Ask the Accounting Professor

Dear Accounting Professor: I recently retired and want to know about the risks that I might encounter during my retirement years. What should I be concerned about as a new retiree? Concerned, but Retired Dear Retired, Unfortunately, retirees are very susceptible to fraud. Based on the research that I have read, those who have health issues and those who are very dependent upon one or a small group of people to meet their needs are at risk of being defrauded. Unfortunately, as we age, we are forced to trust people that we would not otherwise interact with because of our own developing health needs. My opinion is that these experiences in the medical setting condition people to let their guards down and trust unknown people more even when they are outside of the medical environment. This increase in trust levels makes us more vulnerable to becoming victims of fraud. Also, retirees who have their financial matters on autopilot are also at a higher risk of becoming victims to these

Dear Accounting Professor: My New Year's Resolution is to become debt free. What advice can you share with me? So Broke That I Cannot Afford to Pay Attention Dear Broke: I recommend that everyone who wants to become debt free establish a benchmark for their current financial condition. This involved creating a detailed list of all of debts and assets. Some examples of debts include credit cards, lines of credit, signature loans, student loans, mortgage payments, car loans, payroll advances, unpaid medical bills, etc. Some examples of assets include cash, checking & savings accounts, money market accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, cars, homes, etc. For asset valuations, one has to use objectively reasonable fair market valuation sources less any fees to determine a net realizable value. Examples of these sources include the most recent close price for a stock less any transaction fees, Realtor.com's selling estimate for a home and then reduce that va