Eight modules on the money questions that come with a fixed income: what the
mail actually means, what your bank is charging you, where interest is safe, and how to
recognize the scripts that target older adults. Plain language, large type, and printable.
8 modulesLarge type · printablePhone numbers includedFree · no sign-up
Reading this for someone else? These pages are written to be worked through together at
a kitchen table. Use the Print button for a clean paper copy; the calculators drop out
and the quiz answers print alongside the questions.
Module 01
The fixed-income month
When you were working, a bad month could be fixed by a good one. On a fixed
income the arithmetic runs the other way: the income is known, so the whole job is knowing
the outgo just as precisely.
Start with what actually arrives
Write down every source and the date it lands. Most households have three or four:
Social Security: deposited monthly, on a date set by your birth day
of the month.
A pension or annuity: usually monthly, sometimes with a survivor
amount that differs from the current one.
Withdrawals from retirement accounts: an IRA or 401(k). This is the
one you control, and the one Module 05 is about.
Everything else: part-time work, rent from a property, dividends,
veterans' benefits.
Then separate the bills that cannot wait
Sort spending into three tiers, in this order. In a tight month you protect tier one
absolutely, trim tier two, and stop tier three.
The three tiers
Tier
What's in it
1 · Keeps you safe
Housing, utilities, food, medicine and medical care, insurance premiums
2 · Keeps you going
Phone, transportation, household supplies, modest help around the house
Watch tier three especially. Automatic
renewals are the quietest expense in most households: streaming services, magazine
subscriptions, warranties, membership dues. Check one bank statement line by line and
most people find something they stopped using years ago.
Worksheet
Your month, in one number
Enter monthly figures. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere; this runs
entirely on your own device.
Left over each month–
Income–
Spending–
Over a year–
If you only remember one thing
A fixed income is not a small income; it is a known income. That makes it the
easiest kind to plan against, as long as the outgo is written down too.
Module 02
What the mail actually says
A great deal of financial mail is designed to look urgent. Very little of it
is. The skill is telling a bill from a notice from an advertisement, in about ten seconds.
The four envelopes that matter
Explanation of Benefits (EOB)
From an insurer after a medical visit. It shows what was billed, what insurance paid,
and what may be left for you. It is not a bill. It usually says so in
print. Wait for the provider's actual bill, then check that the two agree before paying.
Medicare Summary Notice
If you have Original Medicare, this arrives about every three months and lists the
services billed in your name. Also not a bill. Read the list. A service
you never received is one of the clearest signs of medical identity theft; report it
(Module 08).
Your Social Security statement
Shows your earnings record and estimated benefits. Errors in the earnings record can
reduce a benefit, and they are far easier to fix with old W-2s in hand than decades later.
You can view it any time by making an account at
ssa.gov/myaccount.
The bank or brokerage statement
The single most useful page in the mail. Two things to check every month: every
withdrawal is one you recognize, and the fee line is zero or explainable.
Mail that is designed to confuse
"Final notice" on something you never ordered. Unordered
merchandise you receive in the mail is legally yours to keep; you do not owe for it.
Envelopes that mimic a government agency: official-looking seals,
words like "federal" or "benefits center," sometimes a fee to do something free.
Real agencies do not charge you to get your own benefits.
Mailers that arrive right after you turn 65. Insurance marketing
lists are keyed to your birthday. Much of it is legitimate advertising, but none of it
is from Medicare itself.
"You may already have won." A prize that requires a payment (taxes,
fees, shipping) is not a prize.
A ten-second sorting rule
Ask: does this document name a service I remember receiving, and does it say the word
"bill"? If it says "This is not a bill," set it in a folder and wait. If it demands
payment today by an unusual method, it is not a real bill at all; go to Module 06.
Module 03
What your bank is charging you
Most account fees are waivable, and most people paying them qualify for a
waiver they were never told about. One phone call often ends them permanently.
