I read another article in our city paper today about a financial planner stealing money from his clients and placing it directly into his own bank account.

He had permission to buy and sell securities without consulting his clients. This is very common for the elderly to find a planner and place all their faith and trust in them. Please try to go through your parents finances and really check records to be certain this isn't happening to them.

This is another form of elder abuse. The sad story is that I'm sure there are many others out there doing this and getting away with it.

The good news is the guy was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison and has to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution.

Let's remember to look out for our parents.

Glad to hear the guy was caught and is being punished. How can people like that sleep at night knowing they are taking the life savings of the elderly... not much heart there!

There are organizations that investment advisors belong to - that if you were to choose from one belonging to one of those organizations, you would confident that your money was secure. Unfortunately, the elderly often are too trusting of a good line.

Donna

Another equally, maybe even more important issue is if you are single always designate someone with 'MEDICAL POWER OF ATTORNEY' in case you are psychically or mentally debilitated and can't make descisions for yourself. My ex has no family and he has given this power to me so if he were to have a stroke or whatever, no one couldn't just plug him in and continue his life to get as much money for his care as possible. Medicare and some insurances pay as long as the person is breathing. My son has mine and I've found that this is something many of us never think of until its too late. The paperwork can be done by you or a paralegal for one tenth the price a lawyer would charge. and its legal and binding...

I had a friend in AZ whose husband was a drug addict. He went into a hospital and they killed him by giving him too much medicine. So, there was a lawsuit, which she won. Then, she gives this money along with life insurance to this investment guy and he lost all of it. She had to go through another lawsuit. Won but gads, that only added to her grief.

P.S. I spoke with my daughter today and she said my dad had taken his Cadillac to the dealer for some small repair and came home with a new Cadillac! My sister and I are a little concerned. He never did things like this.