One of the most frightening stories I have heard about a retiree is the one where her daughter came to our office and her face was ghostly pale. No, this isn’t a fictional character. Sadly, this story is too often told and true. Our client’s mother had been talked into an investment that “guarantees her a return with a bonus paid up front”. This particular investment sounds good but the problem was the mother’s age was 89 years young! Suitability is the key word for this type of investment.
Investments that require prolonged surrender periods, the time at which you can recover your original investment without a penalty, should be skeptically analyzed for appropriateness for the investor. In the present instance, our client’s mother was 89 years of age and the investment had a surrender period of 12 years. Her mother would be 101 years of age before she could recover her $300,000 original investment. I will admit that U.S. citizens are living longer that that experienced in the 1860’s but the likelihood of living to 101 and not needing her funds for medical care is improbable.
Not only did her mother invest the $300,000, she had very little liquid funds available should in-home aides be required or nursing home care admittance become a necessity. By investing in illiquid, long-term investments, the client’s mother would not experience the type of lifestyle she was accustomed. Diversification is an excellent tool to minimize exposure to this type of danger. These products are not illegal or unusual. The biggest hurdle for many people is that the products are sold by individuals with a benefit for themselves. Commissions on some of these products can be 10% or higher.
A better alternative is to utilize investments that ladder or vary in maturity. For example, if you need fixed income interest payments, perhaps you would want to purchase individual, highly-rated bonds with varying maturity dates. Some jumbo certificates of deposit may be utilized for laddering purposes so that your interest rates vary depending on the term of the deposit.
If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. There is no substitute for sound, independent, financial advice delivered by a fiduciary advisor. Select someone that does not have a vested interest in the sale of the product but rather the success of the client’s investment in meeting their goals. As a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, it is our policy and process to place the client’s interests ahead of our own. There is another old question I ask some of my financial professional colleagues that brings this thought to light: “Would you invest your mother’s money in the same way as you are recommending your 89 year old client?”.
Don’t take chances with your financial security. Apply generally acceptable and proven strategies for meeting your family’s needs. Let’s end this column with a quote from Warren Buffet, “Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.” See you on the golf course!
