See Q13’s news report on our project here.

The statistics are staggering:

• Senior citizens and the elderly are swindled out of nearly $3 billion a year.
• That’s likely only the tip of the iceberg, as only 1 in 44 cases are reported.

The abuse and exploitation of vulnerable senior citizens can take many forms, including financial scams that target seniors. Why did the infamous bank robber Willie Sutton rob banks? “That’s where the money is,” he said. Unfortunately, scammers who prey on senior citizens have the same mentality. This educational financial program for senior citizens is produced by CENTS and funded by grants from the Western District of Washington Bench and Bar Fund and the American College of Bankruptcy for the video and website, respectively. You can read more about CENTS here.

This free project was created by Western Washington financial professionals and attorneys, including representatives from the Northwest Justice Project, Federal Trade Commission, and the United States Bankruptcy Court.  The Senior Money Project consists of three educational videos, companion website, and in-person presentations designed to help you build and protect your situation.

I. EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS
The three educational videos cover the following topics:

1. reverse mortgages/equity
2. scams
3. Identity theft and estate planning

Further information about ordering a video is below.

II. CONSUMER RESOURCES
The Senior Money Project website has resources covering the following topics:

1. Equity/reverse mortgages
2. Scams
3. Identity theft
4. Estate planning
5. Budgeting/tracking Expenses
6. Bankrupty-in crisis
7. Insurance protection
8. Credit/loans
9. Credit reports and scores
10. Social security
11. Safe banking and protecting your accounts
12. Retirement and investing
13. Taxes
14. Medicare and Medicaid
15. If you’ve been scammed

These resources can be accessed here or on the bottom half of the homepage.

III. IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS
CENTS may be able to make an hour-long presentation at your senior facility or community on the following topics:

1. reverse mortgages
2. scams/fraud
3. identity theft
4. money management (budgeting, smart borrowing, credit reports and scores)

If you have a different topic, CENTS may be able to arrange for a speaker on that topic. Further information about contacting CENTS for in-person presentations is below.

CONTACT CENTS:

1. To order a free DVD, please email tony@centsprogram.org and provider your name and address. We have a limited amount of DVDs so it is possible you may have to wait until the next batch is made.
2. To request a 60 minute presentation, please email tony@centsprogram.org with a) the date you would like a presentation and b) the specific topic of the presentation. We will do our best to accommodate your request. However, we have limited staff. The more time you allow us to plan, the more likely it is we can arrange a presentation. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to ask so don’t be shy.
3. To help us with outreach or to present our project, please email tony@centsprogram.org.
4. If you’d like to make a tax deductible donation to CENTS, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, to help us keep providing this program free of charge, you can donate via PayPal (you do not need to be a PayPal member) or you can mail a check (made out to “CENTS”) to:
   King County Bar Association
   c/o CENTS
   1200 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600
   Seattle, WA 98101
5. If you have further questions about CENTS, please email tony@centsprogram.org.

CENTS would also like to thank the United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Washington, the Northwest Justice Project, and the Federal Trade Commission for outreach support.

Project funded by the American College of Bankruptcy and the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation