A third of investors worry about financial abuse of elderly

By Daniel Williams

June 29, 2015 at 01:20 PM

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Roughly one in three American investors are worried about older family members or friends being exploited through financial fraud or abuse.

These numbers came to light in the Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index, conducted May 22-31.

While that number may seem substantial it, falls well below how much people worry over personal identity theft (57%), cyberattacks on their savings or investments (47%), stock market volatility (42%) and investment scams or frauds (41%).

What's more troublesome is that one in three U.S. investors knows someone who has been a victim of scams or frauds.

As one might suspect, those investors who know a victim or more likely (51%) to worry than those who do not know a victim (23%).

Other highlights from the study:

Thirty-four percent of investors younger than age 65 are worried, compared with 28 percent of those 65 and older.
Almost half of investors (47%) say they are likely to rely on a personal financial advisor to protect themselves or their family members from elder financial abuse in the future.

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