Rock Your Retirement Show

Memory loss may be a normal part of aging, but it may also be caused by dementia or treatable brain conditions. Getting the right diagnosis and care is important. This episode talks about WebMD's article on memory impairment.

Forgetfulness is a usual common thing and happens to most people, young or old, including memory champions. Distraction, stress, fatigue, depression, anxiety, absentmindedness, and many other factors may contribute. Luckily, most memory impairment problems are reversible. Temporary episodes of forgetfulness is not an indicator of Alzheimer’s or Dementia.

Stages of Memory

The article discusses 3 stages of memory:

* Encoding – This is when a person takes information in.

* Consolidation – When you encode the information you process it so that it gets stored in certain areas of your brain.

* Retrieval – When you recite the information.

Mine differs from the author. I give memory to four stages or four divisions. First is sensory memory, you use this to figure out your next step and that turns into working memory. Working memory is figuring out the process, how are you going to keep going. Next is short term memory, it is based on your emotions and last is long term memory. When you couple emotion with your memories that really helps with the short term memory. Encoding them into short term memory and eventually encoding it into long term memory.

Common Memory Impairment

Common memory impairment or brain blips include misplacing frequently used objects. Such as keys or glasses, forgetting why we walked into a room. And periodic difficulty remembering a word we want to say. It is frequently linked to situational factors and normal age-related changes. For most people, mental flexibility starts to become a bit less efficient with each passing decade from our late 20s onward. Memory starts to decline in our late 30s, so it is common to notice more memory problems as we age.

Consolidate Your Memory

Sleep is when you consolidate your memories. It helps you get rid of your memories and consolidate them. We all think best when we're well rested. A clear, alert brain allows us to focus, learn and remember information, and to be creative. On the other hand, when we're sleepy, we make more mistakes and are less productive.

Healthy sleep puts us in the right state of mind to take in information as we go about the day. Not only that, we need a good night's sleep to process and retain that information over the long term. Sleep actually triggers changes in the brain that solidify memories. It strengthens connections between brain cells and transferring information from one brain region to another.

Other Causes of Memory Impairment

Other causes of memory impairment are stress, anxiety, ADHD, depression, metabolic diseases, alcoholism, vitamin B12 deficiency, infection, and drugs. Episode 101 with Dr. Camille Newton talks about many of the drugs that may cause dementia.

Most people don't realize that it's not just only alcoholism but heavy consumption of alcohol. That is one cause of memory impairment. If you have 2 or 3 glasses a night, you might not get tipsy or inebriated but you have all that sugar. All that alcohol in your brain, every night your brain has to fight and get rid of it. Then your brain just gets tired because of this. It has a hard time purging all that alcohol and sugar.

Control the Way We Progress and Become Better and Healthier

Before you put in those sweets or steaks, here is some food for thought. Research suggests that what we eat might have an impact on our ability to remember and our likelihood of developing dementia as we age.

You just have got to be in a position to put your foot down.

This is another 4 part series of the Rock Your Retirement show. Today’s guest host, Janet Rich Pittman is ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­an expert on memory. So if you want to find a way to slow your brain's aging process, then you're going to love this episode. In the first of these four series, we will be discussing how thinking changes with aging. This came from the article on “How the Aging Brain Affects Thinking” of the National Institute of Aging.

Brain aging is inevitable to some extent, but not uniform; it affects everyone, or every brain, differently. Slowing down brain aging or stopping it altogether would be the ultimate elixir to achieve eternal youth. From remembering to planning, organizing and decision making, the brain is in control. As people age, though, cognitive changes typically occur; fortunately, they can be positive as well as negative.

Normal Brain Aging

As you age, there are a couple of things that are kind of normal or common: Increase difficulty in finding words and recalling names, more problems with multitasking, and paying attention as sharply as you once did. So it's difficult to hone in and concentrate.

Older individuals often become anxious about memory slips due to the link between impaired memory and Alzheimer's disease. However, Alzheimer's and other dementias are not a part of the normal aging process.

