Jeffrey M. Haber, Co-Founding Partner of Freiberger Haber LLP, Discusses the Financial Exploitation of America’s Seniors and Vulnerable Adults on a Recent Podcast

• Posted on: Mar 12 2020

As readers of this Blog know, we often write about the financial exploitation of America’s seniors and vulnerable adults. (E.g., here, here, here and here.) According to the U.S. Department of Justice, financial exploitation of senior adults is one of the most frequently reported forms of elder abuse. Indeed, a recent survey from the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) found that three in 10 state securities regulators had reported an increase in complaints from victims of financial fraud and exploitation. (Here.) 

As the incidence of exploitation and abuse increase, so do the costs to its victims. An oft-cited study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, and the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, titled “Broken Trust: Elders, Family & Finances,” estimates that about one million seniors lose approximately $2.6 billion annually from financial exploitation and abuse. (Here.) In 2011, MetLife updated its estimate to at least $2.9 billion. Other, more recent studies estimate the losses to exceed $36 billion a year, 12 times the MetLife estimate.

Recently, Jeffrey M. Haber, one of the Firm’s co-founding partners, sat down with Larry Heller, CFP®, CPA of Heller Wealth Management (here), to discuss the problem of financial exploitation and abuse of the elderly and vulnerable and the types of trusted individuals who commonly engage in such behavior.

The discussion can be found on Mr. Heller’s podcast here. 

Readers of this Blog may also be interested in reading Mr. Heller’s article on the subject, which covers a number of points Mr. Haber discussed during the podcast. (Here.)