Barbservations From a Free Dinner Seminar

Not a week goes by that I don’t receive colorful tri-fold invitations to free meal seminars for investments and preplanned burials and cremations. Sometimes as many as five a week. Living in a 55+ community in a state (Florida) with many older adults undoubtedly makes me a target. 

Recently, some neighbors and I decided to attend an investment seminar, primarily to see the venue, which is a high-end private golf club in a gated community that is not generally open to the public. I also figured that I would get some useful content for a blog post in addition to the free meal.

Below are five “Barbservations” about the seminar format, content, and take-aways:

You Will Get Hungry- I typically eat dinner around 6:30 pm, which is when the presentation was slated to start. Actually, it was more like 6:45 pm. The meal did not get served until 7:45 pm. Luckily, I expected this might happen and brought a granola bar to tide me over when my stomach started to growl loudly. I couldn’t help wondering if everyone else was getting very hungry also. I saw a few people looking at their watches.

Content Did Not Match the Invitation- Ten topics were listed in the seminar invitation. Only a few were actually addressed in the presentation, which included the presenter’s life story, topics not listed on the invitation, and a variety of “industry-speak” phrases (e.g., “duly licensed”). There were, however, several very instructive stories (e.g., a client who never changed a beneficiary designation from his deceased father to his wife, had no contingent beneficiary, and the asset took 13 months to go through probate, thereby delaying much needed income to the spouse).

Changes in Guaranteed Income- This is an important topic for retired married couples, who comprised the bulk of the audience. A story was shared about a couple that had $6,000 in income and only $2,000 when the wife was widowed and lost all pension benefits and was left with only one Social Security check. I’m not sure why this was so. Fear mongering? Under the 1984 Retirement Equity Act, workers cannot waive survivor benefits without the written consent of their spouses. There should not be any unexpected surprises. Take-away: a good question for spouses to ask each other is “If you die first, how much money will I receive?”

Fees Erode Wealth Accumulation- The presenter asked for a show of hands to answer questions about attendees’ knowledge of prices for consumer purchases (e.g., food and gas). He then went on to make the point that, unlike food and gas prices, many investors do not know what they pay in fees for investments and investment advisory services. Point well taken. If someone pays 2% of a $100,000 portfolio in fund + advisor fees, that is $2,000 a year and $20,000 in ten years!

Payable on Death Designations- The presenter rightly noted that Payable on Death (PoD) designations on bank accounts (as well as Transfer on Death (ToD) on investments) are a form of estate planning so non-retirement account assets can pass free of probate. Like beneficiaries, PoD and ToD designations must be kept updated. An excellent piece of advice was to keep adding PoDs to new CDs that rollover from previous CDs because they are a new contract.

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.