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Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 You're listening to senior moves.
Speaker 1 00:00:02 Hey, everyone. Welcome to this. Thursday's released to the podcast where we're talking about the impacts of debt and finance on a parent project. Like all of us today shows could speak to many, but it's specifically oriented to family, friends, and professional advocates of the age who has stepped into a leadership position of a downsizing project. We're going to look at some of the current COVID fraud schemes out there targeting older Americans. We're going to provide some tips on how to begin a conversation about money, and we'll dive into the issues of monitoring a parent's financial situation while they can still manage to control their own finances plus so much more overall, there's some great information on how to approach, monitor, and address a range of debt related issues for your parent projects. So I hope you guys enjoy the content today.
Speaker 0 00:00:54 You're listening to parent projects, a senior moves podcast production. Now here's your host, Tony. CBRE's
Speaker 1 00:01:05 Lots of great content to cover today. We're going to break up this, uh, episode today by three segments of financial safety, a debt management, and kind of a barriers, uh, segment. I really want to lead off today with, uh, with the continuing COVID-19 scams. There's a great article back all the way back in October of last year. And we're still really working through this that talked about some of the scams that were coming out of the efforts for contact tracing. So, uh, you know, a couple of quick things to think about, uh, on the front end, generally, contact tracers have been contacting, uh, older Americans, whether they're pulling the lists from ARP, uh, or, or who, who knows where they're coming from. Uh, but they're, they're able to, you know, with social media, with other things today, they're able to, to pull up lists of those people that are more susceptible to giving up information.
Speaker 1 00:01:59 And if you haven't dealt with this in your family yet, it's a great idea. Uh, chances are, you know, you know, somebody who has a, a friend or a colleague that has dealt with this. So, uh, a couple of important things we'll kind of cover, uh, the first in spotting the scams. So, uh, contact tracers, uh, do typically begin with text messaging. That is something that is pretty legitimate. They also might reach out with phone calls, uh, but there are a couple of things that the contact tracers will not do. And reminding our family of this and doing it pretty consistently can kind of help number one, they will not ask for money. All right. Uh, make sure everybody understands. They will never ask for any kind of payment. They'll never ask for cash or gift cards or any kind of card in, in any other way.
Speaker 1 00:02:45 So, uh, are we can w that's one thing that they should be taken off the table and should immediately key, uh, our family members, um, or those that we're working with, uh, that they're, they're definitely being a target of a scam. They do not need your bank account or your credit card numbers. So, uh, continued to that number. Uh, number two, they don't need social security information. Uh, they will not need your social security number, not even the last four digits of your social security number. That's not part of contact tracing. Uh, so you can add that to the list. Uh, also they're not going to need your Medicare number. So contact tracers will never ask for your Medicare number. They won't ask for your insurance information. Uh, and I, you know, for those of you, uh, particularly in the Southwest here where we're at immigration status, doesn't matter either.
Speaker 1 00:03:39 So if a contract tracer is calling, uh, and, or a contact tracer, excuse me, is calling and they're asking for this kind of information, they're not a legitimate, this is, this is indeed a scam. So, uh, be on the lookout for that. They're also not going to send links, uh, through email or texts. Uh, that's not part of the protocols. Uh, if you do click on them, it can download, you know, malicious malware or other things that your computer or your phone. So, uh, those are, those are some top things to look to, uh, regarding the testing sites and what to look out for, uh, you know, social media being really cautious there, watch out for the advertisements and social media, um, that are talking about COVID-19 testing or supplies, uh, make sure that any of the appointments that you make are the actual locations.
Speaker 1 00:04:26 Usually you can research those with the local county, uh, and they'll, they'll, your county will tell you, uh, where those locations are at. Again, it's a, it's the links, don't open links. If you get them in an email, uh, or anything from, uh, from an unknown source and Medicare and Medicaid are not going to call and ask for your number. So, uh, that program is not associated to this at this time. So, uh, you know, as of this podcast in, uh, September of 2021 should have nothing to do with any of that. So, uh, you know, one of the other questions that comes up is how do you make sure that it's a legit testing site that you're looking at? Uh, uh, so one of the, the key things that you can do is really get referral from your doctor, check in with them, and they can, uh, they'll, they'll tell you where you should go to get tested.
Speaker 1 00:05:22 Uh, you can also contact a local law enforcement, uh, police and Sheriff's offices, uh, can let you know if a testing sites legitimate, if you're unable to find a, the county website online. So make sure to keep an eye on that in general, as with most scams that are out there, we want to encourage our loved ones. And in some cases, maybe even putting a sticky note on a refrigerator, uh, um, that just reminds them do not give out bank account number, do not give out credit card information, do not click on links. Um, and don't give up your personal information. Government will not call you and ask for personal information. Um, so that that's some important, uh, thanks to put up there if, um, you know, if you want to talk through a little, a couple of situations with your family member, remember scammers, once they get them on the phone, they're going to pressure them to provide some pretty detailed information very, very quickly, uh, before they have time to really process where they're at.