Common Changes with Aging

* Difficulty learning something new.

* Multitasking.

* Recalling names and things.

* Remembering Appointments

On the plus side, people can typically continue to learn new things, including but not limited to vocabulary and other language skills, and to create new memories. Growing amounts of evidence are showing that people can, overall, continue to adapt to new tasks and challenges as they age.

The Three Main Brain Cells

* Synapse – connect neurons to each other for conscious and subconscious communication.

* Glial cells – Are our maids of the brain, their our police, our traffic cops. They take care of business. They give us direction, focus, and they redirect and direct. When certain regions of our brain are not communicating. Our thought can't go forward because we got some weak cells in the front.

* Neurons – Is the basic working unit of the brain, a specialized cell designed to transmit information to other nerve cells, muscle, or gland cells. Neurons are cells within the nervous system that transmit information to other nerve cells, muscle, or gland cells.

Certain Parts of the Brain Shrink

With the changes in aging our brains shrink because we're not feeding it correctly. This is because we just don't use our muscles enough. The older we get we don't use it enough, we don't have that challenge that that helps us combat brain degeneration. The thing is that we should produce that strong, healthy brain cells so that we could fight that degeneration.

The changes that go into your brain is inflammation. Inflammation causes all kinds of problems not just with your brain but the rest of your body too. Over the years when we eat bad, don't get any exercise, and when we are not really using our brains to learn new things.

Protecting Your Cognitive Health

We don't really remember names because we don't actually put it in the file cabinet of our brain cells. Because we weren't really listening. We were thinking about what was going on in the room. And we didn't have an emotional attachment to that name and we didn't force ourselves to remember it.

People with more education seem to have more cognitive reserve than others. Dementia is different than normal aging.

This is part 4 of this series. In the first episode, we talked about Bringing Old Americans Into the Mix. The next episode dwells into Why Older Men Should Lift Weights. Episode three was about 5 things that you need to do in order to make your retirement a good one. And in today's episode, we will be discussing the article, I’d Rather Die While I’m Living Than Live While I’m Dead. Because, even at an early stage in life, you need to rethink how your approach to life would be. Would it be for the better or the other way around?

Basically “Die While Your Living” means, I want to die while I'm doing something that I enjoy. My approach to life would be that I want to be out there living my life and not be sitting at home watching TV. Or as the author says putting up with that dreaded commute for a job you don't like, to earn money, to buy things that you don't need, or to impress people you don't like.

All Those Things That We See As A Young Kid Are Imprinted In Us

The author blames Jimmy Buffet's song “Growing Old But Not Up.” It includes the line “I’d Rather Die While I’m Living” in the chorus. He said he watched that song as a young teenager. And Isn't it funny that all those things that we see as a young kid are imprinted in us? Whether it is for good or for bad. The money scripts that we have in life and a lot of the scripts that we have about how life should be live are imprinted in us as kids.

A Lot Of People Don't Really Have a Good Approach to Life

Everyone should enjoy their life and live fully. That is the most important thing for people. You don't have to be retired to do this, you can do it at every part of your life. Just go about doing whatever you want to do in life as long as you are enjoying it.

Sometimes people take the negative side, which is to think that it's about taking undue risks, which is really the opposite of it. It's not about being crazy, it's not about being stupid, and it's not even about any of those types of things. It is about being intentional and being purposeful in what you want in life.

Life Isn't About Being Extravagant

Is your approach to life really about the most expensive car you can drive? The most expensive house you can live in? Eating at restaurants 5 days a week. Is that what life really is? Or is it about building memories with your family and friends?

You just have to learn to say I am enough, I have what I want, and I'm going to be intentional in how I choose to live my life. And also think about doing what is important instead of what society or some advertiser told me what I should do because it's important.

Be Contented With What You Have

You can go buy a new luxury car tomorrow and tomorrow you will be happy. 6 months from tomorrow when your neighbor comes home with a nicer luxury car and yours is dented and it's not new anymore, you're no longer happy. When you learn to let go of yourself and learn to be contented inside then you have it all. Because the final stage of life is learning to let go.

