulting business. We have talked to the families of elders who have probably been impaired for years, hearing them say they wished someone had done something sooner. No one but the financial professional knew what the client had nor where his money was going. The family thought the elder's finances were fine. Now, with too much drained out by excessive giving, the family may well end up having to support their aging relative just at the time when extensive care is needed and the expense of it skyrockets.

How do you prevent the worst? By engaging in discussion with your client's family or appointed other early in your relationship. If you have an ongoing connection with that trusted person in your client's life, you stand a better chance of protecting her from dumb and destructive decisions if her mind starts to go, later on in life. Even if you can't imagine how a perfectly alert, intelligent person could get dementia, it happens to millions of people as they live longer. 5.6 million of them are diagnosed with the disease right now in the U.S. alone. The risk rises with age.

If you have never had conversations with your older clients' families, now is the time to start. You need to educate your client about the importance of having someone else named by her for you to reach out to if she gets sick or has an accident.

You need to develop the skill of conducting family meetings while each client is fully competent. Even if a client has a few memory lapses now it is not too late to have a meeting with family to figure out the path forward in case of trouble ahead. This is a "soft skill" every advisor needs. If you want to learn how to conduct a family meeting or get better at this, you can learn the techniques in a hour.

Putting these skills to work takes some practice. It is especially important to know what to do when a client's family is difficult, or there is a history of conflict among them. That's tricky and you will need some outside help. Get a one hour accredited crash course on conducting successful family meetings by clicking here.

By Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney, & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

Is There A Test for An Aging Client’s Diminished Capacity?

Mar 20, 2017 | aging, Alzheimer's disease, diminished cognition, financial capacity, senior investor

Diminished capacity is sort of a catchall term that can mean different things. A person can have the capacity, for example to create a will or a trust, but at the same time that person might not have the capacity to understand the risks of buying a complex financial investment. Capacity is on a continuum. The more sophisticated the decision needed the more capacity it takes.

Is there any way to measure capacity? Is there a blood test or any other test? We have a number of things in the medical field that help give us clues and data, but there is no one, single thing that tells us for sure. We can't see inside a person's thoughts. What we do have is testing of the various areas of the brain, with standardized instruments, that give us information about how a person thinks. We call it neuropsychological testing.

What is neuropsychological testing?

Neuropsychological testing (using groups of related paper and pencil and verbal question and answer tests) can provide useful information to take the question of capacity outside the realm of speculation. Test data provides numbers, scores, something specific.

This kind of testing can give useful information about which tested parts of a person's cognitive function do or do not compare normally with the tested function of people of similar age and education. When a person falls below a measure of what is normal, and we have test scores to tell us where and how, it can give us guidance about whether to allow a person to keep making financial decisions.

Testing is underused in helping us find out about a person's mental capacity for numerous kinds of things, such as memory, following verbal instructions, understanding information and learning a new task. Not enough families know about it and request it and not enough others refer clients to the right source for considering it as a tool to give us more information. Perhaps older people resist it out of fear not "passing the test". If clients secretly know that they are losing their memory and do not want to be found out, they will strongly resist any suggestion of testing.

What can the advisor do?

If you are worried about a client who seems to be "losing it" and you aren't sure you have enough information about that, you can suggest that the client get a medical checkup, and that he ask the doctor to check into his memory. This is not a sure path to neuropsychological testing, to be sure. Unfortunately, doctors spend very little time with patients these days and a brief visit may not result in the follow-up testing you would like to have done. But in some cases, clients are willing, particularly when encouraged to do so by a concerned spouse or other family member. In spite of obstacles, know that this objective way of measuring things does exist and it can help everyone involved in the senior's life.

The client's primary care doctor may refer your client to a neurologist. The neurologist may prescribe this testing which is done by a licensed psychologist or neuropsychologist, who gives the results back to the neurologist.

You're not a doctor. But you don't have to be one to see the red flags of diminished capacity. If you are not sure just what to look for, learn all you need to know in an hour by clicking here. Learning best practices for diminished capacity can help you right away.

By Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, Elder Law Attorney & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist co-founders of AgingInvestor.com

The Elephant In The Room: Financial Professionals With Diminished Capacity

Feb 20, 2017 | aging, Alzheimer's disease, diminished cognition, elder investor, elderly, financial advisors, handling money for seniors, senior investor

Every profession is facing a common dilemma: what to do about your own impaired colleagues. When there is no mandatory retirement age, there is no one to say, it's time to quit. Do you think a colleague has dementia?

People are living longer than ever, continuing in their work longer than ever and sometimes they start to "lose it" before they decide to retire. As none of us are absolutely immune from Alzheimer's or other dementia, or anything that causes cognitive decline, we all need to consider what we would want if it happened to us.

Would you want a friend or colleague to tell you that you've got a problem with memory and maybe it's time to hang it up and rest? Would you want your legal department to embarrass you and tell you to stop handling other people's money because everyone knows you're no longer competent? It's a frightening thought.

Longevity can be great, but not when you are impaired. As a consultant with expertise in aging, I have seen cognitive impairment to a dangerous level in numerous professionals. One was a trial lawyer colleague, high profile and famous. No one stopped him from practicing law until he had nearly destroyed things. I have seen it in a business owner who founded his company and had been going to the office for 50 years. He was kicked out of his favorite restaurant and was physically harassing employees, his Alzheimer's had gotten so bad. No one made him stop until outsiders (myself and my partner, Dr. Davis) came in and created a plan to prevent him from entering the office again.

I have seen a judge with dementia fall asleep on the bench in the middle of lawyerly argument in court.

I spoke with the sister of a former bank president who had become a financial advisor. He had lost most of his wealth because he could no longer keep track of it and he was being taken advantage of. He was living in squalor before family intervened. During that time, he was still working as a wealth manager.

These are real cases. The message is that we need a strategy and a policy in any office with advisors who work into their senior years, to address the possible impairment that might occur.

There is a way to do this so as not to needlessly embarrass the affected person. There is a way to require that a person with memory loss confirmed by colleagues should step down and give up managing anyone's assets. This should thought out in every office. Clients need protection. It takes construction of a reasoned policy to address the impaired advisor confidentially by first requesting retirement and then mandating retirement if the advisor refuses to go along.

Pilots have a mandatory retirement age of 65. That would not work for many other kinds of professionals. But something has to be done. If you want some concrete action steps to put in place in your office, you will find them in our book, Succeed With Senior Clients, A Financial Advisor's Guide to Best Practices. Get your copy today by clicking here.

By Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, elder Law Attorney, & Dr. Mikol Davis, Gerontologist co-founder of AgingInvestor.com