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Jilenne Gunther

Jilenne Gunther, MSW, JD, is national director of BankSafe at the AARP Public Policy Institute. Her areas of expertise include financial exploitation, fraud, and consumer law. Read her full biography.
As a fierce defender of older adults, AARP is working with those on the financial front lines to protect older Americans from financial exploitation through its award-winning BankSafe online training platform.
Research shows that one in five older Americans are victims of financial exploitation and each victim loses an average of $120,000. Through AARP's BankSafe initiative, we are working to stop financial exploitation before it happens
Millions of people worldwide recognize Stan Lee as the creator of the X-Men, Spiderman, and one of the key men responsible for the multibillion-dollar Marvel empire. Movies based on his characters have earned more than $24 billion, and his influence on today’s entertainment industry is unequaled.…
A new law signed by President Trump on May 24 is designed in part to strengthen protections for older Americans against financial exploitation and abuse. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act includes a provision, previously proposed as the Senior Safe Act, that…
Although older Americans with impaired memory or cognitive problems may appear healthy and retain social skills, their financial capacity—that is, their ability to manage money, pay bills and debts, and make prudent decisions regarding investments and risk—may nevertheless be significantly…
Older adults with otherwise healthy brains sometimes develop biological changes that could put them at risk for financial exploitation, according to a study published earlier this year by researchers from Cornell and York universities. Previous studies had identified a link between brain disease…
The fight against the financial exploitation of older Americans is about to get a whole lot easier.
Financial exploitation is an issue that demands financial institutions’ attention. Banks lose an estimated $1 billion (and rising) annually in deposits. Thieves especially target older Americans (those over 50), with good reason — these customers own two-thirds of all bank deposits. An estimated 1…
Many of us understand that saving for retirement and for the long term is one of the most important actions you can take to ensure a secure future. So is protecting that savings.
After attending a 2011 U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing where my report on the cost of exploitation was quoted, I discussed the growing problem of financial exploitation with a banker. In minutes over a burger, we identified a way a family caregiver could watch over a loved one’s bank…
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