Unscrupulous political fundraising

Aggressive fundraising tactics by political campaigns are especially likely to ensnare older Americans, said Shane Goldmacher in The New York Times. Manipulative donation requests can trick people of all ages into giving more money than they intended. But an analysis of refunded donations, “which often occur when contributors feel unsatisfied or duped,” found that in 2020 “four times as much money was refunded to donors 70 and older as to adults under the age of 50.” Some email campaigns specifically target older internet users with subject lines like “Social Security.” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent emails saying “Final Notice,” making it appear “as if actual bills are at risk of defaulting.” The Trump campaign last year received a “surge of fraud complaints” after it “made donations automatically recur weekly,” a practice widely seen as the “most egregious” fundraising abuse. hike in the capital gains tax for wealthy investors “could accelerate the shift.” Mutual fund managers “are required to distribute the capital gain when a fund sells a stock that has appreciated.” By contrast, managers of ETFs, which are structured as a single stock that investors can buy or sell, rarely have to sell stock in the companies they own. The flight to ETFs creates new mutual-fund risks, as shrinking funds might “find themselves with no choice but to sell the underlying stock.”