Baby boomers beware.
Con artists are on the loose and they want your hard-earned retirement dollars.
According to Charisse Mackenzie, president of Saturn Wealth, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., here’s how to stop them.
- Be on your guard for “can’t miss” investments.
If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is, Mackenzie says. Unfortunately, retirees all too often are lured into such investments, only to find out that the return in no way matches what was promised. Even worse, instead of riches, some retirees could become unwitting participants in a Ponzi scheme that leaves them with nothing.
- Be sure your professional is licensed.
While it's always a good idea to seek help from a professional when you’re investing your money, it's just as important to make sure that person is properly licensed and registered, Mackenzie says. The Securities and Exchange Commission helps members of the public check their financial advisor’s credentials by providing them with access to their database at https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/.
- Don’t fall for “pump and dump” schemes.
Any solicitation demanding your immediate action to invest your cash in a great stock opportunity lest you miss out on it should find its way into your electronic trash bin or real world trash can.
Known as “pump and dump” schemes by the SEC, fraudsters will try to boost the price of a stock with false or misleading statements about the company. Once the stock price has been pumped up, “pump and dump” schemesters will profit from it at your expense by selling their own holdings of the stock, dumping shares into the market.
They win, you lose, says Mackenzie.
“A little healthy skepticism never hurts,” she says. “If someone is pressuring you, or insisting that you must act quickly or you’ll miss out on some great investment, alarms should go off.”
Mackenzie indicated that the best defense to get-rich-quick schemes designed to put aging baby boomers and elderly retirees in the poorhouse is a strong offense--avoid them at all costs.