The fees to look for on this month's statement
Monthly maintenance fee
A charge for having the account, commonly $5 to $15. Very often waived for direct
deposit of Social Security, for a minimum balance, or simply for customers over a certain
age. Ask directly: "Which of your accounts has no monthly fee for
someone with direct deposit?"
Overdraft and returned-item fees
Roughly $35 per transaction when a payment exceeds the balance. On a fixed income
these tend to cluster right before a deposit date. Two fixes: ask to have the account's
overdraft coverage turned off, and ask whether a linked savings account can cover
shortfalls for free or a much smaller fee.
Paper statement fee
Some banks charge for mailed statements. If you want paper (and there are good
reasons to want paper), ask for the fee to be waived. It usually is on request.
Minimum balance penalty
Charged when the balance dips below a threshold, even briefly. Know your number, or
move to an account that doesn't have one.
Do the math: what one phone call is worth
A $12 monthly fee, one overdraft every other month, and a $3 paper statement charge:
$390 is a month of groceries for many households. The call to
remove it takes about fifteen minutes, and the question that works is simply:
"I'd like to move to an account with no monthly fee. Which one do I qualify for?"
Direct deposit is a safety measure, not just a convenience
Paper benefit checks are stolen from mailboxes. Direct deposit into your own account
removes that risk entirely, and the money is available on the deposit date without a trip
to the bank.
One caution about joint accounts
Adding an adult child to your account for convenience gives that person full legal
access to the money, and exposes the balance to their creditors and divorces. It is often
better to name a trusted contact on the account, or to set up a
power of attorney (Module 07), which grants authority to help without
handing over ownership. An attorney or your bank's branch manager can explain the
difference in your state.
Module 04
Safe interest, and the inflation you can't see
Money that is perfectly safe in dollar terms can still lose purchasing power
every year. This module is about earning a fair rate without taking risk you didn't agree to.
Insurance first
FDIC and NCUA insurance
Deposits at an FDIC-insured bank are federally insured up to $250,000 per
depositor, per bank, per ownership category. Credit unions carry the same
coverage through the NCUA. Checking, savings, money market deposit accounts, and CDs are
covered. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, and crypto are not, even
when sold inside a bank lobby.
APY
Annual Percentage Yield: the rate including compounding. It's the number to compare
between savings accounts and CDs, because it accounts for how often interest is added.
Certificate of deposit (CD)
You commit money for a set term (six months, a year, five years) for a fixed rate.
Take it out early and you pay a penalty, usually a few months of interest. Safe and
predictable; the cost is access.
The ladder
If you want CD rates without locking up everything, split the money into equal pieces
with staggered maturities: say one-, two-, three-, four- and five-year terms. Each year one
piece matures: spend it if you need it, or renew it for five years if you don't. You end up
holding longer-term rates while something comes due every twelve months.
Do the math: the rate that matters is the one after inflation
The real return is roughly the rate you earn minus the rate prices rise:
Real return ≈ APY − inflation rate
You earn
Prices rise
Real return
What it means
0.01% checking
3%
≈ −3.0%
Losing ground steadily
4.0% savings
3%
≈ +1.0%
Slightly ahead
5.0% CD
3%
≈ +2.0%
Ahead, money committed
At 3% inflation, $10,000 sitting in a no-interest checking
account buys about $8,600 worth of goods after five years. Nothing was
stolen; it simply wasn't earning. Moving idle savings to an insured account paying a
competitive rate is the lowest-risk financial improvement available to most households.
Where the pressure usually comes from
Free-lunch or dinner "retirement seminars" and unsolicited calls frequently end in a
pitch for a complicated annuity or an "insured" product promising a high guaranteed
return. Two questions cut through nearly all of it:
"What are the total fees and the surrender period, in writing?"
Some products charge a penalty for taking your own money back for many years.
"Are you a fiduciary, required to act in my interest, and will you put that in writing?"
Not everyone selling financial products is.
Then take the paperwork home. No legitimate product
expires tonight. Anyone insisting otherwise has told you what you need to know.
Module 05
Taking money out
The order and size of withdrawals changes how long savings last and how much
tax you pay. These are the mechanics worth knowing before you talk to anyone about them.
Taxes don't stop at retirement
Withdrawals from a traditional IRA or 401(k) are generally taxable income; that money
went in untaxed. Withdrawals from a Roth account are generally tax-free,
because the tax was already paid. And depending on your total income, a portion of your
Social Security benefit can itself become taxable. The practical consequence: a large
one-time withdrawal can push more of your income into tax than a series of smaller ones
would have.
You can ask the plan or IRA custodian to withhold tax from each withdrawal,
the same way an employer did. That prevents an unpleasant surprise in April.
Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)
Once you reach a certain age, the IRS requires you to withdraw a minimum amount from
tax-deferred retirement accounts each year and pay tax on it. The starting age has been
changed by Congress more than once; it is 73 for most people today and
is scheduled to rise to 75 in 2033. Missing one carries a stiff penalty, which is reduced
if you correct it promptly. Confirm your own age and amount with the IRS
or your account custodian; they will calculate it for you on request.
Claiming Social Security
You can claim as early as 62, at a permanently reduced amount; you
receive your full benefit at your full retirement age (66 to 67, depending
on birth year); and delaying past that earns credits that increase the benefit until age
70. There is no advantage to waiting past 70. Which choice is right
depends on health, other income, and marital status; this is a case to talk through with
Social Security directly (Module 08), free of charge.
The 4% guideline
A long-standing rule of thumb: withdrawing about 4% of a portfolio in the first year
and adjusting for inflation thereafter has historically had a good chance of lasting
thirty years. It is a starting point for a conversation, not a promise, and it assumes an
invested portfolio, not a savings account.
Do the math: what 4% actually looks like
Savings
4% per year
Per month
$100,000
$4,000
$333
$250,000
$10,000
$833
$500,000
$20,000
$1,667
Put that monthly figure next to the worksheet in Module 01.
Together, income plus a sustainable withdrawal is the honest number, and if it falls
short, knowing by how much is what makes the problem solvable.
Free help, from people with no product to sell
Social Security will explain your own benefit options at no cost, and your
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) gives free, unbiased
Medicare counseling. Both are listed with phone numbers in Module 08. Neither earns a
commission on your decision.
Module 06 · The important one
Recognizing a scam
Older adults are targeted deliberately, by professionals, using scripts
refined on thousands of people. Falling for one is not a failure of intelligence. But every
single script has the same shape, and once you can see the shape, the specific story
stops mattering.
The shape: four ingredients
Nearly every scam needs all four. Spot one and you can stop; you don't have to
figure out the rest.
The four ingredients
1 · They contacted you. A call, text, email, or pop-up you didn't
initiate. This is the big one: you cannot verify who called you by talking to the
person who called you.
2 · Urgency. Now, today, before it's too late. A warrant, a frozen
account, a grandchild in jail. Panic exists to stop you from checking.
3 · Secrecy. "Don't tell anyone." "Your family will be upset."
"This is a confidential investigation." No real institution asks you to hide a payment.
4 · An unusual way to pay.Gift cards, wire transfer,
crypto ATM, payment apps, cash in an envelope, a courier to your door. Every
one of these is chosen for the same reason: the money cannot be reversed or traced.
The one rule that defeats all of them
Hang up. Then call back on a number you looked up
yourself, from your bank card, your statement, your Medicare card, or the phone
book. Never the number they gave you, and never by pressing a button on the call.
A real bank, agency, or family member will be perfectly fine with you calling them back.
A scammer cannot survive it.
The scripts you are most likely to hear
The grandchild in trouble
"Grandma, it's me. I'm in jail / in an accident / in trouble abroad, and I need bail
money. Please don't tell Mom." The voice may sound wrong; they'll blame a broken nose or
a bad line. Voice-cloning software now makes it sound exactly right.
Defense: hang up and call your grandchild's own number. Agree on a family
password today that no caller could know.
