How we become victims of scams
The most
successful types of fraud were via social media: 91% of study participants
were engaged and 53% lost money. Similarly, 81% of consumers who were exposed
to a fraud via a website said they engaged and 50% lost money. Phone and email
scams had fewer successes. We are more likely to be victimized if we do not
have anyone to discuss the offer with. Victims are more likely to be widowed or
divorced. Generally, those who engaged, and those who lost money, reported
significantly higher feelings of loneliness. Social isolation appears to play a
significant role in fraud victimization. Those under financial strain, younger
or have low levels of financial literacy are likely victims. 51% of people who
reported a third-party intervention were able to avoid losing money. Cashiers,
bank tellers, employees of wire transfer services and other financial services
companies where consumers were about to send money to a scammer, served as an
important, effective last line of defense. Nearly half of those surveyed said
the news media was their primary source of information about scams. Prior
knowledge of fraud helps decrease the chances of victimization, the survey
found. One-third of consumers who were targeted by a scammer, but did not
engage, said they already knew about the specific type of scam. In addition,
consumers who understood the tactics and behaviors of scammers did not engage
with the fraudsters. Approximately one in ten U.S. adults are victims of fraud
each year and self-reported fraud loss complaints increased by about 34% from
2017 to 2018. In fact, the FTC received more than 372,000 fraud complaints with
more than $1.5 billion in direct losses in 2018, and another 1.1 million fraud
complaints with no reported losses, the agency reported earlier this year.
Popular scams: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts
Best evidence you are being scammed?
A cold call, unsolicited letter or email! Think of it. You
have been ‘chosen’ out of billions of people to receive an offer that sounds too
good to be true. If the offer requires you to send
money to get money or if it is heavily
charged with emotion, you can’t possibly make a rational decision by
yourself. You need help—any friend
or advisor can help. The money strategy
is complicated but scammer sounds like they know what they are talking
about. Even Harvard endowment fund is fooled by bad
direct investments. Scammer has your detailed
personal info so they must be authentic agent
of govt agency. You find a charge
on your credit card you don’t recognize. Credit card charge is
small $1 and you ignore it. Check out how
much info you can find on yourself on the internet—just type your full
name. You will be shocked to see a lot more than you want floating out there.
Most of it can be used to rob you. You should go after every
firm that offers to sell your data. It is said that scammers can buy your whole profile for less than $100.
Avoid money scams: https://www.amazon.com/Avoid-Scams-Brokers-Advisors-Sender/dp/1726328023
The new rules for selling annuities
Use the Fiduciary Rule: https://www.amazon.com/Fiduciary-Rule-BEST-dont-waste-anymore/dp/1530980275
This is how the wealthy avoid taxes we must pay
This advisor is explaining to rich celebs and athletes how
to avoid taxes and lawsuits just like he does for wealthy families. Setting
up a defined benefit plan: Entertainers with loan
out corporations, for example, can put away assets while taking significant
tax deductions, such as $1 million or more annually by using particular defined
benefit plans. Because of the business endeavors of many successful
celebrities, they can use defined benefit plans to lower their income taxes
while growing money tax-free.
Superior risk management plus significant tax savings: Various wealth planning
structures and products with major
income tax deductions and the ability to address various business risks can
be used with celebrities’ business interests. Some of these wealth management
solutions can also be used directly by entertainers, such as when they go on
tour. Eliminating taxes on investment portfolios: For celebrities with
meaningful investment portfolios, it is possible to use a structure that eliminates
income and capital gains taxes. This wealth management solution can be used
with traditional investments such as equities and fixed incomes or with
alternative investments such as hedge funds and private equity funds. Wealth
planning cross-border arbitrage strategies: With many successful celebrities
generating money throughout the world, it is often possible to leverage
different tax jurisdictions to minimize taxes. This is not at all about
secrecy. It is simply about understanding the various tax treaties between
jurisdictions and benefiting from them. Asset protection planning: Relatively
few hyper-successful celebrities have structured their wealth in ways that
insulate it well. Very successful athletes and entertainers can protect their
wealth from unfounded or frivolous lawsuits with strategies that can address
their control needs and wants.
Use your tax-shelter: https://www.amazon.com/Pay-No-Taxes-Retirement-legally/dp/1507527977
Is a private placement right for you?
This is an investment that most of us can’t buy. There is no
gov check up, due diligence by analysts, or registration with the SEC. Usually
you must be an ‘accredited
investor’ under Reg D. However, some advisors have been
banned/fined for offering PP to clients. Recently a Boca firm was censored/fined
$225,000 for offering a suspect PP to clients. The firm offering PP is
raising capital without the expense and delay of an IPO or public offering on
the exchanges. Usually there are few buyers. Because of the additional risk of
not obtaining a credit rating, a private placement buyer may not buy a bond
unless the bond is secured by specific collateral. A
private placement stock investor may demand a higher percentage of ownership in
the business or a fixed dividend payment
per share of stock. An example is Lightspeed,
a cloud-based point-of-sale software solution for independent retailers and
restaurateurs. Investors become part owners. You can earn 11% over time without
the risks of a PP.
Use the Buffett strategy: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963
How do you know how much savings to use in retirement?
Fear
of the future financial needs keeps us from retirement spending. A 2009
study estimated that by the time middle-income retirees are in their 80s, they
still had not touched about three-fourths of their savings, and 2016 research found that retirees with substantial
assets are the most reluctant spenders. Vanguard recently reported that retirees with very modest savings turn
around and reinvest a third of the money they’re required to withdraw under IRS
rules after age 70½. Best we can do is make a plan to spend and save a certain
percentage to keep our future income growing.
