Welcome to the show, im susan. No one likes to be scammed out of money. And older victims are less likely to recover financial loss. I know, it wont happen to you, youd be smarter than that, maybe. But a scam artists get better, letting down your guard even once could cost you big time. Theres a watchdog. The Consumer FinancialProtection Bureaus office for Older Americans. Its let by Skip Humphrey son o Wert Humphrey and skip served as Minnesota State senator then later at the states attorney general. Hes the former board member of the national aarp, and now heads the office of Older Americans. Welcome, good to have you here. Thank you, susan, great to be here. Did i get that right . A lot, a lot of names and words. But the point is this is the thing i believe that most people kind of got the attention of elizabeth warren, now the new senator from massachusetts, this was her baby. This is a young agency, right . Yes, its. What does it do . Its barely two years old. Well the mission of the Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau is to make sure that the Financial Markets are open and theyre accessible to every american. That theres competition that provides for good nooses at fire prices, and so thats the Broader Mission of the Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau. We call it the cfpb. And, but within that office, within that bureau, there are several offices some of which represent particular parts of the population. We have Service Members office, we have an office of students, stents have lot of financial debt theyre trying to make decisions as to where they go to school and how they can afford it. We have an office of empowerment for those who maybe have less resources, but still need to use the Financial Markets that we have. And then theres the office of Older Americans, and that, that is to look at the concerns that Older Americans have as they age. Okay, because there is a separate office just for that this that tells us there are enough problems to warrant the attention. Are the scams getting worse, and if so, why . I think to a certain extent, i wouldnt say theyre necessarily getting worse, but theres more of them. More. Yeah. Growing. Theyre growing because number one, the population is growing, and number two, the resources that are under management or control of seniors is a very, very large part of the market. You realize over 17 trillion is under either management or control of american seniors. What i wondered about too was because a lot of these people are on fixed incomes, theyre not that wealthy, and correct me if thursday does not play in here, but they are probably the last in general demographic to own and have paid for completely a home. Well, a maof them have. Some are still paying, but the fact youre saying is these are the resources theyve accumulated over the years, and the idea here is to help them preserve those resources so that as they age, they can live independently from a financial standpoint. From the point of view. If a senior lets say a monotone, maybe pay ited for, and they have Social Security, maybe theyve got an annuity or pension or some other thing. Still, theyre not living high on the hog. My question is what are these scam artists milling money some other place . Of course. This is a little bit like Willie Sutton when asked why do you robbacks, he said thats because thats where the money is. In many expects, scammers know that resources are there that often seniors are isolated, that they tend to be a little more trusting. We are trusting individuals at our age. And, were able to be pushed around a little bit. And thats where i think we need to kind of work on the prevention side, and the mission of the office of Older Americans republican is two things, number one to help seniors make sound ncdeage. Give them the training, the education, work with local organizations and others to see if that happens. And secondly, to stop these scams. And to put an end to it and work with local prosecutors like you have here in the San Francisco bay area, and to work with state attorneys general and others to put an end to these kinds of scams that are truly ripping off Older Americans. And the reality is, you have to remember, its one thing if you get ripped off and youre 40 years of age, thats bad enough, but you have at least another 40 years or 30 years of work that you can rebuild it. Right. When youre 70, 80, 85 and you get ripped off, there isnt a chance of recovery. Uhhuh. Its your life thats at stake. What kinds of scams are you seeing . We see commercials on tv for instance for reverse mortgages, sounds like a good idea, i have my house, take the money out you should obviously listen to retired actors. To give them that advice. No, dont do that. Yeah. Go and talk to a housing counselor, make sure that you know what the choices are. Dont jump into anything super fast, you know, and dont be now. Like you have to make a you dont. You get good advice, talk to your friends, talk to family necks, make sure that you are doing the right thing for the longterm. These are your resources, and you need to use them for what youre interested in. Okay, were going to take a break. When we come back, were going to walk you