A 24-year-old client with $3,000 in an IRA account recently wrote in to Slate, “My financial advisor is a total sketchball!! What do I do?” After not hearing from the advisor for a month and a half since filling out all the paperwork, the client found out that the bank draft never went through and the FA never invested his money. The advisor said the client didn’t have enough money to invest in the funds the advisor recommended in the first place, so the client started filling out the additional paperwork. When the bank draft still didn’t go through and emails went unanswered, the client got frustrated. “I know it isn’t a lot of money, but it’s everything I have. It’s frustrating to pay his fees when it feels like he’s neglecting my account,” the client wrote in to Slate. Columnist Helaine Olen tells the reader to get away from the advisor as fast as possible. “He’s no good, and you and your money deserve better,” she writes. “You’re absolutely right to feel uneasy. Where you went wrong was continuing to pursue the relationship. Don’t give him another chance.”
Why Financial Advisors Don't Text
It's all about compliance. While 64 percent of American adults own smartphones, and research shows that 97 percent of smartphone users use text messaging, FINRA compliance regulations discourage advisors from using text messages to communicate with their clients, Nancy Anderson writes for Forbes. According to FINRA rule 3110, all electronic messages from financial advisors must be supervised and recorded, which is why advisors tend to call back their clients or email them instead of returning a text. Advisors can text somewhat, but should limit their messages to the logistics of an upcoming meeting, not the content. Advisors who just can't give up thumb-tapping emojis to their clients should use a device with built-in controls that keep a record of all text conversations.
Study Looks To Profile Elder Abusers
A recently released study attempts to profile those that commit physical elder abuse. The research, led by emergency room physician Dr. Tony Rosen, examined reported abuse cases in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, according to Next Avenue. Interestingly, the study found that sons of the abused were the most likely perpetrators at around 40 percent of cases. Spouses were the second most common at 18 percent. Additionally, the study found that the most common triggers for elder abuse were disputes over money or property and demands that the aggressor leave the premises or the authorities will be called. Ultimately, the authors of the study found that elder abuse cases follow roughly the same path as non-elder domestic abuse cases but are harder to detect because the elderly are more prone to physical injury in the normal course of life.
