An 83-year-old asked for a CD and got a 7-year annuity instead. Jeff Camarda breaks down how banks blur the line between CDs and annuities.
Annuities
Free Advice Can Be Incredibly Expensive
A free retirement workshop nearly cost a couple $50K in hidden annuity commissions. Here’s what Fred and Ethel learned the hard way.
Annuity Bait & Switch Case Study: He Went to the Bank for a CD . . .
We’ll close with this sad and amusing story, which kind of sums up the modern state of the annuities minefield. Walter is a soft-spoken 83-year-old who popped up at one of our workshops. He said he came in so we…
Annuity Horror Story Case Study: Johnny and the Annuity He Didn’t Have
This one’s not really an annuity story, but probably sets the stage for a new book, “Got Life Insurance?”, “Got Whole Life?”, or something like that. Johnny is a professional in his mid-40s who does quite well. He came to…
Annuity Commissions & Misrepresentation Case Study: He’ll Be 99 When He’s Free
An engaging 84-year-old, Bill showed up at a lunch workshop just after Thanksgiving, and had brought all his paperwork with him. Like so many others, Bill had sensed that “something just wasn’t right” with his investments, and decided to jump…
Annuity Misrepresentation & Fraud Case Study: George and the 3% “Misunderstanding”
George has been a client for a while, recently retired, and has plenty of money to get through retirement, though he worries about it all the time. It turned out that George had purchased a small (for him) index annuity…
Unsuitable Annuity Sales Case Study: The Teacher and the Worthless STACK of Annuities
Beatrice has been a client for many years now. Her husband, Jack, used to handle most of the finances, but since he died, Bea has dealt with me directly. Fortunately, Bea is quite well off. Between Jack’s retirement plan and…
Problems with Annuities Case Study: The Plumber’s Helper and Her Last $10,000
Marcie is divorced and is the 38-year-old mother of one child. She really has to scrape to get by on the $15,000 or so she makes a year carrying plumbing supplies and gluing plastic pipe. Like so many these days,…
Deceptive Annuity Sales Case Study: The Nice Man from the Library
This is a story we drew from for one of the very first chapters. Fred and Ethyl, both in their late 60s, went to a seminar at the local library, and would end up getting hard-pitched on a super-high commission…
Annuity Pitfalls Case Study: The PVC Tycoon
Harry’s in his early 70s and still runs several companies, the most profitable of which cranks out plastic in Georgia like you would not believe. Phyllis is his wife. They’re worth millions (mostly due to Harry’s grit and sweat) most…