Category Archives: Financial Independence

My Indian father and Chinese mother thought the concept of camping was absurd. Born in the British colony of Malaya in the 1950sliving in simple wooden homes on stilts and showering outdoors among bullfrogs and snakesthey could imagine nothing worse than sleeping in a tent in the forest.

Looking back, I wonder if they were influenced by the subtle racism that permeated their childhoods. Under colonialism, they had been made to feel uncivilized and backward by their white rulers; they spent their lives trying to escape those labels. All this meant that I rarely spent time in nature growing up. Our holidays consisted of flying to cities like Singapore and Paris, away from trees and wildlife. I now wonder whether I missed out on something important as a child.

As a person of color, I am far from alone in feeling uncomfortable in the great outdoors. For decades, camping in the United States has been an overwhelmingly white pastime: As recently as 2012, 88% of campers were white, according to research from KOA, the largest system of campgrounds in North America. But were at a turning point. For the first time, the representation of campers is beginning to align with the demographics of the United States. In 2020, 63% of campers were white; 12% were Black, 13% were Hispanic, and 7% were Asian. Crucially, KOA found that 60% of first-time campers in 2020 were non-white.

How did this happen? The answer is complex. The pandemic is part of it. Camping is a safe, socially distanced way to travel: People who would never have considered sleeping outdoors under normal circumstances gave it a go last year. But even before COVID-19 hit the U.S., outdoor brands and organizations had been under pressure to become more inclusive and market to broader audiences. This year, finally, their efforts bore fruit.

Its a strange irony that people of color have felt so excluded from camping, says sociologist Marya T. Mtshali, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. After all, historically, Black and brown people have had strong ties to the land. Mtshali points out that both Native Americans and enslaved Africans had ancestral knowledge about the natural world, including how to hunt and use herbs. For African Americans in bondage, the outdoors was a rare space for socializing; and later, free African Americans relied on the land for their survival and financial independence.

But European settlement in North Americawhich involved forcibly taking land from some people while forcing outdoor labor on othersmade the outdoors dangerous for people of color. In the late 1800s, this colonization was framed as a brave act of conquering the wildernessalong with the Native Americans who inhabited it. Frederick Jackson Turner, a historian at the time, developed the concept of the frontier as the meeting point between savagery and civilization, along with the mythos of Americans as tough individuals who prized freedom and individualism. The myth of the frontiersman permeated pop culture at the time, embodied in figures like Buffalo Bill Cody and Kit Carson, who appeared in dime novels, comic books, and shows. In these stories, Native Americans were portrayed as villains who were often violently killed.

In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt used the wilderness as a backdrop for speeches and photo ops (often wearing Stetson hats) to promote his persona as a rugged cowboy and counter the image of him as an effete Harvard graduate. According to Dan White, author of Under the Stars: How America Fell in Love with Camping, Roosevelt took widely publicized hikes and camping trips, which associated him with a fantasy version of an idealized pioneer past.

When Roosevelt went on to establish five national parks and 150 national forests, these spaces seemed designed for white men who were roughing it in order to find deeper meaning in nature. And indeed, over the following decades, the national parks explicitly excluded people of color: Until 1964, many national parks in the United States did not admit people of color, while others were segregated.

The legacy of this racism endures. As recently as 2018, only 2% of national park visitors were Black. For centuries people who looked like me were not welcome in outdoor spaces, whether by law or because it was coded through Jim Crow, says Danielle Williams, founder of the blogs Melanin Base Camp and Diversify Outdoors, which help people of color start hiking and camping and push outdoor brands to recognize them. So we just did not go.

[Images: United States Library of Congress]Mtshali says that for centuries, European Americans cultivated a culture of leisure in the great outdoorscamping, hiking, kayakingwhich actively excluded people of color. Growing up in South Carolina, she was told over and over again that camping is not something that Black people do. Today, she sees it differently. People say that as though there is some kind of natural law at play: that African Americans naturally dont want to do these things, while white people do, she says. But the truth is that white people have socially engineered their ownership of outdoor culture.

As a person of Asian descent, there are historical reasons why I also feelout of place outdoors. When the British colonized India and Southeast Asia, they justified their rule by portraying the natives as uncivilized, partly because of their rural lifestyles and dependence on nature.The colonial narrative described people of color as savage,' Mtshali says. This narrative was used to disenfranchise people of color and take away their land. They were essentially saying, You cant be trusted to rule over yourselves because you are too much like animals.'

Its only now, after years of engaging with the history of colonization, that Ive begun to connect the dots between my fear of the outdoors and my anxiety that I might live up to colonial caricatures of brown people.

Camping and outdoor brands have known for a long time that their industry had a diversity problem. Toby ORourke, president and CEO of KOA, which owns more than 500 campgrounds across North America, began seriously thinking about the demographics of camping when she joined the company a decade ago. At the time, an Asian American board member pointed out to her that nearly 90% of all KOA campers were white, while only 6% were Blackand Latino and Asians were barely represented at all. I was put on notice very early, ORourke recalls. She asked me point blank: How are you going to increase diversity on our campgrounds?'

To ORourke, these statistics meant that KOA was underserving people of colorand there was a business opportunity in expanding the companys customer base. Over the past decade, shes focused on including people of color in photoshoots (using real campers) and intentionally inviting influencers of color to visit campgrounds. KOA has also partnered with groups that advocate for diversity in camping, including the In Solidarity Project,The Outbound Collective and Latino Outdoors. In the wake of recent violence against Asians, New York-based activists launched the Yellow Whistle campaign to distribute whistles as a symbol of solidarity. KOA was an early financial supporter of the campaign and distributed whistles on campgrounds. These efforts appear to be working. Under ORourkes watch, theres been a steady growth in campers of color at KOA sites, from 12% in 2012 to 37% in 2020.

But despite this progress, racism still permeates some corners of the great outdoors. In 2019, a white manager of a KOA campground in Mississippi pulled a gun on a Black couple who were picnicking there. The manager was promptly fired, but the incident served as a wake-up call for ORourke. It was a pivot point, she says. This is not just about marketing. We need to be very thoughtful about who we bring into our brand, from our employees to our franchisees. Since then, she has launched a diversity-training program and has established diversity standards for hiring.

Brands that sell outdoor gear have also been wrestling with the legacy of racism in their industry. In the past, many of these brands appealed largely to white consumers. When members of Patagonias human resources team set up a booth at an internship-recruitment session at historically Black Morehouse College in 2017, they discovered that many of the students who attended had never heard of the brand.

