Council on Aging Answers 2015 - 85

Taking Aim at Old Soldiers
COUNCIL ON AGING - ORANGE COUNTY

Seminars target vets with unwise investments
n Sid Kirchheimer

Scrambled nest egg
The bigger concern is that the new trust usually
contains annuities, long-term investments that are
often considered inappropriate for older retirees.
Council On Aging-Orange County | 714-479-0107 | www.coaoc.org

Protection detection
If you're a vet, here's what else you should know:
n Don't be fooled by official-sounding names.
Some sales agents operate as, or work with, "front"
organizations, falsely claiming they have a veteran
affiliation and nonprofit status.
n Don't depend on nursing homes, community
centers and assisted living facilities to protect you.
They may be unaware of the shady nature of the
seminars. Often they are paid a fee to let volunteers
give presentations.
n Get credible information on how to qualify for
veterans benefits by contacting your state veterans
affairs agency at nasdva.net.
n Before investing, check the agent's record at
your state regulatory office. For a list, visit www.nasaa.org/about-us/contact-us/contact-your-regulator/.
Reprinted from the October issue of AARP Bulletin,
a publication of AARP". Copyright 2010. All rights
reserved. (http://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/
info-09-2010/taking aim at old soldiers.html)
Answers Guide 2015

FINANCE & LEGAL

At community centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, their spiel to older veterans goes
something like this: We can get you instant eligibility for additional benefits through a quick overhaul
of your investments. These self-described "veterans
advocates" are in fact unscrupulous investment advisers.
They say that "If you purchase financial products
through us, we'll make you eligible" for Department
of Veterans Affairs pensions and other benefits, says
Joe Foster, administrator of Montana's Veteran Affairs Division, which recently helped form a task
force to combat this growing scam against vets.
The usual pitch involves getting a veteran to transfer retirement assets into an irrevocable trust so that
the family appears to be impoverished. This helps it
meet eligibility requirements for a VA pension and
related programs such as Aid and Attendance, which
pays an additional benefit to veterans who need assistance with everyday living.
As the salesmen explain it, the VA doesn't "look
back" to examine veterans' asset histories in determining eligibility for a pension.
Although it's true that the VA doesn't examine
why you may be a millionaire one day and appear
poverty-stricken the next, "Medicaid does look
back," Foster says. "And when they see you've transferred your assets in this manner, it could jeopardize
your eligibility for those benefits."

Some annuities must be held for a decade or longer
before they pay out a monthly income.
Nevertheless, they are recommended by unscrupulous salesmen because they generate high sales
commissions. A $500,000 annuity, for instance,
could yield the agent $75,000 for just a few hours
of work, says Neil Granger, a California consultant
on investment scams and financial abuse of older
people.
Other investments pitched by these salesmen at
"free lunch" seminars are completely bogus. They
just take the money and run.

http://www.nasdva.net http://www.nasaa.org/about-us/contact-us/contact-your-regulator/ http://www.nasaa.org/about-us/contact-us/contact-your-regulator/ http://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-09-2010/taking_aim_at_old_soldiers_.html http://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-09-2010/taking_aim_at_old_soldiers_.html http://www.coaoc.org

Council on Aging Answers 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Council on Aging Answers 2015