Chris Hansen from Dateline on this forum
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If you are not aware, Dateline NBC did an expose on Equity Indexed Annuities 2 days ago. Chris Hansen (known for his “To Catch A Predator” series) delved into the unsightly underbelly of unscrupulous practices by insurance professionals to prey on unsespecting seniors.
In other news, there is a poster on this forum named "Chris Hansen" who started topics relating to EIA's...Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Could this be the same guy? Maybe doing some research for his show? Perhaps. Inquiring minds want to know... What do you think? Do a search on "Chirs Hansen" and see for yourself.It is a little coincidental. After looking at his posts, there is more to say it's not the Chris Hansen from Dateline than there is to say it is him.
I don't think Chris Hansen would come on here and talk about cold calling, sales assistants, or anything like that. But it is interesting and you'll never know.Who cares if it was him or not. He had a good story to share of those that do prey on the elderly…they should be exposed. That only allows those of us (that do the correct disclosures) to make more money and sell more legitimate annuities. It really is sad what those door to door insurance sales man do (sometimes).
Miss JCorrect Miss Jones. I mentioned here in the past of a client who was sold several EIA’s by an insurance agent in her Morman church. They have 12-15% surrender charges and she will be dead before they are free of surrender. I think it is great he did this segment.
I had a client come in yesterday who transferred his account from a wirehouse to a ‘trusted’ friend from church that sold him a SHIT annuity. Needless to say the only way to get his money out of the annuity is if he annuitizes it!!! Unbelievable, or pay a 10% surrender charge. I didn’t know people still sold annuities like that.
Miss JMan I would love a copy of that episode! I would just play that at a seminar as the opener…I cant stand the scum that sell EIA’s!
"Mormon" is the correct spelling. Unfortunately we don't have any agents IN our church. You of course meant an agent who was a member of the Mormon chruch. Not sure what that has to do with the scumbag selling her a crappy annuity. I know several scummy insurance agents in my town who are Mormons and many others who are not. I don't think us Mormons have a corner on the market.Correct Miss Jones. I mentioned here in the past of a client who was sold several EIA’s by an insurance agent in her Morman church. They have 12-15% surrender charges and she will be dead before they are free of surrender. I think it is great he did this segment.
Man I do despise them all and hope they get what's comin to them. Go Chris Hansen and anyone else who goes after them.
nestegg and Dark knight,
Are you both trying to say that everyone who sells an EIA is scum?The only people I've known to sell them are scum.
I hope Chris will make this a series and go into the other unethical things those guys do, such as calling after a year and suggesting they move their 10% "free" withdrawal into another annuity, the tax inefficiency of these things as estate planning vehicles, the myraid hoops you have to jump through to get all of the promises, etc. Huge surrender fees is just the tip of the iceberg.At the risk of being tagged as the EIA poster-boy for this board, Borker, you’re over-generalizing based on the scum you see operating in your market. Certainly, if you accumulate a significant piece of earnings in yoru EIA and die, then yes, you have to pay the piper at that point. Never mind the fact that you’ve been able to defer taxes for 20-30 years or more in some cases. Gee, there’s no value at all in that.
As far as hoops, if you're talking about the Allianz MasterDex 10 or something similar, then yes, I agree...your money is basically held hostage. If you are talking about the EIA I use most often, it's easier to get money from than a similar-term CD. Again, you're over-generalizing based on the scum you see in action. I'll ask again, the product I most often use is 5 years, pays some interest regardless of the market, gives some upside market participation AND allows you to walk away after five years with principal plus. Can you show me a mutual fund, VA, or stock that guarantees that? Hey I applaud your ethics and can sympathize with the fact that you are struggling to cope with that despite regulation, there are some real dirtballs in our industry. Just understand that I very much disagree with your premise that all EIAs are bad and all who use them are bad. It just ain't so in my world.After watching Hansen's "TO CATCH A PREDATOR" series last year I was waiting and hoping to see the police tackle the agents after they were "free to leave".
I was also anticipating someone to offer the insurance agent some chocolate chip cookies and lemonade they just made. scrim[quote=scrim67]
After watching Hansen's "TO CATCH A PREDATOR" series last year I was waiting and hoping to see the police tackle the agents after they were "free to leave".
I was also anticipating someone to offer the insurance agent some chocolate chip cookies and lemonade they just made. scrim[/quote] Yeah, I'm kind of surprised the insurance agent didn't bring condoms and booze too.[quote=scrim67]
After watching Hansen's "TO CATCH A PREDATOR" series last year I was waiting and hoping to see the police tackle the agents after they were "free to leave".
I was also anticipating someone to offer the insurance agent some chocolate chip cookies and lemonade they just made. scrim[/quote] Ha Ha ha.. That sure would have been funny. I like how the one guy stood up and called him an AssHole.Sorry for the misspelling Dark Knight…Why I put that in there is because this lady inherited 1.5mil and went to the district head guru of the church. He recommended this loser, who also was part of the religion and an elder??. I can’t keep track of the hierchy of the M church. He pushed her through very quickly because she was about to reach an age where she would not qualify. You know the old trick, show urgency to make the decision.
LOL - great clip. Anyone have a link to the actual show?
Indyone - I do not think all EIA's are terrible. I am referring to the aholes in my town that sell them to anyone with a pulse. They are too easy of a product to sell and abuse. There needs to be more disclosure. bspears - nearly every adult male in our church is an elder, it means nothing as far as position goes. Like I said, I have no doubt your story is true. I've seen the same thing happen. My only point is that it has nothing to do with the religion. I'm sure the "guru" has no clue what the other guy does and it was probably the only "financial guy" that he knows. If the people buying the products do not understand what is going on, how is some "leader guru" (who is probably a farmer or realtor since we have no paid ministry) going to know what is going on.ps. spears I hope you get the account - I'm sure the other guy is an ahole
Also, if that guy slammed the 1.5 into an EIA don't you think she could win in a lawsuit against him and/or the insurance company for suitability?Actually I have 350k of hers already and I guess the funds will come when she passes because of the relationship I have with her 2 children. I printed off the forms from the state insurance department to file a claim, but she is really faithful to her church and doesn’t want to rock any boats. She stated, “I know he did me wrong and he knows and God knows…that’s all that needs to know.”