Headline Reads "Elderly Scams Cost 12 TIMES More Than Previously Thought"

Earlier this year, staff writer Ann Brenoff, wrote the shocking headline above for The Huffington Post [2/5/2015].  Ann, who is in her fifties and "AARP-eligible," goes on to say that about four or five times a day, her home phone rings with people who say she has done business with them before (not true) or who say that she asked them to call (not true).  Increasingly, it is angry-voiced men claiming to be from the IRS or some fraud-investigation division of the government who say she owes them money (not true).  Ms. Brenoff surmises that the scammers play off one of older adults biggest concerns - a hazy memory!

The results of a recent study of financial abuse of older adults is pretty startling.  A U.S. True Link Financial study found that the overall cost of fraud is 12 times previous estimates - more than $36 billion. A Met Life study previously pegged the cost of scamming older adults at $2.9 billion. Many crimes are never reported.  The reason: "Admitting you got confused and gave some guy on the phone your credit card information is one step away from the "what should we do about mom?" conversation, according to Ms. Brenoff.

Here are some of the key points to keep in mind:

1. Sometimes the financial manipulation is perfectly legal including confusing language that commits the buyer to more than they wanted or hiding expensive shipping and handling fees . Often it is repeated phone solicitations from unscrupulous and never-heard-of charities. 
2. The True Link study revealed that financial exploitation is typically progressive, rather than an isolated incident. Once people fall prey to a scam, they are repeatedly targeted.
3. The National Center for Victims of Crime says that Americans age 65 and older are more likely to be targeted by fraudsters and more likely to lose money once targeted.
4. People 60 years and older were 26 percent of all fraud complaints tracked by the Federal Trade Commission in 2012 -- the most of any age group. 
5. One in every five Americans age 65 or older has been abused financially, according to a 2010 survey by the Investor Protection Trust, a financial-education organization. 

While many scams are perpetrated by strangers on the telephone or sitting at a computer anywhere in the world, financial misappropriation often happens in our own homes or at our front door.  Everyone needs to take steps to make themselves safe.  Here are some rules to adopt:

1. Never respond to a phone call.  Ask for the information in writing or just hang up.  Your bank or other financial institution as well as the IRS will always put their request in writing.  Even if the person says they are a neighbor or relative, do not believe them.  Scammers use surprise and urgency to their advantage.  Never give out any information over the phone or in response to an email (and don't click on the links!).
2. Only contribute to charities that you have researched and that you know for a fact are legitimate.
3. Talk over large requests for charity or demands for payment with your family, your financial consultant, your lawyer, your pastor or one of the leaders at Homestead Village.  It is better to get counsel that concurs than pay the money and then regret it later.

Homestead Village does everything it can to keep our community free of scams and fraudulent activity.  If we become aware of any behavior that puts our residents at risk, we take immediate action for the well being of all who call Homestead Village their home.

Homestead Village Enhanced Senior Living: A LIFE PLAN COMMUNITY

Life Plan Community has been chosen, after a multi year effort, to replace Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) as the primary description of communities for older adults.  For most people, their first question would be, "Why change?"  That is a good question.  The best way to answer it is to first look at history and then look at the present.

Communities for older adults have been labeled with various terms over the past hundred years that today seem unbelievable.  "Asylum" was probably the most heinous label.  Of course when asylum was the popular term, residents were referred to as inmates; so the terminology was offensive from all aspects.  "Homes for the Aged" was  used regularly replaced by "Convalescent Home" and "Nursing Home."  When these terms were no longer acceptable, new, modern terminology took their place.  The modern terms were cool and very business like.  "Skilled Nursing Facility" and "Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center" are two of the more popular terms that are still in use today.  The term facility is ubiquitous.  It appears in the news and even in regulations. It is often the term used to describe a community by its own residents and employees.  Facility is the opposite of home.  No one calls the home they grew up in a facility.  The most basic definition of facility is space or equipment necessary for doing something.  It is a very functional term; but does not describe the key reason we create communities for elders:  caring, compassion, love and fellowship.  Center has a similar connotation.
Back in the seventies and eighties, as retirement communities began to appear across the country, the term continuing care retirement community became popular and has come to define the type of living arrangement that offers multiple levels of care in one location.  Even the accreditation is named Continuing Care Accreditation (CARF-CCAC).  This terminology has served well for the past three decades or more; but its shortcomings have begun to appear.  As the new generation of elders approach the decision to move to a community, they have expressed displeasure with the term, CCRC.  Two of the four words elicit negative feedback.  Care and Retirement are both unpopular with the boomers.Even continuing is institutional sounding.
Leaders in the"Life Plan Community" field recognized this problem and began a deliberate effort to identify new terminology that best describes what we offer.  After two years of hard work including market testing, the term "Life Plan Community" has been chosen.  It was announced at the annual LeadingAge conference in Boston in November. The public relations information included with the announcement includes the tag line, "It's my life; it's my plan; it's my life plan community!"  Use of the term in place of CCRC is voluntary; but it offers a new and fresh take on what communities such as Homestead Village offer those who choose to make us their home.
Homestead Village will embrace Life Plan Community and do its part to facilitate the transformation in language and thought.