The Forecast Calls for a 100% Chance of Financial Scams
The skies are threatening as the New York Times reports on yet another financial manager gone missing under circumstances that lead investigators to believe that he has committed suicide.
The police are searching for Arthur Nadel, 75, a prominent Sarasota philanthropist and fund manager who was reported missing by his family Wednesday. He left a note, described as a suicide note by The Sarasota Herald- Tribune, that reported that investors could be out as much as $350 million.
More than one year ago, we forecast that investment schemes would dominate the headlines, and that day has come to pass. Do not make the mistake of thinking that it is a passing storm, though. Investment fraud will be in the news for at least another decade, and likely long after that.
The trigger was the retirement of the first wave of baby boomers. As almost $2 trillion in savings held in employer-sponsored plans makes its way into self-directed IRAs, brokers and scam artists are enjoying a like-shooting-fish-in-a-barrel moment and making hay while the sun shines.
We hope that Arthur Nadel is simply playing out the now trite broker-fakes-his-own-death scene and that authorities return him to his family unharmed. It would certainly make things easier on those who will have to clean up his mess.
Financial scams are indeed falling from the sky. Take an umbrella if you like, but the better choice would be to hire an investor protection company. Only they can help ensure that the next financial scam to fall doesn’t land squarely on your nest egg.