The government impostor
Social Security, Medicare, the IRS, or "the police" calling about a suspended number,
a canceled card, or a warrant. These agencies do not call to demand payment,
do not threaten arrest by phone, and never accept gift cards. Your Social Security
number cannot be "suspended"; that is not a thing that exists.
The bank fraud department
The fastest-growing version: a caller warns that your account is compromised and
instructs you to move your money to a "safe account" or hand cash to a courier for
"safekeeping." No bank will ever ask you to move money to protect it,
and no bank sends someone to your home for cash or cards.
Tech support
A pop-up or call warning of a virus, asking to connect to your computer. Once connected
they show you fake evidence and ask for payment or bank access. Microsoft, Apple,
and your internet provider do not monitor your computer and will never call you.
Shut the computer down; the pop-up cannot hurt you.
Romance and long friendships
Weeks or months of genuine-feeling attention, then an emergency requiring money, then
another. The tell is simple: they never meet you in person, and the requests
never stop. Anyone you have not met who asks for money is running a script.
Prizes and sweepstakes
You've won; you just owe taxes or fees first. A real prize never requires a
payment. And you cannot win a contest you did not enter.
Medicare and medical equipment
Calls offering free braces, genetic tests, or a "new card," needing only your Medicare
number. That number is money. Guard it like a credit card and give it only
to providers you chose and contacted.
Home repair at the door
A contractor "in the neighborhood" spots a problem on your roof, wants cash up front,
starts today. Defense: never hire at the door, never pay in full in
advance, and get a second quote. Urgency at your doorstep is the same red flag as urgency
on the phone.
Practice
Check a message you've received
Tick anything that's true of the call, text, or email in question.
Assessment–
Tick the boxes above that apply.
Say this, word for word
You never owe a caller an explanation. A complete, polite, final answer is:
"I don't discuss money over the phone. I'll call my bank myself."
Then hang up. Hanging up on a stranger is not rude; it is the correct procedure, and
you are allowed to do it mid-sentence.
Module 07
Locking down your accounts
Six protections, each done once, that make the most common frauds fail before
they start.
1 · Freeze your credit
A security freeze stops anyone, including a thief with your Social
Security number, from opening new credit in your name. It is free by law,
does not affect your existing accounts or your credit score, and you can lift it temporarily
any time you're applying for something. You must do it at all three bureaus separately:
While you're at it: you're entitled to free credit reports at
annualcreditreport.com,
the official site, and the only one that doesn't try to sell you a subscription.
2 · Turn on alerts
Ask your bank to text or email you for every withdrawal over an amount you choose. $100
is a reasonable setting. This turns fraud from something you discover next month into
something you discover in ninety seconds.
3 · Name a trusted contact
Banks and brokerages let you list a trusted contact: someone they may
call if they see something alarming or can't reach you. That person cannot move your
money or see your balances. It is one of the most useful and least invasive
protections available, and it costs nothing.
4 · Understand power of attorney
A durable power of attorney lets someone you choose handle financial
matters if you can't and, importantly, lets you define the limits while you're
fully able to. Set it up with an attorney before it's needed. A document drafted calmly in
advance is very different from decisions made in a hospital corridor.
5 · Never share a code
The six-digit codes texted to you are the keys to your accounts. No employee of
any bank, agency, or company will ever ask for one. Anyone who does is, without
exception, attempting to take over your account.
6 · Review the statement every month
Fifteen minutes, one page. Look for withdrawals you don't recognize, fees, and any
subscription that renewed. Federal protections for disputing an unauthorized electronic
transfer are strongest when you report it quickly, so the monthly review is what
preserves your rights.
Do these today
Module 08
Who to call
Keep this page. Every number here is free, and none of these organizations
sells anything.