through five things you need to do so you can protect yourself. Maybe youre too young yet, maybe youre overseeing your parents finances, maybe you have power of attorney, or props youre concerned about a grandparent. Well tell you what to look for so that your loved ones dont get ripped off when we return. Skip humphrey is here, yes, hes that humphrey, his father was Vice President hew better humphrey when Lyndon Johnson was in the white house. Yes. Indeed, okay, we could have a whole conversation about that, but lets get to the matter at hand here. Were talking about reverse mortgages, Older Americans, and at watching out for people who are older, who dont have a georgia gill don dollars and getted scammed all the time. As a result, losing money. How often is a scam artist caught. And well thats a good question because we believe there is a serious lack of reporting of these kinds of scams. Seniors feel embarrassed that theyve been taken. Many times the people that are running the scam are relatives or someone in the family, and they are, the victim is worried about reporting to the police, they know that this kind of fraud anlingofmoney should stop, but they dont want their loved one to go , so to your question, theres obviously very serious problem, but we need to open up, we need people to speak up and speak out and make reports. So that we understand better what the whole sculpt of the problem is. We talk about this generation of people who like maybe now in the 80s and out certainly, owning homes and having real estate and maybe what they own is in the home. We touched on reverse mortgages when we went to break. Is it ever a good idea for someone . It can be the appropriate vehicle, but reverse mortgage, at the time they establish this product to make sure they needed supplemental income in the out years, 70, 85, whatever, that there would be something there. Unfortunately many of the reverse mortgages that are taken out now are taken out in lump sum, just after your eligible, which is age 662 and older. And people are left in their 70s and 80s without any significant resources to tap into when they really need it. Thats a challenge, but i have to let you know that there are times when where its appropriate. You just need to understand what the limitations are, and what, and make a responsible decision. The best way to do that is to get the councilling that usually comes along with this kind of of a financial product. Okay, so if you look for a good financial adviser, and you think that person is good, many of them are, i assume, going to be somebody that you trust or that you know. Sure. But theres also a lot of scam artists who say hey, look at me, and on the internet, i can come up with a beautiful Business Card that really looks official. Well if youre my age, you go home and open up the mail in the morning and you are invisitted to go to the free lunch, and theres someone who has a special senior designation that knows exactly, knows special things, well what theyre doing is selling you an insurance product. And may have gone to a class or two three weeks, and to figure out how to sell that product. Thats not, thats not the right kind of way. Is it legal . It may be legal, but its not appropriate when youre using the designation, and in fact, in my states now, it is illegal and we have the office of Older Americans and the cfpb issued a report, id ask your viewers to take a look at consumerfinance. Gov, its important that you get good advice about your investments. Uhhuh. And there you can at least find out what the concerns are, and how states and the federal government are working together to resolve it. Well give you this website at the end of the show certainly, what about the internets role here because a lot of Older Americans, although people dont always think so, but they are, online. And more so. And pitches online, which i assume is legal, this is in america, but it can make a buck, here, buy my product or come here. Give me your information. First thing, dont rush to judgment. You know, and, you know, the most important thing, and i used to say this when i was attorney general, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So step back and ask yourself if this is such a great deal for me, why arent all of the other people that i know doing the same thing . Uhhuh. You know, just step back a little bit. Be patient, and if you think something isnt right, go ahead and ask. Ask others, ask your frie report, report anything that like that looks like a scam to local law enforcement. Let them take a look. Okay. So youve got the scams that can come online and you want to take your times for those or maybe just ignore them perhaps. You have the things that come in the mail inviting you to free lunch, doesnt that sound good idea in the afternoon . Phone call. Isolation. What are way are they getting to seniors . Because most somebody has financial power of attorney for their parents, and then they find out that the parent wants to do Something Else with the money. You know, a good number of people are, they get engaged this way because either theres an estate plan and they love and care about their elder, and theyre doing the right thing, and they are handling