Practical Strategies for Protecting Retirees Against Scams & Fraud

04/10/24 • 17 min

Candid Conversations: Retirement Talk with Ryan Cravitz

As much as any other threat, recognizing and avoiding scams has become a necessary skill for today’s retirees to develop. In today’s episode, we’ll share a story of how a scam destroyed a woman’s entire retirement savings. Then, we’ll explore some crucial steps you can take to safeguard your financial well-being against the growing tide of scams and identity theft.
Here’s some of what we discuss in this episode:

Marjorie Blum’s scamming story + the threat of scams for Americans over 60
Phishing, vishing, and smishing techniques that are used today
Some red flags to look out for when it comes to scams
Protections you can put in place to protect your finances, like strong passwords and two-factor authentication

Resources for this episode:

How this 77-year-old widow lost $661,000 in a common tech scam: ‘I realized I had been defrauded of everything’ -

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/08/how-one-retired-woman-lost-her-life-savings-in-a-common-elder-fraud-scheme.html

Fraudsters targeting senior citizens with multiple financial scams –

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/investigation-fraud-and-risk/senior-citizens-financial-scams/

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If you have any questions, you can contact us online here: https://cravitzfinancial.com/
Email: [email protected]
Call: 714-462-9155
Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC (BCM) a Registered Investment Advisor. Cravitz Financial & Insurance Solutions are independent of each other. Information provided is not intended as tax or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. You are encouraged to seek tax or legal advice from an independent professional. Ryan Cravitz and Cravitz Financial & Insurance Solutions are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security administration or any other government agency.

Marjorie Blum’s scamming story + the threat of scams for Americans over 60
Phishing, vishing, and smishing techniques that are used today
Some red flags to look out for when it comes to scams
Protections you can put in place to protect your finances, like strong passwords and two-factor authentication

Resources for this episode:

How this 77-year-old widow lost $661,000 in a common tech scam: ‘I realized I had been defrauded of everything’ -

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/08/how-one-retired-woman-lost-her-life-savings-in-a-common-elder-fraud-scheme.html

Fraudsters targeting senior citizens with multiple financial scams –

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/investigation-fraud-and-risk/senior-citizens-financial-scams/

Previous Episode

Financial Questions That We’ve Been Asked Recently

We work through all types of scenarios with clients each day and find tools that will help them reach their financial goals. To help you get a better idea of how we work through these different scenarios, we are going to run through a list of questions that we’ve been asked recently.

Each of these topics cover common financial scenarios that you have probably dealt with already or might come across in the future. We’ll explain our process for answering them, some of the things you’ll want to consider, and how to determine your best path forward.

Here’s some of what we discuss in this episode:

What options do you have to provide financial support for your new grandchild and what are the tax implications?
How do you overcome the lack of decision-making because you’re overthinking everything?
What should you do if you realize you’ll have more money than you’ll ever spend and you haven’t been spending much in retirement?
How should you take your final paycheck before retirement if you have a lot of paid time off accrued?

Next Episode

Don’t Make These Income Planning Mistakes

Are you planning for your retirement with the confidence that you're making all the right moves? With so many moving pieces in retirement, it takes detailed planning to cover all your bases, but it begins with building an income plan.

In today's episode, we'll unveil the crucial income planning mistakes that could jeopardize your retirement and show you how to craft a financial plan that's built to last decades, not just years. Tune in to ensure your retirement strategy is foolproof against common pitfalls and ready to secure your financial future.

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

Don’t plan to be retired for years. Instead, plan to be retired for decades.
Why starting Social Security too early before you understand your options could cost you.
As you build your income plan, one expense that is easy to overlook is healthcare costs.
Why you need to factor inflation into your plan because your budget won’t be the same in 20 years.
Creating lifetime income streams other than Social Security.
Is now a time to consider moving money into an annuity?