But thats changing as these companies begin to feature more people of color in their ads and bring on more diverse employees. We realized a few years ago that many people did not feel like outdoor marketing is inviting or welcoming, says Jean-Marie Shields, head of brand experience at Fjllrven, a Scandinavian brand that sells tents, sleeping bags, and other camping gear. Looking at our imagery about camping and being outside, they didnt see people who looked like them. They asked, How is this a relatable story to me?'

Two years ago, Fjllrven started partnering with outdoor experts (or guides, in the companys parlance) within the communities where its 37 stores are located, making a specific effort to find people of color. The brand brought on Black nature photographer George McKenzie to be a New York guide. He often photographs green spaces and wildlife in urban environmentsdemonstrating that nature is everywhere, not just in national parks and campgrounds. Shields says that McKenzies approach is relatable to people who might be overwhelmed by the idea of a two-day hike. Part of the magic is in the exchange, says Shields. Its learning about how [people] view nature, because one communitys relationship with the natural world is so specific and different from anothers.

Diverse marketing is usually a win, even if its done primarily to boost business, says Williams, of Melanin Base Camp. As long as it is done ethically and is not appropriating things, just seeing myself represented in [in a brands] advertising is exciting, showing me that the outdoors can be for me, too.

In October, REI launched the Cooperative Action Fund, a public charity that operates separately from its business and provides grants to organizations that support racial equity in the outdoors. The first $1 million investment went to organizations like Black Girls Do Bike and the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute. Now, the company is enlisting its customers and employees to provide support. Theres an awareness in the outdoor community that diversity is a problem, says Kristen Ragain, managing director of the fund. Were using our megaphone to draw attention to organizations helping to increase access to the outdoors, especially those led by people who have been historically excluded.

While brands had been making progress in diversifying the outdoors, the pandemic became the catalyst for real change. It spurred Americans of all ethnicities to rethink their vacation options. As the months of lockdown wore on, people were desperate to get out of their houses but felt unsafe flying or staying in hotels. Suddenly, they were willing to consider campingor its slightly more upscale cousin, glamping, which involves staying in wilderness settings in cabins equipped with comfortable amenities.

The number of households that camped for the first time in 2020 was 10.1 million; of these, 6 million were non-white, the highest rate since KOA started collecting this data. The glamping industry, meanwhile, exploded during the pandemic, with startups like Cabana, Autocamp, and Hipcamp rapidly expanding, with the help of VC funding.

This was a boon to novice campers like me, who felt intimidated by the idea of setting up a tent or building a fire. In the summer of 2020, I began searching for nearby glamping sites that wouldnt require any knowledge about how to set up a tent or build a fire. I discovered Getaway, a company that builds tiny houses in beautiful locations; my family and I began driving to a site an hour away from our house every month. A year later, with the pandemic still raging, we went further afield to Bar Harbor, Maine, where we stayed at a KOA-owned glamping site called Terramor that sets up luxurious tents in the woods.

Williams points out that its not just historical racism that prevents Black and brown people from enjoying the wilderness; its also not having the technical skills and knowledge of the outdoors. A veteran camper, she grew up with a father in the army who took her family on wilderness trips. But in her years running her blogs, shes found that many of her readers dont have any experience with the outdoors.

A lot of outdoor knowledge is multi-generational, she says. There are some skills and instincts that you cant just acquire through a book or YouTube. If youre not white, you may not have parents or grandparents that can teach this to you. She also points out that seasoned campers often have a lot of technical gear for their trips, which can make it prohibitively expensive to get started.

Williams says that glamping can be a good introduction to the outdoors for people of color. But it is also much more expensive than traditional camping, which can be a barrier. And ultimately Black and brown folks shouldnt need to pay more for an experience that should be affordable. Thats why she believes it is important for the National Parks system and other organizations to partner with existing outdoor leaders from marginalized communities to make it easier for people of color to access these spaces.

I challenge you to find a state park that is working with local indigenous communities, she says. These parks have a burden of responsibility to get information out to marginalized communitiesand this means doing more than relying on a website and communicating entirely in English. (The National Parks Service did not respond to our request for comment at the time of publication.)

More people of color than ever tried camping during the pandemic. The question now is whether these novices will continue to do so when the coronavirus recedes.

I certainly plan to keep exploring the outdoors, and not just because Ive found it fun and relaxing. For too long, Ive felt excluded from these wide open spaces. The truth is that they belong to all of us. Its about time I savored them.

Read more:

How the pandemic diversified camping, one of America's whitest pastime - Fast Company

"Arch Grants is deeply committed to making St. Louis a destination where people want to live, work, and stay," said Emily Lohse-Busch, Executive Director of Arch Grants. "It is gratifying to partner with NISA Investment Advisors' Charitable Fund, a like-minded St. Louis success story, to provide much-needed capital to well-positioned startup firms that are on the precipice of making significant economic contributions to our local region. We look forward to working with NISA and other firms to expand economic opportunity across St. Louis as together we are all stronger."

NISA Investment Advisors' Charitable Fund partnered with Arch Grants to meaningfully increase the funding available through the nonprofit's Startup Competition model for 2021under an innovative platform called #STLOnward Awards. The Charitable Fund's contribution of $270,000 enabled Arch Grants to fund five additional high-growth startups with the hope that other established companies will be inspired to support both Arch Grants and subsequent #STLOnward Awards.

The five startups receiving the grants were chosen because their missions align closely with NISA Charitable Fund's strategic pillars of education, workforce development, and access to capital for traditionally underserved populations. The winning startupsinclude Equalizer Games, oneKIN, PlaBook, Rock The Score, and ZenHammer. These five startups will be recognized at the 9th Annual Arch Grants Gala event on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, as the #STLOnward Awards Powered by NISA.

The NISA Charitable Fund is a donor-advised fund established in April 2020 and funded by NISA Investment Advisors, LLC, with operational support by St. Louis Community Foundation.

"Arch Grants' program is a model for driving economic empowerment and developing the next generation of employers, civic leaders, and philanthropists for the St. Louis region," said David Eichhorn, CFA, NISA's CEO and Head of Investment Strategies. "Our organization is inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the five high-growth startups we are supporting through our partnership with Arch Grants. We look forward to watching their businesses grow and contribute to the vitality of the St. Louis economy in the months and years ahead."

