How the elderly can be financially-protected
Getting old can bring about so many challenges which schooling and early experience could not train and prepare us sufficiently to eliminate or minimize the pain and loss. Take the case of Max Tharpe, an accomplished photographer, who managed to inherit a large stash of stocks which afforded him a comfortable life in retirement. Having no heirs to pass on his estate, he chose to donate his wealth to charitable church groups when he turned 87. And so, one day he went to the office of Edward Jones & Co. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in 2007 for that very purpose. In February 2008, Mr. Tharpe asked his stockbroker to sell only one position, his Wachovia Bank shares, whose branch had given him such poor service. He also told the broker to maintain all the rest of his portfolio. And this is when the whole thing blew. Based on the arbitration award handed down by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority , or Finra, and the narrative account of Todd Zuckerbrod, Mr. Tharpe’s lawyer i...