Is that a good investment decision?
Here’s the problem: scammers are looking for retirees to fleece. They know that retirement life is expensive. Watching those savings accounts getting smaller sure doesn’t feel good! We’re looking to put our money where it will grow.
AI is the latest hot thing. After a bit of reading we learn that this investment is in a bubble that could collapse and that hurts the life savings! How do we choose an advisor who will give good advice? Seems like every day one pops up who has “The Sure Thing.” Here’s the added problem for retirees: scammers prey upon elders.
Here’ a good tip I heard from Peter Lichtenberg, a former director of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit. He was interviewed by the New York Times in an article published a few days ago on January 18th. The article is titled “How to Prevent Aging Parents and Relatives from Making Financial Mistakes.” It’s a great article that you will want to read and keep for reference.
Here’s a couple tips from the article:
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has a free “BrokerCheck” tool. You can find it at https://brokercheck.finra.org/
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has Consumer Complaint Database that lets you “Explore our database of financial product and service complaints to see how companies respond to consumers. View trends, see maps, read complaints, and export the data.” You can find it at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/
Safe investing to you!
Jim