The financial news that actually matters
A brokerage firm that spots something off in an older client’s account — a sudden wire to an unfamiliar name, an out-of-character rush of withdrawals, a caller who seems to be dictating each instruction — often has no one to phone. Naming a trusted contact person closes that gap. It hands the firm a name…
Bank collapses make dramatic headlines, and the images of locked lobbies can convince older savers that a failure means their money is trapped or gone. The reality for insured deposits is far less alarming. When a federally insured bank fails, the money within the coverage limits does not disappear and does not sit frozen for…
Most retirees think of the Social Security Administration’s online portal as a place to check a benefit amount or print a statement. It is also something quieter and more important: a lock on an identity. The single most effective step against one of the most damaging frauds aimed at older Americans is simply claiming the…
Each winter, before most households have even gathered their W-2s, criminals armed with stolen Social Security numbers race to file fraudulent tax returns and pocket refunds that were never theirs. The Internal Revenue Service hands taxpayers a free, voluntary tool that slams that door shut: a six-digit Identity Protection PIN. For older Americans, whose numbers…
A credit freeze is the rare consumer protection that is powerful, permanent until lifted, and completely free, yet millions of older Americans have never set one up. Where regular monitoring catches fraud after a thief has already tried something, a freeze is a barricade placed in advance: it stops the attempt from succeeding at all….
Artificial intelligence can now copy a person’s voice from a few seconds of audio, and that leap has handed scammers a frighteningly effective tool. A grandparent who picks up the phone may hear what sounds unmistakably like a grandchild, crying, in trouble, and begging for money to be sent right away. The voice can be…
The call arrives with an alarming claim: an account has been breached, a criminal is draining it, and only fast action can save the money. Then comes the instruction that ties the whole story together, an order to move the savings into a new “safe” or “secure” account the caller will help set up. That…
Speed is the entire selling point of instant payment apps and bank wire transfers, and speed is also the trap. Once an account holder authorizes one of these transfers, the cash lands in the recipient’s account almost instantly, and the sending bank has little power to pull it back. Fraud investigators say criminals understand that…
For an older couple who pool their savings in a single bank, one overlooked detail decides whether every dollar survives that bank’s failure: how the account is titled. Federal deposit insurance does not attach to a household or to a Social Security number. It attaches to an ownership category, and a jointly titled account sits…
The fastest-growing threat to older Americans’ savings is no longer a stranger at the door but a screen full of promises. The FBI’s latest annual tally finds that money lost to investment scams by people 60 and older nearly doubled in a single year, reaching about 3.5 billion dollars. It is the clearest sign yet…