Category: Annuities Fraud

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Truth About Deferred Annuities Buyer Beware Investment analyst Ken Fisher’s take on deferred annuities is blunt: “I’d rather die and go to hell before selling an annuity.” [1] As over the top that may sound, Fisher’s investment experience has taught him that annuities are costly and complicated […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER How Insurance Agents Financially Exploit Seniors Unscrupulous insurance agents can really wreak havoc on a senior’s finances. Agents prey on seniors’ anxiety over income security in a drive to sell commission-generating annuities and life insurance, including whole life, universal and equity-indexed policies.  In that drive for commissions, agents […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Beware Annuities, Whole Life and Equity-Indexed Life Insurance  Consider the Drawbacks and Downsides Insurance agents and financial advisors push annuities and whole and equity-indexed life insurance as part of retirement savings plans, particularly on seniors or persons getting close to retirement and concerned about future income levels. Beware.  All of […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuity Salesmen Target Seniors Avoid the “Free Lunch” Commission-driven insurance agents target seniors and retirement savers with all kinds of complicated annuities especially in volatile markets. There’s an inherent conflict in their sales pitch because what’s best for the agent isn’t necessarily what’s best for the consumer. One […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuity Scams Targeted At Seniors Annuity Fraud On average, a senior victimized by financial elder abuse loses over $140,000. That level of monetary loss is devastating.  Unscrupulous insurance agents are among the financial predators on seniors, selling them unsuitable annuities and life insurance that line agents’ pockets with […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER FINRA Continues Fines on Sales of Unsuitable L Share Annuities Variable annuities are sold as B-share and L-share contracts.  B-share annuities are the more common and sold to investors with long-term investment horizons. B-shares typically have lengthy surrender charge periods.  L Share Variable Annuities are a type of […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Preventing Fraud and Abusive Practices Always Check Backgrounds Before You Buy Hopefully, you already check the backgrounds of any contractors or caregivers or others you let in your home to do work. Checking the background of anyone trying to sell you an investment is equally important!  The Securities […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER FINRA Levies Big Fines in 2018 for Sales of Unsuitable Annuities and Other Misconduct The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) polices financial advisor fraud including recommendations of unsuitable annuities. The agency detected a disturbing trend of sales to consumers, including seniors, of unsuitable products and “largely unsupervised” inappropriate […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER How Insurance Agents Can Financially Exploit Seniors Unscrupulous insurance agents can really wreak havoc on a senior’s finances. Agent misconduct ranges from outright theft to more subtle forms of exploitation such as selling unsuitable life insurance and annuity policies or churning a senior’s existing policies into new ones […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Beware the Hard-Sell Free Steak Dinner High Pressure After a Free Meal Seniors and retirement investors grow anxious in a volatile stock market. Insurance agents seize on that anxiety to push annuities and life insurance as “safer” investments for the future.  One sales tactic is to offer a […]