Financial elder abuse does not always involve the outright theft of an older person’s money. It can also arise when trusted financial professionals place elderly clients’ savings and retirement funds into investments that are inconsistent with their objectives and risk tolerance, or fail to fully disclose the risks those investments pose.

By: Jeffrey M. Haber Financial exploitation of seniors and vulnerable adults is a significant problem.¹ It is considered by many to be an insidious non-violent form of elder abuse in the United States. While a landmark MetLife study initially estimated that older Americans lose roughly $2.6 to $2.9 billion each year to financial exploitation, more recent research suggests that the cost may be materially higher, potentially exceeding $36 billion annually. These numbers, whethe