Preventing Client Abuse: Financial Advisors Are Vulnerable
While these steps may be obvious to some advisors, too often clients at risk simply don't take them, since they view themselves as in control.
As investors have (painfully) learned, financial abuse is not confined to the elderly. The methods employed by perpetrators are far more sophisticated and diverse than most clients or even professionals may realize.
The best protection requires planning and coordination, as well as the implementation of steps advisors may find basic - but which too few clients seem to pursue until it's too late.
Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, PFS, JD, is a Financial Planning contributing writer and an estate planner in Paramus, N.J. He runs laweasy.com, a free legal website.
