Everyone knows the story of how the Dutch bought Manhattan Island from the local Native Americans for $24 in trinkets and tokens (there were no Metro Cards in 1626). Depending on your point of view, this was one of the greatest real estate deals in history or the first of innumerable financial swindles emanating from Wall Street. Interestingly, new theories suggest the "locals" who sold Manhattan were simply passing through on foot - undoubtedly the Acela had broken down - and were more than happy to part with an island they never owned in the first place. While in all likelihood apochryphal, one can only hope this version of the story to be true.
From Ponzi to Madoff, it's truly remarkable how investors in full command of their faculties are continually duped out of their money. So with an ominous nod to PT Barnum, consider the implications as millions of Americans live longer and, as a result, suffer from the insidious effects of dementia and Alzheimer's.
This inexorable wave of the cognitively challenged will crash head on into advances in technology that will make it even easier to separate them from their retirement savings. And more aging investors are living in social isolation given our increasingly mobile society making them especially vulnerable. You can almost sense the bad guys booking their tickets to Florida and other points south.
This inexorable wave of the cognitively challenged will crash head on into advances in technology that will make it even easier to separate them from their retirement savings. And more aging investors are living in social isolation given our increasingly mobile society making them especially vulnerable. You can almost sense the bad guys booking their tickets to Florida and other points south.
Addressing cognitive impairment will be the next big thing in retirement income planning. Unfortunately, the financial services industry has been slow to respond, just as it was late to the game in recognizing longevity risk. In fact, it's the medical community that's on the front lines of this epidemic that effects one third of Americans over the age of 71, according to a 2008 Duke University study.
Clearly this is an area screaming for innovation. But until that time, it's easy to imagine Barnum saying if he were alive today "There's a sucker turning 60 every minute."
Physicians are usually the first to hear about lost heirlooms, missing money or how a patient signed a confusing document. But there's only so much a health care worker can do beyond notifying regulators, social services, friends and family. But as seen by the mortifying trial of Brooke Astor's son, who was convicted of embezzling his mother's assets, family members aren't necessarily paragons of virtue.
Clearly this is an area screaming for innovation. But until that time, it's easy to imagine Barnum saying if he were alive today "There's a sucker turning 60 every minute."
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