Retirement savings is priceless. No matter what the amount is.
This money you have saved by working day and night for the past 30 or 40 years. I consider it to be no joke!
But the game is not yet over. The war never ends for the warrior.
Now that you have a decent amount of money stashed in your vaults, you must know how to protect your retirement savings.
Losers and goons, who can’t do anything on their own has their eyes on your retirement savings.
Why elderly people? Why can’t anyone else can be their target? Why you?
These fraudsters and conmen believe that the pockets of retired people are heavier than recently employed and young people. Which is quite true. You can’t deny this fact.
Plus with so much of internet banking, you are opening yourself more to the world of cyber crimes.
To tell you the truth, you cannot be blamed for being the victim. You are coming from a generation, when vinyl records, radios, and big fat TV sets ruled this earth.
But you got to adjust to this new world too.
So what are the ways to fraud-proof your retirement savings?
1: Beware of affinity fraud:
Affinity frauds are growing pretty common these days.
The fraudsters will target a specific group of people who share common interests and affinities.
Hence the name!
Say a group of people of the same profession, or they have the same religious beliefs or the same ethnicity.
The fraudster will approach any one member and will explain his scheme of high returns with low-risk factors.beliefs
As it sounds good, a lot of people will buy this and start investing their money in this scheme. The fraudsters will use the trust component as their benefit.
So when you see a lot of your acquaintances are buying this policy, you might get lured into this fraud scheme.
Whenever you see any such scheme or policy buzzing around, do a bit of research yourself and warn other friends of yours, if you find it fishy.
2: Stay away from Ponzi schemes:
Probably we all are aware of this name.
But still a reminder.
This Ponzi scheme redistributes money to investors in the name of investment.
A fraudster will collect money from many investors by promising a high yield value in little time with low risk involved.
Because it looks so juicy, a lot of people will fall victim to this plan, and lose a huge portion of their savings.
As I said earlier, retirees are more prone to investment frauds than the younger generation.
The fraudsters know that the real money is with the older people.
So don't let anymore Ponzis or Madoffs rule this Earth.
3: Watch out hacking and identity theft:
This is dark.
Brilliant programmers, thieves, and hackers are just looking for an opportunity to swipe away money from wealthy bank accounts.
They just use the internet to hack into any account by using ciphers and hacking tools.
With the technology they use, they can break any password and security systems easily.
They can breach through any type of network system and steal valuable information and assets of any person, including money from their respective bank accounts!
So beware of what information you send out there on the internet.
Change your net banking account passwords every now and then.
Don't be repetitive while you change account information. These hackers can also track activity patterns.
Vanguard has a whole list of precautionary measures for safe internet banking on their website, which you can follow.
The last thing you want to see is a 20 year old punk stealing away all your lifelong savings!
More tips to tighten up your retirement savings:
- Before you invest in stocks and bonds always understand the market and check the authentication of organizations, companies, and agents.
- Never disclose any type of account information to anyone.
- Don't pay attention to calls that want you to disclose bank account information. No banks or financial institution ever provide service over phone.
- While net banking, look if you are on the authentic and official website of the bank.
- If possible, you must leave your retirement savings with your employer. Get your monthly paycheck from the employer-sponsored retirement plan automated, after your retirement.
- Diversify your savings. Retirement savings are usually huge. Divide it into two or three savings accounts. If anything happens to one of your savings, you can compensate with the other accounts.
- Straight away deny any proposal of investment that speaks of high maturity value in contrast to the present market. These are big traps.
- Go for a power of attorney to take hold of your money and assets, before you become physically or mentally invalid. Make the attorney-in-fact a trustworthy person, whom you know for a long time. Most favorably immediate family members.
- In case of money, trust your acquaintances upto a certain level. If they pester you too much to go for private investment plans, don’t agree to it readily. Rather do your own research and investigation.
- If you have just started to plan for retirement, don't ignore your employer-sponsored IRAs, 401(k), or 403(b) plans. They are the safest options to grow your retirement savings.