Conclusion

People need to realize that having a happy approach to life isn't something you could do overnight because it takes time. Our life is an accumulation of whatever we collect from the environment and the society we are living in. Get rid of that false concept of life first. Because life is not just an accumulation. It’s something more than that. Once you recognize this true nature or approach to life; only then you can approach to the things in the right way.

Once you get rid of the thought that you should be better...

This is part 3 of 4 in this series. In episode 1, we talked about the article Bringing Old Americans Back Into the Mix. Episode 2, was about Why Older Men Should Lift Weights. Today's episode will be about the article, 5 Steps to An Awesome Retirement by Costco. Rocky Lalvani, the host of the Richer Soul's podcast is back with us to be part of this episode about having an amazing retirement process.

The retirement process ought to be a happy time. You can set your own schedule, take long vacations, and start spending all the money you’ve been saving. Having a great life in retirement is not just about having enough money saved up. Like most anything worthwhile in life, it takes hard work, clarity, and dedication to make your retirement process look like what you imagined.

Never Call It Retirement

Don't ever call it retirement. Besides, it doesn't even sound good. Because if you think about the word retirement it's kind of like to retire, to put out, or to pasture. Instead of seeing retirement as an end to a productive, and rewarding professional life, we can view it as a rebirth to opportunities.

The Retirement Process

The article talked about the three steps. You have your childhood, adulthood, and elderhood. Since this is about the retirement process, we need to focus a little bit more on elderhood.

Elderhood is probably the point in life where you get to do what you want. Your kids are no longer your responsibility. Therefore you don't have to go to work anymore. Not to say you don't work but think of it as you no longer have to do things. Moreover, it is the point in time of your life where you get to choose everything and you have that flexibility in life. Knowing yourself, your values, your strength and weaknesses, and then saying, I'm going to live my life in congruence with that and be purposefully happy. And maybe create your legacy and give back, or maybe continue to work. But it is whatever retirement process you choose it to be. Because now you have the freedom to do so.

People Are Redefining What Retirement is All About

All of us are sort of redefining retirement right now. Because there are some really young people who are retiring but in a different kind of way. That is to say that it's just amazing that these 30 or 40 somethings are financially able to retire but still wanna give back to society. Some of them work for money and some of them work for passion. Certainly, retirement isn't the right word for any of us regardless of how old we are.

Choosing the Right Medicare

It really depends if you're below 65, you're gonna have to figure out health care and if you're 65 and older and you're eligible for Medicare, you have to figure out Medicare. People don't usually realize how much Medicare is changing right now. How much they're going to start restricting what you can and can't get. And how much your choice of a Medicare Plan, whether it be an Advantage Plan or a Medigap Plan, it is dramatically going to affect what you're eligible for when it comes to healthcare.

Let's face it we're buying insurance not because we're healthy, we're buying insurance for catastrophe. And when people go shopping for insurance, they shop for premium. They don't bother to say when things go really, really wrong, who's going to protect me the best. Therefore, you need to balance those 2 areas out because in the past you have the ability to switch around with Medicare but now it's harder.

Creating a Team for Your Health and Your Money

In this case, you should have people on your side on both sides of this area. The big part of that team are people who are going to be there to help you.

Rocky Lalvani is back with us in this episode of Rock Your Retirement. This is part 2 of the 4 part series with Rocky and today we will be talking about why older men should lift weights. In this episode, we will share to you why it is important to lift weights even as you age.

When you are young just the thought of starting to lift weights is hard and it's even harder if you try to begin weightlifting at an older age. Though it's hard for elderly people to start weightlifting at this point in time, it is still necessary. And the truth is that building your muscles is more important than ever at this stage of life. Muscles tend to weaken with age, and this decline can eventually rob seniors of their active, independent lifestyles. Fortunately, you can reverse that trend with a few simple exercises. It's safe, it's effective, and it's never too late to start. Because you'll never know, you may even enjoy it.