About Arch GrantsAs a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Arch Grants' mission is to transform the economy in St. Louis by attracting and retaining extraordinary entrepreneurs. Since 2012, Arch Grants has awarded $11.5 million in cash grants to attract or retain 208 early-stage businesses in St. Louis, invigorating the city's startup scene with new talent and ideas and helping to shape the future economy of the region. Of the total cash grants, $10.5 million has been awarded through Arch Grants' annual Startup Competition, and an additional $1 million has been provided in additional follow-on funding.Through its program, Arch Grants' portfolio companies have gone on to create over 2,347 jobs in the St. Louis region, generate over $479 million in revenue and attract over $411 million in follow-on capital. To learn more, please visit our website at archgrants.org and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

About NISA Charitable FundNISA Charitable Fund's mission is to promote equity in St. Louis among underserved populations by supporting organizations focused on creating systematic change in education, access to capital, and workforce development. We believe that improvement in these critical foundational areas can lead individuals toward greater financial independence with a multiplier effect that can change the trajectory of the next generation. We are a donor-advised fund established in April 2020 and funded by NISA Investment Advisors, LLC, with operational support by St. Louis Community Foundation.

About NISA Investment Advisors, LLCNISA manages assets for some of the largest institutional investors in the U.S. The firm is 100% employee-owned and based in St. Louis, Missouri. Client portfolios include investment-grade fixed income, derivative overlay, and equity investments. As of September 30, 2021, NISA managed $317 billion in physical assets and $174 billion in derivative notional value in separate account overlay portfolios. NISA is also known for its Pension Surplus Risk Index, or PSRX, a forward-looking estimate of the funded status volatility of U.S. corporate defined benefit plans and is published monthly. For more information, please visit our website atwww.nisa.com and be sure to follow us onLinkedIn.

Media Contacts:Andy Painter, Marketing & Communications Manager for Arch Grants[emailprotected] or 314-322-0680

Eriko Clevenger Pope, NISA Charitable Fund Director[emailprotected]

Michael Herleyfor NISA Investment Advisors, LLC[emailprotected]or 203-308-1409

SOURCE Arch Grants; NISA Charitable Fund

http://archgrants.orghttp://www.nisa.com

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Arch Grants Aims to Further Advance Economic Empowerment Across Greater St. Louis Region with Support of NISA Charitable Fund - PRNewswire

Fellow GenXers: of all the fire drills weve experienced in our decades on Earth, it seems that many of us missed the retirementFIREmemo in our early adult years: Financial Independence, Retire Early.

Indeed, many members ofGen X now between the ages of 41 and 56 are still traveling the road to financial independence with retirement as a future destination, instead of a current reality. The opportunity to retire and say see ya to our bosses and employers has already passed us by. But its not too late to make a few smart money moves to help achieve financial security in retirement. Ill share them with you below.

But first, lets look at where weve been and where we are. When we started our careers and families, retirement seemed unattainable. We were slammed early in our adult years with the dot.com bubble, the Y2K scare and then the housing bubble. Financial panic defined our modus operandi.

To top it off, weve since evolved into the forgotten middle children, sandwiched between three living generations ahead of us (The Greatest Generation, The Silent Generation, and baby boomers) and three behind us (Millennials, GenZ and The Alpha Gen). We have the responsibility of caring for parents and children while trying to maintain our own fragile financial sanity and security.

Also see: How this woman went from six figures in debt and unemployed to financial independence

With around a decade or two before our first retirement milestone Medicare eligibility at 65 and the optimal milestone of Social Security income at 70 (the claiming age when monthly benefits are largest), our best course of action is FIRE drills. That means preparing ourselves for retirement readiness, better late than never.

By knowing where you stand, what you want and what you need to reach retirement readiness, you can achieve financial security. Heres how Im advising clients to do so:

Know where you stand.Your financial picture is best summarized by a Net Worth Statement. This statement lists all your assets (what you own) and liabilities (what you owe), with the difference between the two reflecting whats available after paying off debt.

Now that youve likely reached your high-earning years, consider these questions:

Know what you want.It is not easy detangling your identity from the familial and professional roles that demand your attention, time and money. As the sandwich generation caring for parents and children while holding middle- to senior management jobs, we have limited opportunities to determine what we want now, let alone plan for what we desire in the future.

Read: The FIRE movement confronts the 4% rule

Our confidence in retiring comfortably waivers with each decision that pulls at our financial resources and our human capital the ability to sustain the jobs that demand so much from us.

Many of us have taken a piecemeal approach to our personal finances, gathering money tips here and there from family members, co-workers and the media and financial professionals.

Most Americans still believe that financial planners are a luxury reserved only for the wealthy. According to a 2021 study by the Magnify Money site, only30% of Americans use a financial plannerto create and follow a dynamic financial plan anchored in their values and goals, reflective of key areas such as taxes, retirement, investments, insurance and estate planning.

Does this sound like you?

Know what you need.Fortunately, many Americans are living 30 years in retirement almost as long as our working careers. As such, we Gen Xers must modify our needs or adjust our strategy to support this newfound time.

Consider how much money you may need to support activities like travel and exploration. Dont forget about planning for rising health care costs or the possibility of long-term care, as well. According to the financial services firm Fidelity, a 65-year-old might need to earmark as much as $300,000 after taxes to cover themselves.

Finally, what have you done to prepare to leave wealth for the next generation? The Gallup polling firm recently reported that less than half of the U.S. adult population(46%) has a will. How about you?

Read: Im 52, wont live past 80 and have $1.6 million. I am tired of both the rat race and workplace politics. Should I retire?

Well likely need to revisit these drills until our retirement goals are realized. But by knowing where we stand, what we want and what well need to retire comfortably, we can reach our destination faster.

Lazetta Rainey BraxtonCertified Financial Planner Lazetta Rainey Braxton is co-CEO and co-founder of2050 Wealth Partnersand CEO and founder ofLazetta & Associates. She is passionate about amplifying diversity, inclusion, equality and belonging in the financial planning profession and does so through financial planning, public speaking, writing, consulting and coaching. She was named a 2021 Crains New York Business Notable Black Leader and Executive as well as one of the Top 10 of Investopedias 100 Top Financial Advisors in 2020 and 2021. In all her endeavors, she is on a mission to create wealth for the common good.

This article is reprinted by permission fromNextAvenue.org, 2021 Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All rights reserved.

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FIRE drill: GenX, do you have what it takes to retire? - MarketWatch

A couple managing their finances and doing taxes. .

Financial advice often boils down to what steps a person can take to achieve a specific goal. If you want to pay off your student loan debt faster, for example, then advice will detail what specific steps you must take to reduce your discretionary spending and increase your loan payments. Based on that increase, then you can determine how long it will take to pay off the loan.

In practice, though, creating a financial plan and building financial independence requires making choices. Sometimes the choice is obvious, like should you save retirement money in a savings account or an investment portfolio? (If you want the money to grow faster than inflation, then it must go into a mix of stocks and bonds.)

Other times, however, these choices create real-world changes to our well-being, sense of financial security and even impact our attitude towards how we view ourselves. Part of the strategy behind the financial independence retire early (FIRE) movement is removing this focus on money and its impact on our wellbeing to determine where we can spend to produce the most happiness in our life.

