Category: Annuities

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 Beware Fixed Index Annuities Phantom Bonuses and Other Downsides Insurance agents and financial advisors use the current volatile stock market environment to push fixed indexed annuities, particularly on seniors or persons getting close to retirement and concerned about future income levels. Industry reports say sales are up. Products […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Keeping Retirement Savings for Yourself Avoid Deferred Annuities With Fees and Surrender Charges The closer you get to retiring the more you try and save for the future. While saving as much as you can is important, where you put those savings is equally important. Insurance agents, financial […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER FINRA Probes Compliance With Elder Abuse Rules The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has announced it will soon start investigating broker compliance with new rules meant to protect elderly clients from financial elder abuse.[1]  The rules allow broker-dealers to place a hold on elderly clients’ account disbursements if they have […]

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 What are Riders? Riders are attachments to deferred annuities sold by agents as enhanced benefits. They come with an additional fee added to your base premium. Available riders include income riders, long-term care riders, death benefit riders and other policy “enhancements.”  All of these add-ons are expensive and […]

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 Policyholder Risks on Universal Life Insurance Hitting Seniors Hardest A hidden risk that premiums can skyrocket lies in universal life insurance. Unlike term and whole life insurance, universal life policies allow flexible premium payments but those payments can increase dramatically over time leaving consumers with the poor choice […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Beware Fixed Index Annuities Phantom Bonuses and Other Downsides Insurance agents and financial advisors use this low interest rate/volatile stock market environment to push fixed indexed annuities, particularly on seniors or persons getting close to retirement and concerned about future income levels. Agents claim the contracts offer the […]

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 […]