April 2018
Summary: The consequences of poor financial capability at older ages are potentially serious, particularly when people make mistakes with credit, draw down retirement assets too quickly, or are defrauded by financial predators. Because older persons are close to or past the peak of their wealth accumulation, they are often the targets of fraud. This project evaluated older Americans’ exposure to fraud and financial exploitation, the risk factors associated with financial victimization, and the consequences of these vulnerabilities for financial security in old age.
We find that relatively few experienced any single form of investment fraud over the prior five years, but 8% did report at least one form of fraud. Moreover, one-third indicated that others had used or attempted to use one of the respondent’s accounts without permission. Nevertheless, we discovered few readily-identifiable factors associated with financial victimization in the older population.