For instance, if you love travel, then someone in the FIRE movement would suggest making sure to spend money on travel and cut back on everything else that you can to increase savings rates and budget for more trips.

Such an approach allows one to home in on the areas of our life where the money has the most impact, while saving everything else.

But even if you have gone through this process and cut back significantly, you still may face decisions, which impacts how the money grows and what goals you reach. Here are some common, difficult decisions that when youre ready to build a financial plan, or in the middle of executing said plan, will face.

Theres good news about the battle between whether you should save more or pay down debt faster. No matter which way you choose, its hard to go terribly wrong.

The case for allotting money to savings and investing for retirement has to do with compound interest. The sooner you place money into your retirement account, the greater impact that compounding interest can have over the lifetime. Say you invested $10,000 30 years ago, and never added another dime. With a 6% growth rate and annual compounding, the money would reach $57,400. A large reason for the growth has to do with the compounding of returns over time.

To take advantage of compounding, however, theres one requirement: Time. Therefore, the need to place the money into the retirement account as early as possible in life creates the tension in this decision process.

Meanwhile, paying down debt also has very significant impact on the ability to save, invest, spend and plan. Having a $500 minimum student loan payment every month can sap resources and limits options when you face financial concerns. This encourages cutting the debt faster.

But if you cut the debt, it means saving less while you do. So, then, how do you choose? Often, it will come down to the interest rate on the debt. If the interest on the debt is less than the expected returns of saving, then you may want to focus on investing as you weigh the two options. For instance, if you have a debt that only has a 4% interest or you can invest money beyond the debt payment into a S&P 500 index fund, which has historic returns after inflation of 7%, then you may consider investing instead of paying down the debt faster. Then again, if you have credit card debt with a 19% annual percentage rate increasing the amount you owe every day, then getting rid of it makes the best financial move.

Of course, many feel the debt will hold you back in other ways, serving as an albatross flying over your head until its gone. If thats how you feel about the debt, then improving your wellbeing can still have value that also compounds over time.

One of the most difficult battles you may face in your planning, as well as in your everyday money decisions, is whether to put off fun to save more. Theres a direct correlation to reducing your spending therefore potentially cutting spending on fun things to increase the amount of money you can put towards your retirement at the end of each month.

If this battle becomes too difficult, then its time to either address what you view as fun or cut back on savings. After all, you dont want to save for the future by living in misery today.

Instead, turn to the things that truly provide you joy, happiness or whatever emotion has the most meaning to you. What activities stand above everything else in that thought experiment? Spending should continue as needed in this area of your budget.

Now that you know where the spending you should keep resides, where else in your budget could you cut? Does the food delivery five days a week really provide value? What about the magazine subscriptions? Or the luxury vehicle? Cutting back on areas that dont provide that emotional heft will give you more money for the savings part, without making the battle between fun and savings too difficult.

What do you worry about more, having enough time to do the things that you want to do or having enough money? According to a recent survey, people are split. TIAA-CREF asked people between the ages of 27 and 75, finding that 55% of respondents were more concerned about running out of time before doing the things that they want to do in life.

On the other hand, 45% said they worried about running out of money to do the things they want.

The split epitomizes the battle you may face in thinking about your goals. You want to make sure you achieve certain goals in life, while it may also take enough funds to do so.

The one positive about those that fear running out of time? Among respondents that had this concern, 45% said that retiring early was a top priority.

Sometimes, attacking your biggest concern is the best way to plan. If fear of losing out on time results in higher savings rates and more robust retirement portfolios, then its a concern that can have positive impact on the rest of your life. This makes it a battle worth waging.

Read the rest here:

Three Tough Financial Decisions You Face (And How To Make Them) - Forbes

Who doesnt like the idea of being completely prepared for retirement? The thought of it is liberating.

Late in the 1990s, when I was a teen, the financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement started. These people were obsessed with early retirement and were willing to sacrifice just about anything to contribute significant sums of money to their nest egg as quickly as possible so that they could quit their jobs generally before age 50 and start to live.

For many, this meant going without vacations, eating beans daily and just being a cheapskate. The theory was that the nest egg would produce steady income for that person for the rest of their lives say, for example, $4,000 per month generated by a nest egg of $1 million until age 85.

I have two major issues with the concept. Firstly, the lifestyle of ultra-frugality is not appealing. Secondly, banking many thousands of dollars every month throughout your 20s, 30s and 40s is pretty unattainable for most people living in just about any city in Canada. The cost of living and debt are major preventative barriers.

Also, who retires at 50? You could have a whole other life, career and so on at that age!

Enter now the newer and more relevant Coast FIRE movement that everyone is talking about on reddit, social media and finance blogs.

This concept emphasizes the financial independence part, but rather than retiring early and not working another day in your life, you coast into retirement still having an income and significantly better balance.

To achieve Coast FIRE, you steadily build up your nest egg until it reaches a point where it can grow independently through the power of compound interest and reinvested returns to the ultimate nest egg size you want, without you having to save another dime after you get to that initial savings point.

So, once you reach the point where you no longer need to add another dollar to your retirement portfolio, you can have loads more freedom to do what you want like work part-time or at a different job you like better, enjoy more cash flow for vacations and fun because you no longer have to tuck away 20 per cent of your income into your RRSP and TFSA.

The other nifty part of the concept is that its more balanced because theres less of a rush. Sure, it takes longer to sock away all that money to reach the initial savings point, and it assumes you keep earning an income until your ultimate retirement date, but on your journey you can still have a life.

Your role in Coast FIRE is twofold.

First, you need to put your retirement nest egg to work through investing well and keeping up with at least the long-term market rate of return (in other words, dont underperform the market.)

Second, you need to decide when you want to retire and the approximate size of your nest egg you want. By the way, this is what a financial plan includes and if you dont have a plan yet, you should probably get one. Those with a written financial plan are two to three times more likely to achieve their goals. I get that visions change, and thats OK, but being relatively clear on your retirement date and amount is key to your Coast FIRE calculation. And, heres my pro tip: assume you need more money than less.

There are many Coast FIRE calculators out there for you to Google and play around with and I encourage you to do so. Heres what youll need for the calculation:

Current age, desired retirement age, a safe withdrawal rate (I recommend four per cent), an inflation-adjusted growth rate (I recommend five per cent) and what your annual expenses in retirement are projected to be (I recommend assuming 70 to 80 per cent of what you spend today).

The calculator will give you your Coast FIRE number and that is the number you need to save towards. Once you hit it, you get to coast the rest of the way into retirement so long as your investments keep growing.

