Is the Bank Stealing Your Inheritance???
The main reason I started this site/blog is to educate people about the insides of the financial products so people will be able to make the right choices. I been in a waiting room, and like always I picked a magazine from the coffee table to read. Often, you can tell a lot about people just by observing what kind of magazines/books they read.
Being interested in finance and related topics, I picked an older magazine called: Investment Executive’s Money Planner 2006.
I’m reading few articles and arrived to this article called, “Planned Exit” written by Yan Barcelo. As I’m reading, the article title:” The piece-of-mind way” awakened my interest. After reading the article, I felt like screaming right there in the middle of the waiting room. The truth of the matter is simple…innocent people are being hurt. I can’t sit back with a clear conscience and watch it happen.
Unfortunately, the financial industry is very self-serving and places their own interests before those of the investors. There are inside secrets what the financial industry doesn’t want to expose to its clients, as in many instances what is sold as the “Clients Best” may not be the client, but the banks and insurance companies Best.
Often products are sold without making sure that the client really understands the benefits and the disadvantage at the same time. The “benefits” are sold, but not knowing the other side of the coin can really hurt and cost you a lot. There are financial products which I will NOT offer you as often they have more disadvantages then real benefits.
I have no problem with those people who are in total understanding about what they own, they know the good and the bad and then they purposely choose that specific product. My experience whatever is that over again I meet clients who have no idea what they own, how that product works and after they are exposed to the whole picture they realized they been ripped off. That absolutely aggravates me, as I think trading on someone’s ignorance is a selfish act.
In an industry that’s supposed to help you protect your financial future, it’s shocking to see how much misguidance, poor judgment, and flat out lying is going on. It’s outrageous and unacceptable and I can no longer sit by and watch it happen! Everyday, unsuspecting people are being taken advantage of by bank and insurance companies and something has to be done about it. The least I can do is to put the information out and hopefully many will be able to read it and make a right choice.
If you’re thinking about buying an annuity, then this is the most important information you’ll ever read. If you have parents who are getting older and you are looking forward for some inheritance make sure you read this whole article about annuities as the bank or insurance company may steal your inheritance. I absolutely believe when parents work hard they do it to provide for their family and themselves, and then leave some for their kids. The fruits of their hard labor should not be transferred to banks or insurance companies. If your parents choose to give away some of their money, they can choose the charitable organization they would like to support. I believe in giving but that is a personal choice to give, not someone taking advantage of you and talking you into an annuity as a “benefit” for you to give away your hard earn money.
A lot of people have their investments, retirement investments, their RRSP, with the bank. When the banks sees that you have accumulated (over years of hard work and diligent financial planning) some money, and they know your age group and where you stand financially, they will call to invite you for a FREE personal one-in-one counseling to discuss your future financial plan (Interestingly they had no time to counsel you when you started your investments maybe with $25.00 or $50.00 a month). The focus on that counseling, is just as the article I read “The peace-of –mind way”, “The guaranteed income” which sounds great when you’re few months ahead of retirement, especially, in a down market like these days. Today you can sell any financial product if you mention the guarantee word. The Guarantee word has its own magic effect in peoples mind. But keep in mind every kind of Guarantee has its own price!!! Guarantee in NEVER FREE!!! In an annuity contract the guarantee may be that your kids will not receive an inheritance. It all depends on your financial situation.
Ideally, your annuity should be a good deal for your bank, the insurance company and most importantly YOU! However, I see time and time again customers that were told one thing and the truth of the matter is entirely different. Honestly it’s very disturbing.
So who is benefiting from this outright deception? Yeah you guessed it right! Banks, financial institutions and sales agents. And it’s costing you financial security – the very thing annuity sellers promise their products provide.
Some sales agents will use complicated wording to try and confuse you so that they can put you in an annuity that is best for them (meaning, they’ll make bigger commission!) Others make it sound so simple (which annuities are far from simple, if financial products are complicated then annuities are the worst). Either way, these tactics are cleverly crafted to get you to buy.
The big challenge in the industry is that the pay is very high for someone who can sell annuities and the bigger the commission, the bigger the temptation to sell an annuity even if it’s wrong for you! The financial institutions have deep pockets and can afford to pay these agents handsomely in exchange for the opportunity to part you from your hard earned money. It wouldn’t be so bad if the consumer was aware of everything up front and could make an educated decision. However, that’s almost NEVER the case.
YOU end up paying for it. The reward per sale is so high that MANY agents will do anything to make the sale from omitting important information (they claim what you don’t know won’t hurt you) to flat out lying.
Don’t get me wrong… there are plenty of hard working and honest agents out there that care about their clients. Furthermore, annuities can be a sensible choice if the right product is chosen and it is used properly.
Again, there are agents out there that simply don’t understand the annuities they sell.So they sell you something even they don’t fully comprehend- but quite frankly that doesn’t justify their action, and I don’t care that they don’t know the bad and the ugly side of an annuity. Many financial institutions were feeding agents half truths. They were making some annuities look so good in the brochure while underneath it all; they were truly products that would end up being a bad deal for the consumer and great only for the insurance companies and the agents selling them.
It is a shame that the people who claim that they care about our financial security and look after our good, even though they look knowledgeable and they sell themselves as the ones who know what they are talking about often have no knowledge of the insides of the product they sell.
However, annuities can be one of the best or worst vehicles to you reaching your financial goals. A bad or unsuitable annuity can cost you tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and can hurt you and your loved ones that you hoped to one day benefit from your hard work and life’s savings.
Once you buy an annuity, there’s no changing course. A guaranteed income sounds like big advantages, but there are also some high risks. An annuity can have an impact that reaches far into your financial future. You have to think ahead because, in most cases, you can’t reverse your decision. It’s a big decision, and once you sign up, your money is locked in.
Now to found out what is an annuity and how it works and what other options you have go to: What is an annuity
Related posts:
- What Types of Annuities are Available?
- What Is an Annuity?
- Protect Your Capital!
- Annuity Risks and What You Should Know!
- Bank of Canada Lowers Interest Rate
Great posting. Thanks for useful information.