Flexo over at Consumerism Commentary has a post about an 86 year old man who was doing some banking at a Bank Of America. The teller noticed that he had a high account balance (good for him) and recommended he talk to one of their investment advisers. Long story short, the man ended up being sold a variable annuity. He has to live until 2010 in order to even back out of the deal. Go read the whole post over at Consumerism Commentary.
Situations like these make me mad. I know that each consumer needs to be informed but I think it’s unethical to sell an inappropriate product like that to someone who obviously doesn’t understand. My sole reason for posting this is to bring attention to this situation in hopes that Bank of America will “right a wrong” for this poor old man.
Some Variable Annuities focus on death benefits to heirs. Also he can get a portion of his money out every year. While it may be suspect I don’t think there is enough evidence here to show it was unsuitable. Also the daughter demanding the broker liquidate it is WAY out of line, they do not know her relationship with her father so they cannot do as she says.
Yes, there are some variables here. I can’t think of when an annuity would be such a great deal for an 86 year old though either way.