The Benefits of Weightlifting

* Reduce the symptoms of diabetes and osteoporosis

* Improve your balance

* Improve glucose control

* Increase strength and muscle mass while raising metabolism

* Promote more independence as you get older

Myths of Lifting Weights at an Older Age

People of older age need to stop thinking about not being able to build muscle after a certain age. Well, this isn't about measuring how much muscle tissue you have or put on. It's about getting fitter and stronger.

And when elderly people lift weights, they get stronger and more able-bodied. Therefore, a frail elderly person can get stronger. Lifting weights will make everyday living easier for the elderly woman or man. Moreover, the only people who can't build muscle from exercise are those who aren't with us anymore.

Some older people believe that lifting weights will make them too bulky and get stiff muscles. But in reality, most of the people in the gym that can lift the most weights are those who are slim and trim. They aren't really muscular. That's one of the fallacies that are out there that if I lift weights I'm going to be muscle-bound and that is not the case.

Machines Aren't As Good As Free Weights

A couple of reasons why the machine weights don't work is number 1, most often you're in a linear track. So you're only moving up and down. You don't work any of the supporting muscles at all that would have to keep your weight from going side to side. You're not getting any of the supporting weights that are going on. Most of the machines that are out there are highly specific to a muscle or a group of muscles. That is why when I'm doing a squat or a deadlift I'm using my entire body all the way across. And using most of those machines in the gym is just not the same as free weights.

What Will a Senior do to Get Started?

Free weights are very scary in the beginning. But getting a good trainer is a big help, someone who could teach you do the form correctly. And try not to lift weights more than you can lift. Don't try to be that person that will go all out and do it all. Because you are better off lifting half the weight that you think you can get comfortable with. Time will come that you'll get by those weights that you are vying for. We are not trying to be Olympic bodybuilders. We're just trying to get our body to be strong and muscular. So as we talk about in the last show when you wanna go play with the 5-year-olds and run around the ground and lift them up, you'll have the strength to be able to do that.

Start Now

People of older age kept on saying there's so much to do. I think it comes down to three simple exercises. If you can do a squat, a bench, and a deadlift, those three are the ones that make up the trio.

Welcome to another episode of Rock Your Retirement. My guest co-host for today is Rocky Lalvani. He will be co-hosting with me for the next 4 episodes. In the first of four, we’ll be discussing an article from the NY Times called Bringing Older Americans Back Into the Fold.

Some of you may know that I have recently moved to South Carolina and we have an episode that talks about it.

Reintegrating older adults back into the fold, kind of falls into what exactly is retirement. What does it mean to retire? And, do you really want to retire in a true sense of the word? You've made it to your 65th birthday and the world no longer seems friendly. You are preparing to leave your career job and it's more than adequate income and stay home forever. Unless you are wealthy or have invested well, you face a decline in your standard of living plus other radical lifestyle changes. What's more, your body has entered its final countdown. You feel depressed and overwhelmed. Instead of drifting into the unknown, you need to reestablish or reinstate yourself back into society.

What is Age Segregation and What Does it do to People?

Age segregation is abundant in the United States. From grade schools to senior villages, we now spend much of our lives on separate generational islands. While young people go back to school separated by grades, older people gather for clubs, classes, and meals that often expressly bar the young. In other words, we are all sorting ourselves out by how old we are.

In this way, age segregation is denying the young and the old crucial opportunities to serve one another and their communities.

Reintegrating Two Generations Together

The real fountain of youth comes from being around younger people. That's even truer as you age. If you're in your 70's and 80's and you're hanging around with young people, you tend to be younger and more hip.

There was a study that was done. I think they took people in their 80s and what they did was they recreated life like it was when they were 50. They literally put them in a house that looks like the house they would have been in when they were in their 50's. The only thing on TV was shows that would have been on when they were 50. And all the reading material was from that time period. Even the furniture and everything. So they literally were putting them back 30 years in time. And what they found is just within a week those people were walking straighter, able to do more, and felt younger.