If you like this concept of coasting into retirement, my best advice is to pace yourself so that you can still enjoy your life, because thats what financial independence is really about.

Original post:

Opinion | 'Coast' into retirement while still enjoying life as you save - TheSpec.com

Getting your first job offer is exciting joining the full-time workforce can mean a salary, benefits, and a path to financial independence. But before jumping to accept an offer, it's important to assess what exactly the company is promising you and negotiate your salary.

Most people hate negotiating (who can blame them) and don't do it. More than half (56%) of workers don't negotiate when given a job offer, according to CareerBuilder.

But here's a news flash: Most employers will negotiate even for entry-level employees. More than half (53%) of employers said they would be willing to negotiate first-time salaries, according to CareerBuilder. It's actually built into their strategy: Most employers will offer a lower salary to start, leaving room for negotiations. So, by not negotiating, you could be leaving money on the table!

And the payoffs from those negotiations can be huge in some cases, 11-20% higher, according to Jobvite's Job Seeker Nation Study.

So, let's say you get offered a starting salary of $40,000 11% of that is $4,400! And that's PER YEAR. So, if you stay at that job for 2 years, you would've made an extra $8,800. Three years that's $13,200. Plus, if in a few years you go for a promotion, you're negotiating that salary from a higher rung on the salary ladder. And, as you move up, you'll keep earning more than you would have if you settled for the first offer each time. That means paying off student loans more quickly, having more money in your pocket, being able to afford a nicer apartment/house you get the idea.

When you think of it that way, why wouldn't you negotiate?

More fromCollege Voices:How do you land your first job out of college?Why Black and Latinx women are more likely to struggle with impostor syndromeand how to overcome itWomen in STEM: 3 Challenges we face and how to overcome them

More than half (51%) of workers who don't negotiate fail to do so because they don't feel comfortable asking for more money, according to CareerBuilder. Nearly half said it was because they were afraid the employer would withdraw the offer. More than one-third said it was because they didn't want to seem greedy.

I sat down with some negotiation experts and those with some negotiation experience to talk through tips on how to approach your first job offer.

How to get over asking for more money

"You always negotiate a job offer job offers are dynamic," said Liza Babin, a 23-year-old who works in entertainment and negotiated her salary for her first two jobs. "They chose you because you were the best person for this job, and you have a lot of value."

Liza Babin

Source: Henry Platt

She recommends never accepting an offer on the spot and, instead, take some time to research the marketplace for this position. Once you know what you want from the negotiation, ask to talk through the offer "very calm, collected, and well-researched."

Kate Dixon, a negotiation coach and author of "Pay Up: Unlocking Insider Secrets of Salary Negotiation," said she tells her clients to phrase a salary negotiation as collaborative. Phrasing a salary increase in such a manner, keeps both sides on the same team. She suggested saying something along the lines of, "According to my research, jobs like this are paid between X and Y in the marketplace and I'm targeting the higher end. How close can we get?"

This kind of phrasing helps show that you've done your research and gives them a range of options to solve this negotiation, while also empowering you to begin your relationship with the company confidently.

But there are other options than just asking for a higher salary.

Peter Cappelli, a professor and director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School of Business, said another strategy is to ask for one-time payments, such as a signing bonus or larger coverage of moving expenses. That may lead to more success than asking for the long-term cost of a recurring higher salary.

"Look for things that you think might be easier for them to give to you and things that are valuable to you," Cappelli said. He said knowing what's on the table to negotiate besides salary such as moving your start date back, more time off or job title makes your negotiation stronger than making demands they can't meet like higher salaries or health-care packages outside of their standard offering.

How to prepare for a negotiation

An important part of the negotiation process is being prepared for whatever might come your way. Knowing what a reasonable demand is shows the company that you did your research to make an equitable ask. Cappelli stresses that it's important to have a reason why you're asking to negotiate. For example, if people in your area, people at other companies in a similar position, or candidates with your education level typically earn more.

"You need a reason why more pay is merited," Cappelli said. "Just saying, 'I want more' isn't going to get you it and you start to look foolish."

Leveraging her prior experience as a basis for a salary increase was especially key for Alba Disla when she negotiated her salary at her first full-time job with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team at Comcast in 2019.

Alba Disla

Source: Debbie Rabinovich

"I was very nervous because I just wanted any job at all and I was so ecstatic I even got the offer," Disla said about what was her dream job at the time. "I didn't have any formal corporate experience, but I had a lot of prior experience in an academic setting, so I used that to buffer my counterargument."

Disla ended up getting her offer raised by $4,000.

"I was really happy that I successfully negotiated because it was something I was very scared about, but I know it's important as I start my career, especially as a woman of color," Disla said.

"It's really important to advocate for yourself early on."

Dixon said it's common for first-time negotiators to be nervous about the negotiation, but it's important to not take what amounts to a business transaction personally.

"If you can get a little bit of emotional distance, it enables you to be much more effective in salary negotiations," Dixon said. "What a company offers you says more about how they value that job than you're worth as a human being."

Negotiation risks

One of the biggest concerns people have when negotiating is often that the offer will be taken away. Negotiating a first job can feel particularly risky, since you're coming from a place of no employment and you feel like you don't have leverage.

But the experts I spoke to said that the biggest risk is only that the company will say "no."

"I have never seen an offer pulled for somebody negotiating in good faith," Dixon said. "The risk of getting your offer pulled for doing a negotiation is practically nil."

Disla said that was exactly what she was afraid of going into the negotiation.

"A really big psychological thing for me to get over was part of me didn't want to confront them or counter because what if they take the offer away?" Disla said. "But it just doesn't happen that way The worst case is you get the original offer back."

However, Dixon cautioned that trying to push someone beyond a "best and final offer" can lead to frustration from your potential employers. Asking for more once the line has been clearly drawn is the only negotiation that can be considered a "risky proposition."

She recommends approaching a negotiation with gratitude and excitement for the offer to set the negotiation up in positive way. Thinking about the negotiation as a collaboration rather than a competition will make for a productive conversation rather than an aggressive situation.

Recognizing your worth

"Even if you don't get anything monetarily, you're still showing who you are as an employee. You're showing them, 'Hey, I advocate for myself. I understand my worth,'" Dixon said.

Understanding her worth is something Babin reminds herself of before entering a negotiation.

"Coming from that place of insecurity when you are leaving college and you have nothing to fall back on, it's so important to know your worth and be able to stay strong during those negotiations," Babin said. "Make sure you remind yourself of your own worth throughout the process, because it can be very easy to get discouraged."

