Chairman Rick Scott Fights Back Against Senior Fraud with Financial Literacy Hearing and New 2026 Resource Guide

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Chairman Rick Scott led a hearing during National Financial Literacy and Social Security Month entitled "Empowering Seniors through Financial Literacy: Tools to Protect Savings, Prevent Fraud, and Promote Independence" to examine how financial literacy can set America's seniors up for success when preparing for retirement to being targeted by fraud operations.

During the hearing, Chairman Scott also announced his new bipartisan Financial Literacy Booklet for 2026 to ensure America's aging community has the information and resources necessary to make important decisions as they prepare for and experience retirement.

Chairman Scott has been leading the fight against scams targeting America's seniors. Previously, he has:

• Led the bipartisan 2025 Fraud Report elevating national awareness of financial exploitation targeting seniors;
• Continued the committee's toll-free Fraud Hotline to expand access to education, prevention tools, and direct support for seniors and families;
• Supported legislation to combat financial exploitation and increasingly sophisticated scams, including the:
• • National Strategy for Combating Scams Act;
  • GUARD Act;
  • STOP Scammers Act;
  • National Slam the Scam Day resolution in 2025 and 2026; and
  • Held a field hearing in Florida discussing the growing threat that scams and financial fraud pose to aging Americans.

The Chairman's witnesses for today's hearing included Christine Kieffer, Senior Director and Interim Head of the Office of Investor Education at FINRA; Sam Kunjukunju, Vice President of Consumer Education at the American Bankers Association Foundation; and Carly Roszkowski, Vice President of Financial Resilience Programming at AARP.

Watch Chairman Scott's full remarks HERE or by clicking the image above. Read his remarks as prepared for delivery below:

"The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging will now come to order.

I'd like to start today's hearing by asking you to think about someone you love.

Maybe it's a parent, grandparent, even a neighbor you've lived down the street from your whole life. Someone who worked hard their entire career and did everything they could to set themselves up for retirement with the information available to them.

Now ask yourself: was that enough?

Does that person know when the BEST time to claim their Social Security benefits is?

Do they know what happens to their monthly check if they claim it at 62 versus 67 versus 70?

Do they know the difference between a Medicare Advantage plan and a Medigap supplement?

Do they know what questions to ask before handing their savings over to a financial advisor?

Chances are they don't. And that is NOT their fault.

For so many Americans, and especially our seniors, it's hard to find the information. When you do find it, it's often incredibly complicated. As a country, we have done a POOR job of ensuring people know their options and what route will work best for their needs.

And it's having real consequences on our seniors' lives…

Right now, nearly half of older American households earn LESS than what's needed to cover basic living expenses.

Housing. Health care. Transportation. Food. The basics.

And Social Security - which about 78 percent of retirees depend on - only replaces about 40 percent of pre-retirement income on average.

The math is hard. The reality is stark. There is very little room for error.

And at the same time older Americans are being forced to make some of the most consequential financial decisions of their entire lives. When to retire. When to claim benefits. How to draw down savings without outliving them. How to evaluate insurance products. How to protect a home and an estate.

These aren't easy questions. And too many seniors are answering them alone. Without clear guidance, under real pressure, and with less of a cushion than they expected. The result becomes a guessing game where they hope for the best and fear the worst.

But you can't blame them! Too often, the resources that are supposed to help people best prepare are buried on government websites, written in language designed for policy experts and delivered too late.

But the challenges don't stop there. On top of all of that, the scammers come calling…

In 2024, fraud and scams cost older Americans nearly FIVE BILLION DOLLARS. These criminals are not amateurs. They use tools like artificial intelligence, voice cloning, government impersonation and more to attack us all.

They do their homework. They know exactly what to say and exactly how to say it.

For all their work, they are counting on one thing - that nobody ever warned their victim about what to look for.

That needs to change.

Financial literacy is one of the most powerful and most underused tools we have to protect older Americans. Not just from fraud, but across the board.

When seniors understand how their benefits work, they make BETTER decisions.

When they know how to read a financial statement and recognize bad actors, they're harder to deceive.

When they understand the difference between a legitimate investment and a pitch that's too good to be true, they protect themselves.

When they know where to turn for trusted help, they know they're not navigating this alone.

And the best part? This doesn't require a new government program or more federal bureaucracy. It doesn't require more spending to be thrown at the problem.

It requires CLEAR information, trusted messengers, and the commitment to actually get that information into people's hands.

That is exactly what this Committee set out to do. And today, I am proud to announce the upcoming release of our new resource - Guarding Your Nest Egg: A Financial Resource Guide for Older Adults.

This packet will cover the decisions that matter most in retirement - Social Security, Medicare, housing, charitable giving, disaster preparedness, and planning for the unexpected. It will also provide clear guidelines as to what a scam looks and how to guard yourself against them. Plain language. Tools you can actually use.

It is available today at aging.senate.gov.

Because every older American in this country deserves the tools to protect what they spent a lifetime building. Not more red tape. Not more bureaucracy. Just clear information and the freedom to use it."

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