The Biggest Risk to a Senior’s Finances: Family

So how well prepared are seniors to find someone to advise them on their finances? Not too well, say the experts polled in the survey. More than half of them, 53%, said that "the available resources for seniors when selecting a financial advisor with appropriate knowledge to address their specific financial needs" were either not very effective or not effective at all. Less than a third—30%—said that resources were somewhat effective or very effective.

Some other disturbing findings of the survey were that, according to 51% of the experts, "Veterans/military retirees face basically the same [fraud and deception] risks as other older Americans." Fifty-eight percent said that seniors were "not very able" or "not able at all" to determine "the legitimacy, value and authenticity of credentials held by their financial advisors and planners."

And about those credentials? Many experts don't think too highly of them, either, according to their replies. Fifty-nine percent believe that existing accountability controls are not effective "when it comes to deterring the misuse of 'senior advisor credentials.'" By a margin of 36% to 26%, they said that "current efforts for maintaining the legitimacy, value and authenticity of credentials held by financial advisors and planners" are "not very effective" or "not effective at all."

What can help make seniors safer from scammers? Don Blandin, president and CEO of Investor Protection Trust, said in a statement, "Putting a major dent in the problem will require new and innovative collaborative efforts by many different experts and organizations, both public and private."