There were studies where they take nursery schools and they put them into nursing homes, And you see the elderly and the young come together and it's just a phenomenal experience for both sides. Because the elderly have the time to sit there and listen to the stories and tell stories that most of us who were busy and running around don't have the time to do. It makes them feel younger.

In the United States When You Get Old Your Supposed to Get Shipped Off

These things happen because the whole idea of retirement is somewhat profit and power driven. If you have a bunch of people in their 70's running an area, a business, or a town and you've got young people who want to take over the only way to do that is to get rid of the old people. And the best way to get rid of the old people is to convince them that they should retire.

You're Still Young, You're Still Vital. What Can You Do?

Basically, you should do whatever you want. Think about it. You are now at the point of your life where you've got a lifetime of wisdom. If you're smart enough to keep up your health. You've done your job right to have money even if you don't have a ton of money, and you've got social security. Whatever it is,

This is the last of the 4 part series with my co-host Ted Carr. Today we will be discussing an article about the road to happiness. Last week, the two of us discussed an article about Estate Planning Myths. If you missed it, here is the link www.RockYourRetirement.com/166

There are many avenues on the road to happiness. (It sounds like a movie title doesn't it?) But the single most accessible, most important, most obvious route is also the most difficult to tread. We'll try to question ourselves. Can we even make ourselves happier? Is it even possible? Isn't happiness some kind of a sub like it happens but you can't really chase it?

What is True Happiness?

People will argue about what true happiness is. Most will say you either are or aren't born happy. Sort of like you're predisposed to be happy. However, there are certain things that you do that the result of doing them makes yourself happy. For example, if you have a lot of friends your chances of being happy are more than if you are alone. You can't really chase happiness, like, I'm gonna do this today to make myself happy. There are things that you do that the result of it is just happiness.

The Road to Happiness is Determined by Genetics

Statistics show that 50 percent of happiness is determined by genetics and therefore out of your control. While 10 percent refers to situational happiness. That includes whether we are rich or poor, healthy or ill, where we live, what our job is, or whether we will get a job at all. Meaning, a rich, beautiful, perfectly healthy person with everything going for them only has a 10 percent headstart on the person whose entire life is a complete mess.

Same with those famous people who commit suicide. On the outside, you think that they have a perfect life. But on the inside, their lives are completely different.

Hedonic Adaptation

The road to happiness isn't just only determined based on situations. Most road to happiness that's based on situations is only temporary. Why? Because we tend to have more of what we already have. This is called Hedonic Adaptation, where we get used to things and we end up wanting more of what we already have. From new additions, making more accomplishments, new house, new car, new job. In other words, lifestyle inflation.

We're just wired to adaptation but always wanting more. It's like going back to the days of primal survival instinct. The feeling that more means we got a better chance of surviving. Surviving in the future where we don't have anything.

The Road to Happiness on a Day to Day Basis

We discussed that 50% of happiness is being based on genetics and 10% are situational. The last 40% of the road to happiness is based on what we think or what we do on a day to day basis. This 40% will give us a chance to make things happier for our lives. This includes helping others, having new experiences, practicing gratitude, and building a positive mindset.

My journal called, “The Baby Boomer's 30 Day Journal“, which is available on Amazon, takes into account the 6 areas of retirement lifestyle. It talks about doing something spiritual in the morning whether it is meditating, praying, or setting goals for yourself. People setting small goals are happier in general because you can achieve a small goal. There's a lot of factors within this 40% that we can influence the outcome of our road to happiness.

Focus in that Moment

Some people are happy because they live in the moment. The contents of these moments to moments of living have a big influence on people's happiness.

My guest co-host Ted Carr is back with us to talk about why retirement planning among women is unique. Ted Carr has been on the show previously. We discussed the Stages of Life which happened to be one of our most popular episodes.

The subtitle to today's topic should be, “Why is it retirement planning for women more challenging or poses more challenges?” Even in retirement men and women are different. Women have plenty of hurdles when it comes to their journey to retirement. There is no one-size-fits-all and this is why it is unique. We will break down what challenges women encounter when planning for retirement so that you can work things out toward a secure future.