Speaker 1 00:06:22 So if they feel that a conversation is just going really quickly, uh, and they're being asked a lot of information, chances are that it is a scam, but in any case, just hang up the phone. It's the easiest way to, to, you know, in the military, when you say break contact, just all they have to do is hang up the phone. If there's something legitimate there, that person is going to call back and you can slow the process down and start working through it. Uh, chances are that if they are a scam, they're not going to call back. They're going to go in the other direction, particularly if you haven't given them any information yet, um, remind them to call a friend or a family member. If there's someone in particular in your family, that's dealing with, uh, with that type of a aspect, have their contact number, sitting there and say, Hey, call this person, uh, when you're receiving it, uh, and having one consistent person who's, who's collecting how often that's happening can really help you manage the project longterm, uh, for what to do.
Speaker 1 00:07:24 Um, if you do find a scam, if you're wandering and, and, and how you take care of that, uh, there is, this is something that's handled by the office of the inspector general, uh, through, um, HHS. So you can report it online through the inspector General's office, uh, and that's OIG dot H H s.gov, uh, w uh, again, that's O I g.hhs.gov, uh, or you can always call in the tip line, which is 800 H H S tips, uh, that's 804, 4 7 84 77. So that's a great way for us to help our loved ones out there. The, um, then the next thing to really think through is debt management. When we're talking with, uh, budgeting or, um, conversations and tracking and figuring things out, uh, really what's key to staying on top of all of this is communication about finance and perhaps your, uh, your family's already talking about finance.
Speaker 1 00:08:29 Uh, and perhaps it's never talked about finance, uh, just in general. There's a great article out in August of 2021. We'll put it down in the description below, uh, by, um, Marie Burns. And, um, and in her article, she, she did a great job of breaking down how to turn the tables. So the conversation from, uh, from somebody jumping in or diving into another person's personal con you know, personal content or their, uh, what they would consider just a very personal stuff, um, and how to turn the tables on that. So that really, you become an enabler for them, or a resource or a tool. And you're going to find it, if you listen to this podcast regularly, or you are a member of senior moves.org, you're going to find that this is a, this is a common theme, uh, in our, um, dignity and downsizing movements here.
Speaker 1 00:09:24 These are touchy subjects and, and Maria Burns talks exactly about that. Um, you know, she does a lot of workshops, uh, uh, about how to estate plan and help other family members. Uh, and I, this is an, uh, a sponsored a plug for her. Uh, but I just say what she makes good mention of in her articles is that common questions do come up and how to handle that touchy subject. And of course, this is something that, uh, is, is really common for us. Most often it follows a fraud or where something else has come up, or we see that our parents or the people that we're, uh, advocating for are having a hard time keeping up with the amount of fraud that's coming their direction. Uh, and you really need to, you feel compelled to step in there. So as you, as you Wade into the water of that, make sure that you're thinking their best interests and communicate to them in a way that you can become a good resource and an asset to them, um, breaking down and having what, uh, what many refer to, as the talk, uh, is something that's that has, um, well, let's, I've, I've heard it best explained, uh, probably this way from this perspective, uh, a client that I'd had years ago when I was, when I was moving, uh, him here in the Phoenix Metro area, uh, his, his family was involved in buddy, but he really didn't want them much more involved in the reason that he didn't want them involved was, uh, he didn't feel that they knew him.
Speaker 1 00:11:00 And, and we had had during one sidebar conversation and got this opportunity to allow him to kind of roll through that a little bit. So I could understand what knowing him was, uh, personally. So I could, I could avoid that and make some ground there. Also, he was going to depend on his, on his kids. Long-term for a solution. I could help him get moved from point a to point B in this project, but long-term, he was going to need someone to help him, uh, avoid fraud. And as he waited closer and closer, uh, to, uh, uh, a time in his life when he would need someone else to help him with those things, um, he was, he was going to need depend on family, and that's, it's just, it's a good, good practice. All that aside. Uh, his, his comment was that his kids knew who he showed himself to be.
Speaker 1 00:11:47 Uh, and he, uh, he, he really spoke to me as a, as a parent, you know, I have five children and he had asked about that and he knew that, and then he, he said, you know, do you do, do you tell your kids everything about you? And, uh, you know, of course I have a six year old daughter is my youngest. And I, even with my teenage boys, I want those guys, um, I want all my kids to see the best version of myself. And so he was explaining it in, in, in really his terms to that you show your children what you want them to see. And the reality is they see that for 18 years or so now he said he hadn't seen his kids over the course really of, uh, other than kind of hearing their visits over a course of, of 45, almost 50 years.