Benefits and coverage
Social Security Administration Benefits, statements, claiming questions
Eldercare Locator Connects you to local services · eldercare.acl.gov
1-800-677-1116
Fraud, scams, and identity theft
National Elder Fraud Hotline U.S. Dept. of Justice · case managers who follow up
1-833-372-8311
Federal Trade Commission Report fraud · reportfraud.ftc.gov
1-877-382-4357
Identity theft recovery Step-by-step recovery plan · identitytheft.gov
1-877-438-4338
Senior Medicare Patrol Medicare fraud and billing errors · smpresource.org
1-877-808-2468
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Complaints about banks and lenders · consumerfinance.gov
1-855-411-2372
Adult Protective Services Suspected financial exploitation; reach your state office through the Eldercare Locator
1-800-677-1116
If money has already left
Act in this order, and act today, because speed is what determines how much can be recovered:
Call your bank or card issuer on the number on your card. Wire
transfers and gift cards can occasionally be stopped within hours.
Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov, or call the National Elder Fraud
Hotline above to be walked through it.
File a police report: many banks and insurers require one.
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus (Module 07).
Tell someone you trust. Scammers count on shame to keep victims
quiet, and quiet victims get targeted again; stolen contact lists are resold.
You are not the first person this happened to, and the people
at these numbers have heard it many times this week. Call them.
Exit quiz
Eight questions
Pick an answer and the explanation appears. These are the eight moments where
knowing the right move is worth the most.
Not started
1. A caller says he's from your bank's fraud department
and your account is compromised. He'll help you move the money to a "safe account."
Hang up and call back yourself. No bank ever asks
you to move money to protect it. And you cannot verify a caller by questioning the
caller; they have an answer ready for everything. The callback is the only test that works.
2. An envelope from your insurer says "This is not a bill."
What should you do?
File and compare. An Explanation of Benefits shows
what insurance paid. Keep it: it's how you catch a provider billing for something you
never received, and how you check the real bill when it comes.
3. You've paid a $12 monthly account fee for years. What's
the most likely outcome of calling the bank?
It usually just stops. Waivers for direct deposit,
a minimum balance, or age are routine and rarely volunteered. $12 a month is $144 a year
for one phone call.
4. Your savings earn 0.01% and prices rise about 3% a
year. What is happening to $10,000 sitting there?
It loses purchasing power. Real return ≈ rate
earned − inflation. The dollars don't shrink; what they buy does. Moving idle savings to
an insured account paying a competitive rate fixes it with no added risk.
5. Which of these is not covered by FDIC insurance,
even when bought at your bank?
Annuities and mutual funds aren't insured deposits.
FDIC coverage ($250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category) covers
deposits: checking, savings, money market deposit accounts, and CDs. Investment products
sold in a bank lobby are not deposits.
6. Someone claiming to be your grandchild calls from jail,
needs bail, and asks you not to tell their parents. The voice sounds right.
Hang up and call directly. Voice-cloning makes the
sound worthless as evidence, and scammers research families online, so trivia isn't proof
either. The secrecy request is the tell. Agree on a family password today.
7. What does freezing your credit cost, and what does it
do to your credit score?
Free, and no effect on your score. It only blocks
new credit from being opened in your name. Your existing cards keep working, and
you can lift it any time. Do it at all three bureaus.
8. You realize you sent $3,000 to a scammer yesterday.
What comes first?
Call the bank first, today. Some transfers can be
stopped within hours. Then report it (reportfraud.ftc.gov or 1-833-372-8311), file a
police report, and freeze your credit. Silence is what scammers count on, and victim
lists get resold, so reporting protects you from the next attempt.
Numeraldo teaches this course in person at senior centers, libraries, and community
organizations, free of charge. To arrange a workshop, write to
info@numeraldo.org or call
(609) 490-8008. There's also a
teen track, which many families work through together.
About this course. Numeraldo is a numeracy education nonprofit. This material is
educational and general. It is not personalized financial, tax, legal, or insurance advice,
and it describes United States rules and institutions. Benefit ages, tax rules, and program
details change; confirm anything specific to your situation with Social Security, Medicare, the
IRS, or a professional you chose and contacted yourself. Phone numbers and web addresses were
accurate at the time of writing; if one doesn't work, reach the Eldercare Locator at
1-800-677-1116 and ask to be directed. Dollar figures in examples are illustrations.