Women Tend to Outlive Men

Statistics show that women live longer than men. The average age women live to is 81 vs the average age for men of 76. It is not a secret that women have lived longer, maybe partly due to men's lifestyle. Although men are catching up because women's lifestyles are going downhill. Women have more years of the retirement fund. It increases their longevity risk, which is the risk of outliving your money.

When I was in my 40's I purchased a long-term care policy. When I got married 10 years ago, I added my husband to the policy. But you cannot buy this policy that I purchased anymore. A lot of people don't buy long-term care because it is expensive. The reason why it's expensive is that a lot of us are gonna need it because we are going to live for a long time. I included home health care in that policy because the thought of moving into a nursing home does not appeal to me.

Develop a Proper and Unique Retirement Plan

If you could develop a detailed retirement plan, that is going to catch a lot of the crucial aspects of preparing for retirement. Things such as expenses, health insurance (including long term care), social security, work, investment management, and income generation. Ted calls it a forcing function. He would not have retired early if he had not worked out a detailed retirement plan.

Gender Wage Gap

Women earn only 81% of what men do. That gap can be explained in part by women’s time off to raise their children, but it’s also because of occupational segregation.

My mom took a job in retail and there wasn't a lot of career advancement or benefits. Except that she could take time off pretty much whenever she wanted to and that fits in with her lifestyle. It didn't provide financial rewards but provided a lot of lifestyle parenting rewards. But you tend to fall behind because you're not out there grinding it out with other people working diligently to get ahead.

Women are not necessarily as intense negotiators as men are. In Linda Babcock's research, it indicates that women who consistently negotiate their salary increases, earn at least 1 million more during their careers than women who don't. Women undervalue themselves they often feel grateful to just have a job and underestimate their market value by up to 30%.

Women More Likely Face Career Disruptions

Women are more likely to become caregivers to their aging parents or children than men are. This affects their career, or they may even have to quit their jobs. This also affects their overall lifetime savings, social securities, pension benefits, and also 401k plans. That's just another challenge that women face financially. There is also the societal pressure of being the person in charge of taking care of the family.

Grey Divorce

The rate of divorce for people over 50 has doubled since 1990. After a divorce or separation, household income decreases. It's much easier for two people to live in one household on eighty thousand dollars than it is for two people to live on forty thousand dollars each.

Ted says that he and his wife keep their finances separate.

Our guest co-host Ted Carr is back with us for this episode number 2 of our 4 part series. On our previous episode, we discussed why elderly parents fall for scams. This time, we will talk about the common myths of estate planning.

Estate planning is one of the pillars of the strategic retirement planning concept. While it may be a task that gets misunderstood or procrastinated over, estate planning can provide a good direction for your loved ones in the future. Furthermore, it gives you a sense of relief as you think about where your household and assets go.

Now just a disclaimer here- neither Ted nor myself are experts in the field of Estate Planning. We are just here to talk about our personal experiences. You would definitely want to discuss your own situation with an attorney.

What Goes into an Estate Plan?

When Les and I met our estate attorney, she talked to us not only about our assets but also about what happens if we get incapacitated. Even our very very naughty pet bird Mr. Grant was part of our estate plan.

Nevertheless, you can revise your estate plan numerous times. Here's a list of items every estate plan should include:

* Will/trust

* A durable power of attorney

* Beneficiary designations

* Letter of intent

* Healthcare power of attorney

* Guardianship designations

Also, you may add POLST (Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) on your estate plan, it's an approach to improving end-of-life care in the United States, encouraging providers to speak with patients and create specific medical orders honored by health care workers during a medical crisis.

If I Have An Estate Plan, I Can Avoid Estate Taxes

The federal estate tax exemption has increased to $11.2 million per person (or $22.4 million per married couple), so it's unlikely you'll have pay to pay for an estate tax at all.

