Article by Gwen Jones, Department of Family Services
(Posted 2024 July)
Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) introduced Never Stop Learning, a public service campaign designed to educate older adults about how they can protect their money and actions they can take to ensure that they are prepared financially for the future.
The campaign directs older adults to a website with tools and resources for investing, tips on how to spot fraud, the importance of conducting background checks on investment professionals, and more. The website is available in English (Investor.gov/additional-resources/information/older-investors) and Spanish (Investor.gov/informacion-en-espanol/inversores-mayores.)
Visitors can access free financial planning tools, such as a required minimum distribution calculator, a Social Security retirement estimator, and more on the website. The site also offers a free quiz each month to test your knowledge of various topics including investing, retirement accounts, and spotting fraud. The quiz is available at Investor.gov/quiz.
The Never Stop Learning campaign also includes four educational videos:
- Caregivers: Financial Warning Signs You Should Know
- Trusted Contact – explains the importance of designating a trusted contact.
- Protect Your Retirement Money - how older investors can better protect their retirement money.
- Red Flags of Fraud - common scams, including romance scams, imposter scams, and crypto scams.
The videos can be found at Investor.gov/additional-resources/spotlight/public-service-campaign.
Outreach in the Community
In addition to the public service campaign, OIEA’s Outreach Team, along with regional staff, have participated in over 500 virtual and in-person investor education events, trainings and webinars throughout the year. Trainings cover topics such as investing basics, how to monitor your accounts, steps to plan for illness, how to spot and avoid investment scams, and more. Presentations have been made at senior centers, senior living communities, libraries, churches, and other locations.
Impact of Never Stop Learning
The Never Stop Learning campaign is proving successful and has received positive feedback from older adults. Visitors to the website have shared how much they enjoyed the videos and mentioned how helpful the resource pages in English and Spanish have been in providing them with additional information. “Our Never Stop Learning campaign, which we continue to build upon, truly speaks to older investors as the topics, such as designating a trusted contact, protecting retirement money, and learning how to spot fraud, are relevant to them,” said Lori Schock, Director of the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.
The SEC is planning to build on the Never Stop Learning campaign over the next year. The expanded campaign will include a multi-generational knowledge-sharing approach to investor education.
Additional Resources:
- SEC’s Guide for Older Investors: investor.gov/sites/investorgov/files/2023-10/guideforolderinvestors.pdf
- Tips, resources and articles by Director Lori Schock: investor.gov/additional-resources/spotlight/directors-take
- If you need help, contact the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy by phone 800-732-0330 or email help@sec.gov. You can also contact them using their questions and comments online form at sec.gov/oiea/QuestionsAndComments.html.
- To submit a complaint or tip, or report a suspected securities fraud, visit sec.gov/tcr.
- Have questions or concerns about your investment accounts? Call the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Securities Helpline for Seniors at 844-574-3577.
This article is part of the Golden Gazette monthly newsletter which covers a variety of topics and community news concerning older adults and caregivers in Fairfax County. Are you new to the Golden Gazette? Don’t miss out on future newsletters! Subscribe to get the electronic or free printed version mailed to you. Have a suggestion for a topic? Share it in an email or call 703-324-GOLD (4653).