Many scams are universal, from the IRS imposter who calls and threatens to arrest you if you don’t pay your taxes, to phishing emails that trick you into sending sensitive data or downloading malware onto your computer. But some types of fraud target older adults specifically or affect them disproportionately. Older adults may fall for certain scams because they are in the habit of answering calls from unknown callers, open junk mail rather than tossing it in the trash, or are not as practiced with the privacy settings on social media as younger generations. Here are six scams your clients need to watch out for.

The option to claim Social Security benefits at any age from 62 to 70—with actuarial adjustments designed to keep lifetime benefits constant for an individual with average life expectancy—is a key feature of the program. The option to claim early was introduced over 60 years ago, when Congress set 62 as the program’s Earliest Age of Eligibility. Much has changed since these actuarial adjustments were introduced: interest rates have declined; life expectancy has increased; and longevity improvements have been much greater for higher earners than lower earners. In the wake of these developments, this brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College explores whether the historical adjustments are still actuarially correct.

According to a CNBC report, although Congress has done nothing substantive to address the need to secure better future funding for Social Security, there is the possibility that politicians may seek a familiar remedy: raising the retirement age. After all, lifespans have lengthened and health care, however inaccessible it may be to many, has improved in lots of ways. It might seem logical to compel workers to stay on the job longer before they can retire and start drawing on the Social Security benefits they’ve already spent many years paying into.

If the age is raised to 69, as is talked about currently, there will be consequences—and not just the ones politicians may be aiming for. Since the law of unintended consequences will undoubtedly weigh in on any such action, according to the report, here are four potential effects such a “solution” may have.

Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg released plans for long-term care, Social Security, and “public option” 401(k) plans. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, released the plan shortly before a roundtable with people affected by long-term care. He described his own experience as his father neared the end of his life—Buttigieg and his mother sat down with a social worker, who encouraged them to consider spending all the money they could until his parents qualified for low-income benefits under Medicaid.

In this holiday week, it’s only right to stop and take a moment to be thankful for Social Security (and its cousin, Medicare). It provides the foundation for retirement income for most Americans, and support for widows, families, and people with disabilities.

The Inspector General for the Social Security Administration and Commissioner of Social Security announced last week the launch of a dedicated online form at https://oig.ssa.gov to receive reports from the public of Social Security-related scams. These scams—in which fraudulent callers mislead victims into making cash or gift card payments to avoid arrest for purported Social Security number problems—skyrocketed over the past year to become the #1 type of fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission and the Social Security Administration.

Unless you can get a guaranteed annual return of 8% on your retirement savings, employing a Social Security “bridge” with 401(k) and other savings until age 70 is the right move for almost all Americans who can afford to forgo the income. This bridge strategy, laid out in a white paper by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (see the last blog post), works for most people because retirees’ monthly Social Security checks increase 7% to 8% for every year they delay claiming up to age 70, when Social Security benefits max out. Following a Barron’s article last week on the strategy, skeptical readers had a number of questions regarding specific scenarios. Here, some answers:

Unlike defined benefit pensions that provide participants with steady benefits for as long as they live, 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) provide little guidance on how to turn accumulated assets into income. As a result, retirees have to decide how much to withdraw each year and face the risk of either spending too quickly and outliving their resources or spending too conservatively and consuming too little. Surveys of individuals’ plans and several recent studies suggest that people will not draw down their accumulations for fear that they will exhaust their money and be unable to cover end-of-life health care costs. They also must consider how to invest their savings after retirement. These are difficult decisions.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Chief Actuary (OCACT) show the Social Security 2100 Act prposal having very different impacts on the financing of the program. OCACT says thelegislation would completely eliminate the shortfall and keep the program solvent for 75 years, while the latest from CBO has the trust fund hitting zero in 2036. How could it be that the same provisions produced such different outcomes?

On November 8, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2020 premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs. Each year the Medicare rates are adjusted according to the Social Security Act. For 2020, the Medicare Part B monthly premiums and the annual deductible are higher than the 2019 amounts. The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $144.60 for 2020, an increase of $9.10 from $135.50 in 2019. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $198 in 2020, an increase of $13 from the annual deductible of $185 in 2019.

From time to time we get some questions about divorced-spouse benefits and whether or not an ex can keep his former spouse from getting benefits, usually by signing something in the divorce papers. The short answer is that a former spouse can always receive divorced-spouse benefits if she qualifies. However, there are a few other issues that dirty the waters. Here, PBS News Hour takes on the question.

Today’s retirees are the last generation in the United States to live a retirement shaped by the forces of the prior century, standing in stark contrast to baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and even Generation Z, according to the 2019 Wells Fargo Retirement study, which examines the attitudes and savings of working adults and retirees. “Our survey clearly shows stark differences between current retirees and younger generations and how they will fund retirement,” said Fredrik Axsater, head of the Institutional Client Group for Wells Fargo Asset Management.

The National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) shows that half of today’s working families are at risk of not being able to maintain their standard of living once they retire. This result is not surprising since at any given point about half of private sector workers do not have an employer-sponsored retirement plan, and many who do have a plan end up saving relatively little. The question is how would additional saving affect the NRRI?

Today’s retirees are the last generation in the United States to live a retirement shaped by the forces of the prior century, standing in stark contrast to baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials and even Generation Z, according to the 2019 Wells Fargo Retirement study, which examines the attitudes and savings of working adults and retirees. Now in its 10th year, the survey spotlights the importance of a planning mindset as people in their working years must shoulder the burden of funding their own retirement.

The typical caregiver spends 24 hours a week on eldercare, which leads many to make alternative work arrangements. Sixteen percent of women take a less demanding job, 12% leave the workforce entirely, and 7% lose job-related benefits. The cost in lost wages, pension, and Social Security benefits to these caregivers is staggering. For the 10 million caregivers who are over age 50 themselves, the aggregate lost wages, pension, and Social Security benefits equal nearly $3 trillion. On an individual basis, the total financial loss due to caregiving was estimated in 2011 to be $324,044 for women and $283,716 for men, so those totals would be higher today.

Smead Capital Management CEO Bill Smead thinks millennials will solve the coming Social Security crisis, as he told CNBC last week. He said, “Just do the math, there’s 89 million millennials in a 330 million population of the United States of America. And then the group behind them—this is crazy—is just as big. In 20 years, there is going to be way more payers into the Social Security system and there is going to be way fewer taker-outers—and that problem will solve itself through demographics.”

The Social Security debate has moved left, according to The Wall Street Journal. That shift, evidenced by presidential candidates’ plans and a bill backed by nearly 90% of House Democrats, departs from years of conversations about an elusive bipartisan compromise where Democrats agree to lower promised benefits and Republicans accept higher taxes. Instead, President Trump has ruled out cuts to future benefits. Democrats have lined up behind larger benefits and higher taxes.

The big day has finally arrived! Oct. 10 was the release date for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September inflation data, which contains the last puzzle piece needed to calculate Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2020. The official number is a 1.6% “raise.” But how do they get to that number?

After years of long work, retirement is the ultimate reward. It represents more time to spend with family, travel, discover new hobbies and to relax. However, according to the Social Security Administration, the current age to receive full benefits is 66 years old (for those born in 1955) and many cities across the country have at least 20% or more of their senior population still in the workforce. Provision Living surveyed 1,000 seniors age 65 and older to ask them why they are putting off retirement.

A growing number of targets who have come under the government’s radar in recent years for what prosecutors describe as a pervasive and costly crime: the theft of dead people’s benefits. These scammers have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Last year alone, inspector general audits found that the Social Security Administration paid out more than $40 million to 500 dead people in just three states: Texas, Maryland and Michigan.