For women especially, negotiating a first job is an essential way to start at a fair financial point. Hired found that 63% of the time, men were offered higher salaries than women for the same job. However, only 7% of women even attempt to negotiate their first salary, while 57% of men do, according to a study done by Carnegie Mellon University professor Linda Babcock.

So, negotiating is essential to getting a fair offer especially for women.

Jordan Mathews said she negotiated her most recent job offer, despite knowing how difficult it is to negotiate a salary with the government, because she felt that as a woman, it was "a priority" to at least try. After three months of negotiations and undergoing a security clearance, Mathews started her job as a program analyst with the Community Relations Services team at the Department of Justice. Mathews said she doesn't regret the amount of time and effort she put into negotiating as she's "very happy with the final result."

Jordan Matthews

Source: Kamil Hamid

"I knew that I had a lot of skills and experiences that were valuable and deserve to be recognized in my salary," Mathews said. "Don't undercut or undersell any skill that you have that might be relevant. Everything is valuable You have the most power when they want you."

So, for anyone out there questioning whether or not to negotiate a job offer, you have very little to lose and possibly a lot to gain!

The experts I spoke to recommended LinkedIn videos, the NPR Life Kit podcast, or negotiation books to educate yourself. Once in negotiations, Glassdoor and PayScale are great resources to get a sense of the market wage for your position. For Mathews, Disla, and Babin, having a mentor who supported them through the process was essential in helping them direct negotiations with end results they were happy with. Ultimately, don't be afraid to negotiate for what you think you deserve.

"People feel like millennials can be entitled in that we don't want to come off a certain way, but I think we need to shift our perspective," Mathews said. "Having employees coming in who recognize their value and what they're going to add to a team is something hopefully [companies] want. It actually shows confidence."

CNBC's "College Voices is a series written by CNBC interns from universities across the country about getting their college education, managing their own money and launching their careers during these extraordinary times.Kelly Heinzerling received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her master's degree from Northwestern University. She was an intern on CNBC's creative services team in the summer of 2021. The series is edited byCindy Perman.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of CNBC.

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How to negotiate the salary for your first job offer - CNBC

Millions of individuals envision being their own boss and gaining financial independence, and those are just two reasons why starting a business can be an exciting prospect.

Novice entrepreneurs are likely familiar with just how difficult it can be to get going and sustain a business for years. The United States Department of Labor Statistics says 20% of small businesses fail within the first year. By the end of five years, nearly 50% have closed their doors. This information shouldnt make aspiring entrepreneurs run for the hills, but it can serve as motivation to avoid common mistakes and learn from others.

Every new business venture is met with obstacles along the way. Recognizing potential challenges and learning how to sidestep them is an important part of growing a successful business.

A business plan is crucial and will begin with your vision and what you want to achieve. The business guidance site The Balance: Small Business suggests including the following in your business plan: a mission statement; list of the products or services that will be offered; the niche a business intends to establish itself in; marketing strategies; which problems a business will solve in its industry; and how business owners plan to position themselves against competitors. An effective business plan can serve as a guide that business owners can use to get started and then return to as their business grows and evolves.

The business solutions company Dont Do Business Without It says choosing the right employees or cofounders is very important. It may be tempting to hire a friend or family member because you want to do them a favor. You may even have had a successful working relationship in the past. But its best to base hiring decisions on applicants competence and skills. Integrity also is a good trait to look for in an employee.

Strategies for retention also should be a priority. Pew Research says roughly 40% of millennials will change jobs in a years time. Figure out how to make your business so attractive that employees will want to become long-term fixtures.

All business owners experience problems from time to time, but the obstacles a business faces have no doubt challenged others in the past. Business owners should not feel as though they need to go it alone to prove their mettle. Business owners can reach out to a mentor or someone in their professional network when faced with a new and challenging obstacle. A study by UPS showed that 70% of business owners who received mentoring survived for five years or more. Thats nearly double the rate of those who didnt seek assistance. Asking for help with problems can also free up energy for other components of the business, which allows owners to play to their strengths.

Any business will face obstacles and adversity, but with the right mindset and people, any obstacle can be overcome.

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How businesses can persevere in the face of adversity - Fairfield Daily Republic

Like many other aspects of our lives, COVID-19 affected the treatments too. Read on to know how the pandemic affected fertility treatments for infertile couples.

Written by Editorial Team | Updated : November 1, 2021 10:31 AM IST

Covid-19 has been a stressful experience for all of us and has negatively impacted our way of life. Unfortunately, aspiring parents are not exempted from the impact of covid-19 in their quest towards parenthood through fertility treatments. The rising number of infertility cases of young couples in India has increased drastically, with the number of couples seeking fertility treatment in recent times higher than ever before. But how has Covid-19 impacted their chances of parenthood?

Understanding the causes for increasing infertility is critical to determine the impact of covid-19 on couples seeking diagnosis or treatment. In terms of identifying variables that contribute to decreased fertility among couples, some recent trends indicate that the average age for marriage has risen for couples due to a greater emphasis on education. Thus, the advanced age at which couples begin attempting to have children is responsible for a significant portion of the increase in infertility among couples. Off late there are a lot of elderly couples who have lost their child to covid and they want to try again.

This increase in age can be ascribed to the fact that couples prioritize financial independence over having children. It has also been shown that the average age for marriage in metropolitan settings has grown, which has shortened the time of increased fertility, particularly for women. Although males may not have the same reproductive constraints as women, they are also more likely to experience fewer problems when attempting to conceive when they are young. Lifestyle changes may also be a cause of lower fertility rates. I see at least 2-3 cases in a day with couples in the age group of 25 -45 years.

There are many varied advanced reproductive therapies such as in vitro fertilization or IVF, intra-cytoplasmic sperm injections, oral hormonal pills, or intrauterine fertility injections that increase fertilization chances. These treatments are considered after the couple has undergone testing and has been diagnosed with certain levels of infertility. Further, because of advancements in technologies used in reproductive therapy, procedures now have higher success rates. For example, IVF success rates of approximately 10% in 1990 have risen to 50%-60% today.

Despite these encouraging statistics, pandemic-induced intermittent lockdowns enforced following the first and second waves of the pandemic have affected aspiring couples and have restricted their options for treatments. Specialists have also seen a decrease in the number of people seeking treatment because of the increasing costs of both the procedures and keeping with the safety regulations that must be followed as per government Covid-19 regulations. These new regulations also add extra expense to the treatment. The other consequence of the pandemic has also resulted in many losing jobs and taking pay cuts that do not allow them to access these expensive reproductive therapy procedures. The sudden decrease in income has hindered many couples who would have otherwise undergone these procedures to forgo their chance for the immediate future.