It Is Important to Include Guardianship Designations to Your Estate Plan

While many wills or trusts incorporate this clause, some don't. If you have minor children or are considering having kids, picking a guardian is incredibly important and sometimes overlooked. Make sure the individual or couple you choose shares your views, are responsible, financially sound and genuinely willing to raise children. It will give you peace of mind.

Probate is an Estate Planning Nightmare

Probate is expensive and time-consuming (will take about 2 years) and everything will be open to the public. Property is disposed of according to the laws of the state in which the deceased resided. If they find some personal information from your public records your estate could be vulnerable. The funny thing is that even though you spend all your time to have a private and personal life when you die everything is open to everybody.

I Don't Need to Check My Beneficiaries

It's one of the common mistake people do. While setting up a plan is a solid first step, keep in mind your salary and family situation can fluctuate over time. Make sure your beneficiaries are current, there are so many 401k plans that haven't had any beneficiaries. If you don't update your estate plan your beneficiary information could go out the window.

A Will Can Overview the Distribution of My Assets

60% of people have no wills. A will is also a great first step. It allows you to lay out how your belongings should be distributed. However, it has no controlling power over joint accounts or beneficiaries. The only thing that the will has any control over our assets that are in the person's name alone. You can also start with a holistic will where you write a will on a piece of paper, sign it with the date included,

Ted Carr will be my co-host for this podcast. The last time he was here, he gave us a great insight on the 6 Stages of Retirement.

In this episode of our show, we will talk about why elderly parents are getting scammed. We have an aging population and it's usually common for them to be targets of scams.

Scammers target the elderly, as they are willing to listen, maybe lonely, and are more trusting than younger individuals.

Scamming is a Problem

Scamming is considered the crime of the 21st century. It's hard for us to know which is legit or not. Scams target people of all backgrounds, ages and income levels across continents.

All of us may be victimized at some point in time. There's no one group of people who are more likely to be scammed.

Why Are Elderly Parents Being Scammed?

Seniors are being scammed because they have a significant amount of money sitting in their accounts. They also are difficult to prosecute and often go unreported, especially when there are no relatives around, so they are not considered high-risk crimes. However, they’re disastrous to many older adults and can leave them in a very risky position with little time to recoup their losses.

These Fraudsters Come in Different Forms

Nowadays, getting scammed doesn't just happen on phone calls, they are also presently using Facebook when it comes to scamming people. My mom was victimized by a fraudster. Even my husband Les gets phone calls from scammers every day.

Scammers even use throw away phone numbers or spoof the number. I get calls where it looks like they're calling from in town but actually, they're not. So, if you see something suspicious just hang up or let it roll to voicemail.

Lottery, Passion, and Personality

Lottery scams are one that many are familiar with, and it capitalizes on the notion that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

Also, many elderly always fall for scammers of passion. There was this article from the New York Times about an 84-year-old man marrying a 38-year-old woman which ended up with her scamming him of millions.

And if you are a type A personality makes you susceptible to these scammers, coupled with a loss of house, retirement or change in housing makes you more vulnerable.

Scammed? It's a Job

Scammers don't care on who they are scamming, they tend to be cold-hearted calculating individuals.

There are documentaries that show that they make scamming somewhat of a job.

They go to work, work for 8 hours, and are given a list on who to scam. It's like a call center for scammers.

Protect Yourself

One of the best ways to protect your loved ones against fraud is to talk to them openly about some of the most popular scams, so they’re aware of what’s out there.

Sometimes you become the villain when rationalizing but try reasoning out to them and explain that what those scammers are saying is not real.

Below are also some measures you can do to prevent someone from scamming you love ones:

* Set up daily contact with your loved ones when you can check them every day.

* Streamline social media that they have.

* Ensure that the fraud detection technologies are enabled.

* Shred important documents.

* Contact marketing associates to opt-out.

* Check their credit reports.

But when you are in the crisis. Try these methods:

* Try to change their phone number.

* Contact the police if they know where you live. Get the police involve.

* Talk to an elder law attorney. Set out a trust.

* Figure out how to replace what the scammer is providing.