it in an appropriate way, but there are those who either by their negligence or by an active effort, sigh fen off money in directions that the cbs5 on if off money, that needs to stop, we are developing and well publish in lay fa fiduciary guidelines. They are providing formal or informal care and how to identify where there might be scams or ripoffs going on. And the website well give you well lead you to that. Lets give you the tips quickly. Ask questions, so somebodys got a card or business, check them out a little bit, do homework here, or ask the grandchild whos good online. Dont stay away from your friends, talk to people who you trust and be engaged. We have to plan ahead which is basically means, and again i guess from the website well get information here which is, know what youre getting for Social Security and with those rights are, your pensions, power of attorney should go to somebody you trust, yes . Absolutely. Be skeptical. We talked about that. Protect your identity, and say no to being pressured. Lets go back to protect your identity. Theyre always asking you for your Social Security online when you buy something. Ive said, and its rather interesting, usually its a younger person asking, and theyve been told thats what they need to ask for, and theyre doing it innocently and appropriately for their job. I say im not giving you my Social Security number. Well, im supposed to get it, i said no, youre not, and you dont know. I can identify myself in other ways, heres my drivers license, you know, heres any number of other ways to identify. Then some people will okay, dont give me that, but how about your medicare card, t your Social Security, dont give them that either. So, you know, you just keep your identification cards, particularly the Social Security and medicare card, to yourself. And you dont need to give that out, they can find ways to identify you. One quick question, this group, begins with the word consumer, and weve had other agencies that have begun with consumers before, and theyve done good things, but sometimes they fall short. Are we going to see real help here . Absolutely. But it has to be in done in coordination with other federal agencies and state and local organizations. Today we will be an army for good and taking on scammers. Listen, i dont id to want get you mad at me. I need to get the right guy in the job, thank you, it was a pleasure to have you here, and im glad youre doing what youre doing, and for more information, you can go to office for Older Americans, theres a phone number there and obviously west side consumer finance. Gov. Okay, buyer beware. Stay with us, more ahead. Thank you so much. As crisis hit San Francisco hard. The story of those who carry cared for and helped those diagnosis was being complete would be incomplete without project open hand. Ruth saw a need and filled it. Ruth and her volunteers deliver meals to people with aids who often didnt have the strength or the income to provide their own peoples for themselveses. Project open hand has extended its to help many more who need it here in the bay area. For how they continued their good week, we work, we welcomed kevin. How long have you been with project open handle . Year and a half. Okay, and you are from minnesota as our last guest was. Absolutely, its a minnesota contingent today. Minnesota day, all right. Briefly, i know you know the story, for those who dont, ruth brinker, she passed in 2011 yes, just a year and a half ago. Tell us how this idea came about. Reporter you know it really is a basic idea, ruth 1980 1985, we know what was happening with the start of the aids pandemic. Tart to see her neighbors and friends getting sick. She did a lot of things right, one of the things she did really right was cook meals and decided that if there was something she could do to help people with hiv in the bay area, it was prepare and deliver meals, one day she cooked a meal for five men living with hiv, jump ahead 28 years later, and project open hand now. Serves over 8,000 people a year in the bay area. Not just with hiv, but other critical illnesses like cancer and other seniors in the bay area. As ruth realized, and im sure this applies to the other people in need, is that sometimes when youre dealing with a cancer or aids or some other situation thats debilitating, you dont have, you dont have the strength to literally prepare a meal or get yourself ab scanned witch. Absolutely. Theres so many things. To your point, they dont have the strength to go grocery shopping, to prepay pair a meal for themselves, oftentimes cant provide healthy meals for themselves. And what ruth realized as well, and she was ahead of her time in so many ways, but realized that if this is important for people with hiv, its no less important for People Living with other critical illnesses, and thats, thats how project open hand republican continues to lead the nation with this issue. Yeah, eni should say in full disclosure, skip worked for ruth brinker when they were first starting out, a little after she was established, everybody adored ruth. And she was very, very careful to make sure that the meals were beautifully served with, fresh food, it wasnt just some junk put together, it