Since most of these procedures require consistent treatment across the woman's menstrual cycles for adequate success, both physicians and patients are becoming increasingly unwilling to engage in these procedures in the face of uncertainty. In addition, patients and doctors were also afraid to begin these procedures, some of which needed general anaesthesia, for fear of testing positive for Covid-19, especially when patients have co-morbidities or are immunocompromised.

In such cases, most fertility clinics and specialists encourage patients to begin fertility treatment only after taking both doses of the vaccinations available and then begin more invasive treatments for their safety.

(The article is contributed by Dr Shivani Sachdev Gour, Infertility Specialist at SCI IVF Hospital in New Delhi)

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Coping With Coronavirus: Here's How The Pandemic Disrupted Fertility Treatments - TheHealthSite

Boris Johnson should introduce financial penalties, including cuts to pensions, for former ministers and officials who flout lobbying rules, according to a major report calling for a reform of standards in office.

The independent Committee on Standards in Public Life, which was set up by John Major in 1995 to advise prime ministers, argues the existing system for transparency around lobbying is not fit for purpose.

The report, which also calls for an overhaul of the ministerial code, comes after the Greensill lobbying scandal, when it emerged David Cameron had privately messaged senior ministers, and concerns over ministers breaching the code without facing sanctions.

In a withering verdict of the current systems, the authors warn: It is clear to this committee that degree of independence in the regulation of the ministerial code, public appointments, business appointments and appointments to the House of Lords falls below what is necessary to ensure effective regulation and maintain public credibility.

The committee said it recognises widespread discontent over the operation of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) a system that vets jobs taken on by former ministers and ex-senior civil servants.

The report recommends extending a lobbying ban to five years in certain cases where officials were privy to privileged information, and stressed: The lack of any meaningful sanctions for a breach of these rules is no longer sustainable.

Chaired by the former MI5 chief, Jonathan Evans, the committee added: The government should set out what the consequences for any breach of contract will be.

Possible sanctions may include seeking an injunction prohibiting the uptake of a certain business appointment, or the recouping of a proportion of an office holders pension or severance payment.

Lord Eric Pickles a former Tory cabinet minister who chairs ACOBA has previously expressed concerns about anomalies in the vetting system when it emerged a former official held a role at Greensill Capital while remaining as a civil servant.

On the ministerial code, the report suggests there still needs to be greater independence in the regulation ... which lags behind similar arrangements for MPs, peers and civil servants.

The recommendation follows last years controversy when Sir Alex Allan resigned as Mr Johnsons ethics adviser after the prime minister overruled his findings that the home secretary, Priti Patel, had bullied staff in breach of the ministerial code.

The report, published today, urges the government to enshrine the ministerial code in primary legislation and ensure it details sanctions prime ministers may issue, apologies, fines and asking for a ministers resignation.

Taking power away from No 10, it also suggests the prime ministers independent adviser should be able to initiate investigations into breaches of the ministerial code and have the authority to determine breaches of the code.

Mr Evans said there was a particular need for reform in central government, adding: It has become clear that a system of standards regulation, which relies on convention, is no longer satisfactory.

He stressed: Whereas parliament has undergone significant reform in recent years, and local government was reviewed by this committee in 2019, many of the arrangements in central government have not changed for over a decade.

Lord Evans added: We concluded that the current system of standards regulation is overly dependent on convention. The ethics regulators and the codes they enforce should have a basis in primary legislation, and government requires a more thorough and rigorous compliance function.

The arrangements to uphold ethical standards in government have come under close scrutiny and significant criticism in recent months. Maintaining high standards requires vigilance and leadership. We believe our recommendations outline a necessary programme of reform to restore public confidence in the regulation of ethical standards in government.

Responding to the report, the deputy leader of the opposition, Angela Rayner, said the Labour Party welcomed the recommendations. She said: Boris Johnson and his Conservative colleagues actions have repeatedly undermined standards in our public life.

The system is supposed to uphold the ministerial code. Lobbying rules, business appointments and transparency is clearly unfit for purpose. Ministers have disregarded the rules and it is about time for a radical overhaul of the system.

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Boris Johnson urged to impose financial penalties on ex-ministers and officials flouting lobbying rules - The Independent

Financial exploitation is one of the most prevalent forms of elder abuse and is a major public health problem.1 Older adults are more likely to have a nest egg, own their home, have excellent credit, and they are generally raised to be polite and trusting. Moreover, with age also comes reduced sensitivity to negative arousal cues, so even cognitively intact older adults can have functional changes that may render them financially vulnerable.2-4 Estimates by MetLife indicate that senior citizens lost $2.9 billion to elder financial abuse in 2010, and up from $2.6 billion in 2008.1,5 The Federal Trade Commissions survey on fraud prevalence in the United States revealed that African American and Latino consumers were more likely to become victims of fraud than non-Hispanic whites.6

Given that elder financial exploitation is associated with mortality, hospitalization, poor physical and mental health, lower quality of life, loss of independence, and significant financial hardship, fighting the crime of the 21st century is of utmost importance. As the elderly population continues to grow and become more diverse, primary intervention strategies will benefit both elderly and minority populations.

In 2010, approximately 1 in 5 Americans aged 65 years or older fell victim to financial abuse.5 Decision-making processes to avoid elder abuse require higher-order cognitive processes that decline with age. Even cognitively intact older adults can have functional brain changes that may render them financially vulnerable. The elderly population (aged 65 and older) is projected to reach 70 million by 2030. These estimates raise concern that increased susceptibility to deception will drive reduced quality of life and loss of independence, thereby negatively impacting the health status for a large segment of the US population.3,7

Individuals with cognitive impairment are at increased risk of becoming victims of scams due to decreased awareness, overestimation of competency in financial matters, social vulnerability, and changes in perceptual speed, episodic memory, and working memory.8,9 Furthermore, individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD) are more likely to suffer the loss of twice as much money per case of financial exploitation.10 Poor decision making and greater susceptibility to scams have also been linked to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and these vulnerabilities can emerge even prior to a diagnosis of actual MCI.11 The prevalence of individuals with AD in the US population is growing and will increase almost threefold to 13.2 million by 2050.12 Current estimates project that 1 in every 45 Americans will have AD by 2047.13 In adults with MCI and AD, structural brain changes and deterioration in cognitive capacitates such as processing speed and episodic memory exacerbate susceptibility to scams.9,14 Diminished cognitive functioning has been linked not only to greater financial victimization in old age, but to AD onset as well.15,16

Family Caregiver Burden

The disease burden of AD is associated with weakened financial capacity and financial autonomy, thereby increasing family caregiver burden.17,18 Financial capacity is crucial for independent activities in daily life; however, individuals with AD and cognitive decline often demonstrate total loss of financial capacity, which can lead to psychological burden and distress.19 Impairments in financial capacity also contribute to economic hardship, significant concerns for patient welfare, and family caregiver burden. This is particularly important in light of a recent survey of 2000 nonprofessional caregivers which found that 92% provide financial assistance for the adults they care for.20 Managing AD patients disease and functional independence is an expensive endeavor, and financial exploitation only exacerbates the problem. Moreover, financial mismanagement among cognitively impaired individuals is one of the greatest sources of perceived caregiver burden.

