By: Brandy Avery
Director of Financial Empowerment Services
Columbus Urban League

April 15. (April 18 this year). It’s the anxious time when every American must file personal income tax returns with the IRS. Sadly, people living with gambling addiction may cope with even more devastating financial worries 365 days a year.

Estimates vary but many peg the average debt of male gamblers at $50,000 or more, Bruce Jones, lead gambling addiction expert at Maryhaven, has seen patients who have dug financial craters as deep as $150,000, using their own and even other people’s money.

For gamblers, their precarious fiscal situation sets them out for “chasing” or the myth that somehow they can make everything right and solve all their problems by just “hitting the big one” the next time they gamble. This one-more roll mentality lies at the heart of the addiction that hijacks brains and common sense.

For family members and loved ones, money woes may represent the last straw in a stressful, dysfunctional situation. Not only can’t they trust their loved one anymore, their sense of financial security is crumbling as well.

You are not powerless. Consider the following steps as a means to protect your finances and put yourself in a better position to help a loved one overcome a gambling problem…

1. Shift financial control
Take the gambler’s name off any financial assets or accounts you have, particularly if you’re married. In addition, change your ATM PIN. Your banker can walk you through this process.

If you have life insurance policies and have beneficiaries listed, and if that person is gambling, you want to remove that person as beneficiary. Shift the responsibility to another person. Until the gambler recovers and can be trusted with finances, you don’t want to give them access to shared accounts or assets.

Check your bank account beneficiary very carefully. Even your living will designations won’t trump your bank account beneficiary designation. Whomever is listed on your account will gain control of those funds. If you want to ensure the person who is addicted to gambling receives some funds in the event you pass, set aside resources for them in a separate account or a trust.

2. Protect and monitor
Do you get a lot of pre-screened credit card offers in the mail? The major consumer credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – look at credit histories and mail offers of credit to people who meet their criteria. These credit offers you get in the mail are bursting with personal information, typically your name, telephone number and other personal information. They could be an easy invitation to steal for the gambler in your household. Stop the credit bureaus from sending you these offers. When you opt out, you reduce the risk of someone opening accounts in your name.

OptOutPrescreen.com is the official consumer credit reporting industry website to accept and process requests from consumers to opt in or out of firm offers of credit or insurance. You can remove your name from their list by visiting their website, or by calling them at 888-567-8688.

You should also check your credit reports quarterly. This is a good way to see if any bills have been paid late or are past due. You can get your credit report free once a year at annualcreditreport.com. Each of the credit bureaus provide you with a free report once a year. The tip we give to people we work with is to pull a credit report from one source every quarter. For example, get your credit report from Experian, then a report from TransUnion three months later.

You can also lock your credit, if you want 100 percent protection. Go to each of the credit agencies and tell them to lock your credit, or go to their websites, create an account and lock them yourself. If anyone, including you, tries to open an account using your name, they will be denied. You’ll get an alert and you will need a passcode to open an account in your name.

3. Take care of yourself first
You want to help a family member get back on track and recover from financial loss. But don’t jeopardize your own financial health in doing so. Don’t pay debts you are not responsible for out of your personal accounts. If you pull large sums of money out at once, credit bureaus and banks will view you as the risk. This could damage your ability to borrow for education, a new car or a new home.

These “mechanical” steps are tricky but often not the hardest part in protecting yourself or helping a loved one recover financially from a gambling problem. The hard part can be sitting down with that person, going over the monthly budget and showing them just how gambling addiction chips away at the entire family’s financial security. Sometimes the shock value will help them see the light and understand their household obligations. Trained counselors at Maryhaven can help you decide when, if and how to have these conversations.

Don’t stand still staring at the depths of your financial cliff. Protect yourself, your family and even your gambler and breathe easier because of it.

See video of Brandy’s recent presentation on finances on our Video Seminar page.