had to be well done. I guess the question now is because youve expanded the service so much, do you, are you at a point where you have to turn someone away because how much can you do . Thats a great question. No, we have never had a waiting list, never turned anyone away who carefuls for that service. Obviously that becomes more and more challenging. We continue to see cuts in government funding, only a third comes from the government toll begin with, but the economy certainly has impacted the work we do by 28 years into this we have still have not turned anyone away who was qualified for service. And volunteers are still delivering meals. Republic you ever lacking for volunteers . Sure, we need 100 volunteers every day week, 265 days a year. Did doesnt mean they have to say, i can do it seven days or not at all. Absolute we, were very flexible, people can always call us and get signed up pretty quickly to not only deliver meals for us, but to also chop vegetables in the kitchen, answer phones, help with special events, we use volunteers in any capacity we can think of. And cooking and setting up a situation like this costs money. Youve got to run it, you pay a chef, i assume. We pay a whole number of chefs and youve always moved your facility, have you not . Large facility right on polk in the tenderloin, we have arkansas very large commercial ditch than operates seven days a week, and you know, as you said, its an expensive operation, but what we do is, were not addressing hunger, were addressing a very specific need which is nutritious food and meals for people who are colonically ill or seniors. So its an different model of our work, and its a very expensive model, be up its also a model that we know pays off because we live in a community where no one in this Community Wants someone ill to go without a meal. Thats true. And thats what we do every day of the week for 28 years, absolutely. Well and you have some very generous sponsors to help you along. And one of them, theres a run today we should say. Its a little too late to sign up to run, but you can make a donation. Thats right. And ppt, well give you that information at the end. Also besides the looking forwarthe annual deer jelly chocolate festival. Now the gear jelly chocolate festival is going to do what . Project open hand, were very well known in the bay area, but werally fortunate to have two icons in the bay area as our sponsor, its the giants race. Giants. Thats the race thats happening youre on the right team. Were very grateful for, over a Million Dollars for us this morning. And we have our really great friends at giradelli, it doesnt get better than those two supporters. They, every year does a chocolate festival. This year its september 14 and 15th. Eight and ninth . Wrong, 14, 15th, saturday and sunday. It is the place to be in San Francisco on the 4th and the 15th. And the proceeds for this entire thing . 100 of the proceeds comes to project open hand. Wow, thats a lot. They underwrite everything and give us all of the money. And its a free event, people can come to the event, theres a lot of activities that they will enjoy. I hear theres, i think its a chocolate sundae eating contest. Eating stuff first, right . Absolutely. Theres a chocolate workshop. Demonstrations throughout the day, including tim nugent who your viewers might remember from top chef just desserts will be doing demonstrations. We will have 35 chocolate venders there. If people want to the take chocolate, which i recommend they do, its 20 for tickets in advance, 25 at the gate that day. As i said earlier, its free, observe, but its the best town the on go hungry. Very quickly youve been working with project open hand, oh, i have the best job in the world because i know when i leave work every day, whether or not weve succeeded. And we measure success by the fact that more than 4,000 people in the bay area get a nutritious meal every day. So i take little for granite, and very grateful for all that this community provides a whole lot of people. Its good work. Great work. Im glad to continue it, sorry theres a need, but glad that somebodys filling it. Thank you. For more information on todays giant race, and the upcoming chocolate festival and how you can help project open hand just visit their website at openhand. Org. Thats openhand. Org. Probably donate there too. We leave you now with a longest running musical review in theater history, steve silvers, beach blanket babylon, for more, go to the website, thank you for watching [ music ]. butt to 07 11 56;07 wil of no one will like the fin solution. But that means ia good one. Were less than 24 hours aw from the bart contract dead. We will go as long as we have to go. We do not we did not we dont want a Service Disruption in the bay area. No one will like the final solution, but that means its a good one. Less than 24 hours away from the bart contract deadline as they look at the next preventing a strike. Political insiders what is going on behind closed doors. Good sunday morning to you, fog and low overcast and unusually cool reading. Go the forecast coming up. And u. S. Embassies are closed right now. The Global Travel alert for the americans overseas and the preaugusts theyre asking