As the number of older adults diagnosed with AD is expected to rise,12 safeguards are crucial to protect this population and their caregivers from scams. The chronic burden associated with fighting a degenerative disease, lapses in memory and judgment, and caregiver fatigue are examples of why individuals with MCI or AD and their caregivers are vulnerable targets for the crime of the 21st century. The impact of financial scamming on older adults and their families has direct implications for clinical care, particularly as psychiatrists and other mental health experts may be in a prime position to identify at-risk individuals before financial loss occurs.

Case Vignette

Mr Xavier is a 76-year-old gentleman recently diagnosed with MCI who receives a phone call from someone who claims to be his grandchild. The caller is frantic and explains that they are traveling abroad and have come into health troubles. They would like Mr Xavier to urgently wire money in order to settle the emergency. Specifically, the caller indicates that they require the money in order to pay a pressing hospital bill. The caller indicates just enough information to make the situation seem plausible. The caller then turns the phone over to a doctor who legitimizes the story. The caller seems quite embarrassed by the medical emergency and asks Mr Xavier to keep his financial assistance a secret from other family members and friends (eg, Dont tell mom; dont tell dad!).

Synthesis of Research

The current best protection against scams is education for the elderly and their caregivers. As examples, the FBI, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, USA.gov, and AARP all provide guidance on protection from scams. The status quo, as it pertains to prevention of scamming, includes hotlines, info-commercial home-based online education, legal interventions, and public lectures by law enforcement officials. Although these approaches have been shown to be cost effective and provide rapid response, major limitations to these intervention methods are that they: 1) do not preemptively target populations cognitively vulnerable to deception; 2) are not holistic and do not incorporate caregivers; and 3) are not often accessible to multilingual populations. A priori screening for susceptibility to deception and educational interventions would minimize adverse health outcomes and high costs of care, and may provide crucial interventions to both patients and their caregivers.

It is paramount that interventions for scamming specifically target vulnerable populations. Practicing psychiatrists and other mental health care providers are well positioned to conduct cognitive evaluations, assess capacity for financial decision making, and advise in advance care planning such as setting up trusts or facilitating discussions about creating a durable power of attorney. A behavioral science-based primary intervention approach would facilitate overcoming barriers, thereby opening new horizons for reducing public health burden due to financial fraud.

Dr Getz is an instructor in the Division of Neuropsychology, in the Department of Neurology of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr Galvinis a professor of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and founding director of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health.

Acknowledgements and Funding Sources

This study was supported by grants to SJG from the American Academy of Neurology, American Brain Foundation, and McKnight Brain Research Foundation, and to JEG from the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG071514, R01 AG069765, R01 AG057681, and R01 NS101483), the Harry T. Mangurian Foundation, and the Leo and Anne Albert Charitable Trust. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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2. Samanez-Larkin GR, Knutson B. Decision making in the ageing brain: changes in affective and motivational circuits. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2015;16(5):278-289.

3. Carstensen LL, Turan B, Scheibe S, et al. Emotional experience improves with age: evidence based on over 10 years of experience sampling.Psychol Aging. 2011;26(1):21.

4. Harl KM, Sanfey AG. Social economic decision-making across the lifespan: an fMRI investigation.Neuropsychologia. 2012;50(7):1416-1424.

5. Amstadter AB, Zajac K, Strachan M, et al. Prevalence and correlates of elder mistreatment in South Carolina: the South Carolina elder mistreatment study.J Interpers Violence. 2011;26(15):2947-2972.

6. Anderson KB. Consumer fraud in the United States, 2011: The third FTC survey. Federal Trade Commission. April 2013. Accessed October 26, 2021. https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-states-2011-third-ftc-survey/130419fraudsurvey_0.pdf

7. Dong X, Simon MA. Elder abuse as a risk factor for hospitalization in older persons.JAMA Intern Med. 2013;173(10):911-917.

8. Pinsker DM, McFarland K, Pachana NA. Exploitation in older adults: social vulnerability and personal competence factors.Journal of Applied Gerontology. 2010;29(6):740-761.

9. Han SD, Boyle PA, Yu L, et al. Grey matter correlates of susceptibility to scams in community-dwelling older adults. Brain Imaging Behav. 2016;10(2):524-532.

10. Jackson SL, Hafemeister TL. APS investigation across four types of elder maltreatment. Journal of Adult Protection. 2012;14:82-92.

11. Boyle PA, Yu L, Wilson RS, et al. Poor decision making is a consequence of cognitive decline among older persons without Alzheimers disease or mild cognitive impairment. PLOS One. 2012;7(8):e43647.

12. Hebert LE, Scherr PA, Bienias JL, et al. Alzheimer disease in the US population: prevalence estimates using the 2000 census. Arch Neurol. 2003;60(8):1119-1122.

13. Van Duijn C. Epidemiology of the dementias: recent developments and new approaches. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1996;60(5):478-488.

14. Catalano LA, Lazaro C. Financial abuse of elderly investors: protecting the vulnerable. Journal of Securities Law, Regulation & Compliance. 2010;3(1).

15. James BD, Boyle PA, and Bennett DA. Correlates of susceptibility to scams in older adults without dementia. J Elder Abuse Negl. 2014;26(2):107-122.

16. Boyle PA, Yu L, Schneider JA, et al. Scam awareness related to incident Alzheimer dementia and mild cognitive impairment: a prospective cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 2019;170(10)702-709.

17. Marson DC, Martin RC, Wadley V, et al. Clinical interview assessment of financial capacity in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009;57(5):806-814.

18. Earnst KS, Wadley VG, Aldridge TM, et al. Loss of financial capacity in Alzheimer's disease: the role of working memory. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. 2001;8(2):109-119.

19. Moye J. Theoretical frameworks for competency in cognitively impaired elderly adults. Journal of Aging Studies. 1996;10(1):27-42.

20. Lynch M. The Journey of Caregiving: Honor, Responsibility and Financial Complexity. Merrill Bank. 2017. Accessed October 26, 2021. https://images.em.bankofamerica.com/HOST-03-19-0704/AgeWaveCaregivingWhitepaper.pdf

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Vulnerability to Financial Scamming: Victim and Family Protection - Psychiatric Times