Make a spending plan: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Spending-Plan-enough/dp/1461084016
Does your advisor have a ‘conflict of interest’?
By definition, every advisor, broker, agent and seller has a
conflict of interest. In financial services, every product and recommendation
is dependent upon what the firm has approved for sale. The firm, not the saleperson,
knows the terms of the contracts for securities, funds and annuities. For a
given sale, sellers receive higher
pay for some transactions. You cannot tell which seller or product has
higher pay unless you ask. Some sales bring more to the firm as with kickbacks
or soft
money and you are not likely to get the answer from your individual
advisor/broker/agent. Some sales have higher fees and commissions and/or higher
‘haircuts’ than
others. Some sales have higher trailing fees (12b-1, etc) than
others. Some securities sales cost you more than others: called Class A, B, C, etc.
Frequently, sellers mislead us into buying
the more expensive class. Many of us just don’t know about these tricks so
we can’t ask sellers about them. Even if you do your research into certain
products, you can be mislead by the seller who is selling a product not
approved for sale. Salespeople
must be authorized per product per state. The CFP credentialed seller is
the most likely person to do only ‘what is best for you.’
Does $0 cost trading help you become wealthy?
Schwab led the way to ZERO cost trading for many firms: Free
trades. But does FREE trading help you become wealthy? According to many
studies, the
answer is NO. There are Wall
Street myths about traders getting rich but you would need to have insider
information and be trading large dollar amounts to become rich. Day-trading
schools abound but only the owners are getting rich. About 95%
of the people who attempt day trading end up with a net loss. A primary
reason traders lose money is the absence of a solid trading strategy. It is
lack of discipline not commissions that dooms most traders. In fact most
managed equity account owners are net losers over time due to buying high
(stock proved winner) and selling low (sell before you lose it all). DALBAR
tracks managed accounts over time: returns
3.79% but inflation 2.7%. Warren Buffett, successful
investor, says: “if you invested in a very
low cost index fund, you'll do better than 90% of people who start
investing at the same time.”
‘Trade’ like Mr Buffett: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Millionaire-money-snoring/dp/1508887381
**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************
This period is a test
of democracy—do we really want it or not?
"Never in my life did I
think I would
like to see a dictator but if there's going to be one I want it to be
Trump."
Trump mob spending $3 million a week to fight
impeachment: Can
dictatorship be purchased?
Trump: Dems process is “not
an impeachment, it is a COUP"
How Govt wastes our money: Congress spends another 1.7 Trillion we don’t have!
Lobbyists win: states
can allow internet site blocking/slow traffic/pricing. Neutrality?
Profiteers earned $
millions from arrest/removal
of immigrants: dictators do this too.
Trump
to collect ½ million immigrant’s DNA for criminal file CODIS: $50
million
SCAMS/SPINS:
Trump upstaged by Giuliani,
his enforcer: “I
will be the hero!”
Rude Giuliani, mob
enforcer, cancels
paid trip to Putin rally
Our AG, Barr, mob
enforcer, holding
secret meetings with foreign leaders to get dirt
Trump’s "Do
Nothing Democrat Savages" will make the case to impeach him.
Trump’s dirt-digging
on Biden: how
big a hole has he dug with enforcers?
Trump
orders House impeachment chair Schiff arrest for treason: dictators arrest foes.
Mr President, why
would Sec State Pompeo give House Chair Schiff his
jockstrap????
Voting
machines used in dozens of states remain vulnerable to hacks: paid hacker
show
Trump
uses fake Census to raise cash: MT state warns: “imitation Census survey.”
TrumpCare
health insurance $59/month is a con just like the owner: benefits limited
PrimeVest Financial
& Cetera caught
paying kickback to banks w/o telling us
Newbridge caught
selling private placements w/o due diligence; no supervision.
79 brokerage firms caught
overcharging clients; failed to tell lower cost version.
Wall
Street lobbyists force regulator to cut red tape for new ETFs: over
5,000 now !
Your
ETFs may spark more taxes not expected even if you didn’t sell.
Katharine Snyder,
Performance Arbitrage caught
deceiving disabled veterans high credit
James Booth, CT, caught
running Ponzi $5 million promised safe high returns
Founders Financial caught
overcharging clients with wrong fund class
Mercury caught
overcharging drivers $27 millions: fine.
Long-term care
insurance: rising premiums It’s
a bait and switch,” Bach said. “But it’s a legal one. That’s the problem.”
Paid
Antivirus for Win 10 computers is not necessary now: “Win 10 does just as
well.”
DEA
allowed drug makers to increase production of opioids even as overdose
deaths rose
More Trump tariffs: now
on European goods: we pay the tariffs, not EU.
Trump
planned to shoot immigrants crossing border: bullets cheaper than The Wall!
No count on ‘bump
stock’ ban: few turned in or destroyed—sales
soared on Trump tweet
Jobs
Your job
as banker to friends/family is likely to end good relations
How to get into
college: you
DO NOT have $100,000 to buy admission.
Seniors
keep traditional jobs: leather, funerals, repairs, religion, gifts, farms,
$72,931 average postal worker
salary: local exam
Who owns your account now?
Yahoo account breach
settlement: claim
your cash
ObamaCare
TN policies have refunds: TN requires premium not spent must be returned
Estate planning
account: 100
questions for your advisor/planner; for whole family too.
Easier to take out
401k money but many
will need the compounded earnings later!
Privilege
Underwriters: Pure Group to Tokio Marine
Miracle:
15
year old dies saving younger sister from intruder with long history of
crimes
IAN
41 Watchung Plaza,
B242
973.746.2014
Alerts
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