Speaker 1 00:12:34 And so now, as, as he's approaching 70 years old, his children have this memory of what he looked like and was, or let them see 45 years ago. And that's what he's given them in order to make decisions on his behalf. And that kind of becomes a problem. So, um, when you're going into the talk be, be mindful of that, uh, take time to understand where they are and let them see you as providing a different approach or a helpful approach to them, uh, that helps them get through stuff. Uh, remember, uh, that, um, you, these are unpredictable times. There's probably some level of fear that's sitting around there. Uh, and, and because they are being attacked, this is a great opportunity for you to show yourself as a resource and an asset. So now in doing that one thing that I definitely wanted to cover today was, um, a common tool that I used in my practice, uh, to help families communicate, uh, what was going on, or to give visibility of a financial situation of a, an aged loved one without turning control over.
Speaker 1 00:13:44 And particularly when the one of my client was completely capable of continuing to, to manage their own finances. They just knew the day was going to come in which they were going to need someone else. And so they wanted to get, uh, maybe a headstart, um, and some visibility and, and close that knowledge gap. So, uh, one of the, uh, a great tool we've learned too, is, is meant, again, this is not a sponsored plug, so hashtag not sponsored, uh, but they, uh, mint is a tool that can, can be connected, uh, directly to credit card accounts to check in accounts, uh, and to others. Uh, it's run by Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks and TurboTax, uh, and, and other great products. So great scale of people that are working the security issues and everything behind now, but what it does is it, it provides, it's a great budgeting tool to see, uh, you can, you can put into it, uh, budget ahead of time to understand, uh, what you're spending you, you expect your spending to look like or what it should look like.
Speaker 1 00:14:47 And then you can track in real time as it's coming through, uh, you get, you can set up alerts when, um, when certain activity happens that you want to be watching for. Um, and it will proactively alert you as well. If it recognizes something that is out of sync with the normal spending activity, as it's working through, uh, the data that it holds, uh, to everything that we've read online and seen is anonymized data. Uh, so, um, you know, over the course of this product, which has been on the market for, uh, honestly, it's probably pretty close to a decade, uh, that we've used this, uh, in household finance personally, as well as, um, recommended other clients. Uh, this has been, it's been safe, haven't seen any, any problems or breaches, uh, in security. So we feel pretty confident recommending it as a solution. Again, it gives that visibility, uh, and parents can choose what level that visibility is.
Speaker 1 00:15:47 So depending on what, um, what accounts get linked into there to show the visibility, uh, also meant doesn't hold on to, uh, you make a connection, a dynamic connection, uh, and then what we call an API connection. And so you're not loading, you're not giving your password up, uh, to, um, to mint or to somebody else. And, uh, that, that can help as well. Uh, in case there's changes of passwords or changes of account, uh, anytime, anything major like that would happen. You're going to be able to see that within the system. So, uh, just a great tool that sits out there to, to assist and help us, um, when we're trying to monitor from remote, Hey, this is, um, this is about where I'm going to leave you for the day know. So, you know, we've gone over today. Some of those scams sit out there, uh, from COVID-19 and just reminding you to, to touch base, uh, and proactively, um, you know, maybe leave a sticky notes, leave some other kind of note, leave some instructions.
Speaker 1 00:16:53 And a, we talked about leaving a consistent, uh, single point of contact. That's kind of collecting to see overall, if there's a tempo of problems happening, uh, we've talked through some debt management tools set out there, ways to track, uh, and to see budgeting, uh, to, to sit down and to begin some of those conversations. And we've talked through some of those barriers, both emotional, um, and maybe even physical and the distance and the time that we've spent with each other, uh, that can slow us down from being able to have these discussions and work forward. And that's it for the senior moves team this week. Thanks for joining us. If you enjoy the content, remember to subscribe to this podcast on that app that you're using right now, reviews and comments, they help us help you by expanding our reach and our perspectives. So if you have time, please drop us a note and tell us how we're doing for more tips and tools to get your parent project moving while maintaining dignity and downsizing. You can find us on YouTube, follow us on Facebook or Instagram and [email protected]. Thanks again for joining us this week and we'll catch you next Thursday.
Speaker 0 00:17:55 Thank you for listening to the senior moves podcast production to access our show notes, resources or forums go to senior moves.org. This show is for entertainment purposes only before making any decisions consult a professional. This show is copyrighted by Phoenician partners, LLC, and senior moods written permissions must be granted before syndication or rebroadcast.
