Free Elder Financial Abuse Seminar – BS&L Community Room

by BrandieStarr | Education | 1661 Views

Please join us in the BS&L Community Room Tuesday April 28th (tomorrow) at 6pm for a free seminar on Elder Financial Abuse.  This is a very important topic and it happens more than you might imagine, to those you love. Call 802.254.5333 to reserve your seat!

Here is a link to an article written for The Commons by our Vice President Theresa Masiello.

Comments | 2

  • Submitted by BrandieStarr on April 29, 2015 at 7:30 am

    Great meeting last night- Follow up comment

    Thanks to you who attended our free seminar last night. As a follow up to the topic of Elder Financial abuse, Theresa Masiello shared the following:

    With over 50 million Americans aged 62 and older (2010 Census), older adults are prime targets for financial exploitation both by persons they know and trust and by strangers. Financial exploitation has been called “the crime of the 21st century” with one study suggesting that older Americans lost at least $2.9 billion (yes, with a b) to financial exploitation by a broad spectrum of perpetrators in 2010.

    This epidemic is under the radar. The cases tend to be very complex and can be difficult to investigate and prosecute. Elders who lose their life savings usually have little or no opportunity to regain what they have lost. Elder financial abuse can result in the loss of the ability to live independently; decline in health, broken trust, and fractured families.

    While last night’s seminar was not packed, we did have representatives from the Thompson House as well as Brattleboro Housing Authority in attendance, so our information will reach many more individuals. Additionally, the article that ran in The Commons last week was also printed in the Holton Home Newsletter, which goes out to their residents, resident families, and members of the community who work with the elderly.

    If you suspect Elder Abuse you should contact Vermont Adult Protective Services at 1-800-564-1612.

  • Submitted by cgrotke on April 29, 2015 at 8:22 am

    Thanks

    Glad to see the bank taking a lead on this. Once one starts looking, the stories of abuse are plentiful, and depressing.

    People need to be either quite desperate, or quite cold, to steal from their elders.

    (If we had a basic income guarantee in this country, so that all could get by, would anyone need to steal like this?)

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