The CFPB has released four booklets to serve as guides for financial caregivers, particularly those who handle the finances of older Americans. The booklets represent the CFPB’s latest efforts directed at carrying out its Dodd-Frank mandate to help older Americans avoid financial exploitation. Those efforts deserve the support of industry and consumers alike. Indeed, it appears the CFPB has strived to provide accurate and useful information in the new booklets. In its press release about the booklets, the CFPB stated that it contracted and worked closely with the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging to prepare the guides.
All of the booklets have the title “Managing Someone Else’s Money” but are designed for four different categories of financial caregivers: agents under powers of attorney, court-appointed guardians, trustees under a revocable living trust, and persons who have been appointed by a government agency to manage income benefits, such as someone serving as a Social Security representative payee or Veterans Affairs fiduciary. The booklets provide information about fiduciary duties, tips on how to spot financial exploitation and avoid scams, and a list of agencies to contact to report fraud or scams, and contact information for other agencies and organizations that can assist financial caregivers.