10 Ways Seniors Are Being Targeted By Scammers
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Beware these scams! I encourage you to check out this list: 10 common scams targeting seniors. These fraudulent efforts seem to be expanding and becoming more clever. Years ago my grandmother got a call from someone impersonating me, who told her that I was in trouble and needed money wired as soon as possible. Luckily nothing came of it because my grandma got off the line and called me directly, but you never know how it might play out.
If someone calls you trying to impersonate a relative or someone you know, a quick way to sniff it out is to ask them to answer a personal question about yourself — something that you know they would know, if they are who they say they are — your son/daughter/grandchild/sibling/cousin/etc.
Another thing to know is that the IRS will never call you. So if someone calls saying that you need to file something or that you may imprisoned if you don’t respond, disregard.
Lastly, beware of notices you receive in the mail as well. A letter can look pretty official when, in fact, it is a fraudulent attempt to get you to reply with sensitive personal information like your Social Security number or bank account information.
If someone tries to scam you, please pass along the details if you are comfortable doing so. It helps to share this type of knowledge to prevent others from falling victim to fraud attempts.
In The Market...
The S&P 500 gained +0.6% last week. Let's look under the hood:
(price data via stockcharts.com)
A decent week and also a short week. I can’t say we learned too much except for that investors stepped up to buy when stock prices started dipping on Thursday. This is the hallmark of a rising market, one in which stocks have now risen in 7 of the past 9 weeks.
The majority of stock sectors were higher, again led by growth-oriented segments like Technology, Materials and Consumer Discretionary. Bonds again were fairly muted, slipping a bit but nothing that damages our positive longer-term outlook.
For stocks the story remains the same. The S&P 500 ended the week at 2,793, just below the 2,800 threshold that is the next hill to climb. In fact, 2,800 is the exact high that the S&P index hit back in early December right before it fell -16% between Dec. 3rd and Christmas. Stock prices could easily stall in the near future, but momentum remains quite strong so we will see.
We added a second S&P 500 index fund to most accounts last week. We are fully invested, but remain a bit cautious in the near-term given the rejection that occurred nearly 3 months ago when stocks were sitting at similar price levels.
In Our Portfolios...
Have a great week!
Brian E Betz, CFP®
Principal