More than 7.3 million older Americans — 1 out of 5 citizens over the age of 65 — already have been victimized by a financial swindle, according to a new survey.
The survey, by the nonprofit Investor Protection Trust and conducted by Infogroup/ORC, was released Tuesday to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
The survey of 2,022 American adults — including 706 adult children with at least one parent aged 65 or older and 590 adults who are aged 65 or older and have children — found that half of older Americans exhibit one or more of the warning signs of current financial victimization.
For example, more than one out of three seniors (37%) are currently being pitched by “people [who] are calling me or mailing me asking for money, lotteries, and other schemes.”
Almost half of those aged 65 or over (44%) got at least 2 out of 4 questions wrong about basic investment knowledge. About 1 out of 3 older Americans (31%) said they are vulnerable in one or more ways to potential financial victimization.
“We now know that a shockingly large number of older Americans are already victims of financial swindles and millions more are in danger of being exploited in such a fashion,” said IPT president and CEO Don Blandin in a statement.
71% of those over 65 handle their finances themselves, while 24% rely on relatives for at least some help and 3% rely on non-family members, according to their children.
89% of children are “very confident” or “somewhat confident” of their parents' current ability to handle personal finances. Only 11% of them said they are “not very confident” or “not confident” at all.
The survey of 2,022 American adults — including 706 adult children with at least one parent aged 65 or older and 590 adults who are aged 65 or older and have children — found that half of older Americans exhibit one or more of the warning signs of current financial victimization.
For example, more than one out of three seniors (37%) are currently being pitched by “people [who] are calling me or mailing me asking for money, lotteries, and other schemes.”
Almost half of those aged 65 or over (44%) got at least 2 out of 4 questions wrong about basic investment knowledge. About 1 out of 3 older Americans (31%) said they are vulnerable in one or more ways to potential financial victimization.
“We now know that a shockingly large number of older Americans are already victims of financial swindles and millions more are in danger of being exploited in such a fashion,” said IPT president and CEO Don Blandin in a statement.
71% of those over 65 handle their finances themselves, while 24% rely on relatives for at least some help and 3% rely on non-family members, according to their children.
89% of children are “very confident” or “somewhat confident” of their parents' current ability to handle personal finances. Only 11% of them said they are “not very confident” or “not confident” at all.
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