Older Americans may be overconfident about their ability to recognize financial abuse and their ability to keep it from happening to them, says a study by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.
The report, "Safeguarding Our Seniors," found that 89 percent of seniors surveyed said they could recognize elder financial abuse if it happened to them or a family member or friend, with only 1 percent saying they definitely could not.
The study included a total of 2,000 people. Allianz divided the respondents into two groups: the elderly aged 65 and older, and family and friends of the elderly aged 40 to 64 years of age.
Eighty-two percent of older Americans feel they have the resources to protect themselves, while only 58 percent of the younger family and friends group believe they have resources to protect an elder family member.
“These statistics are concerning because they may point to overconfidence on the part of elders to detect and stop financial abuse,” says Allianz Life President and CEO Walter White. “With financial abusers becoming increasingly sophisticated, elders should be very cautious about overconfidence.”
When asked if they would tell someone if they became a victim of elder financial abuse, the vast majority (94 percent) said they would. However, 55 percent of the younger responders said abuse that actually occurred was not reported.
Allianz Life has created the Preventing Elder Financial Abuse education course to help advisors work with clients to prevent abuse. Allianz also is working with the Better Business Bureau and has created the Safeguarding Our Seniors volunteer program. The program uses volunteers to talk to seniors to educate them about financial abuse.