Most seniors do business with the same places over the years. The same insurance company, auto dealer, plumbers, etc. We’ve spent decades buying goods and services from folks whom we have come to trust. But should we assume that they’re always 100% honest? Be wary. Don’t let anyone mess with your money.
Last month, we received a call from our insurance agent We weren’t sure why we’d been called in for an interview, and wondered if some policy was being cancelled. Turns out he wanted us to buy an annuity. After a lengthy sales pitch, he gave us the most salient feature of this type of investment—we could leave it to our beneficiaries tax free. That rang a bell, since I had inherited a small Payable On Death certificate years ago, and had not had to pay taxes on anything except the subsequent accrued interest.
When I pointed out that we could receive that same benefit with a CD purchased from our bank, with a Payable On Death beneficiary, he smiled at my ignorance, and assured me that I was misinformed. I felt my confidence wavering. After all, that inheritance was 30 years ago. The tax laws had probably changed, and maybe I was too old to realize that. And yet, I wasn’t quite ready to sign on the dotted line. We told him we’d think it over.
At home, I went on the internet and found that the tax laws hadn’t changed. A payable on death CD is considered an inheritance. And, unless you have an estate of over 11 million dollars, it is not taxable in my state.
Was the agent poorly informed, or was he purposely deceiving us in order to make a sale? Either answer is disturbing. We’re satisfied with our insurance coverage, so this won’t make us change companies. But, we won’t be buying an annuity.
Although I was disappointed in that person, I put the incident out of my mind until last week, during the polar vortex. . The heat in our house was not coming up to where we had set the thermostat, and since we have a service contract, we called our contractor. They arrived promptly, and I went upstairs to check my computer, confident that they would take care of things. About half an hour later, my husband called me downstairs because the serviceman needed to talk with us. Uh oh. That didn’t sound good.
He said we need a new inducer motor, and that it would cost about $400. That seemed reasonable. However, before we could agree to the purchase, he pointed out that our furnace was getting old, and now that we were starting to incur expensive repair costs, it would probably be wiser to buy a new furnace. When I asked what that would cost, he said about $5.000 to $10,000. He assured us we could have a new furnace within a few days. I said, no, just go ahead and order the new part.
Once again, I turned to the internet for advice. First, I learned that an inducer motor is not even a part of the furnace—it’s just a booster fan . And its breakdown does not indicate the need for a new furnace. Also, I found that the average cost for a new furnace is somewhere between $4,000 to $6,000. (not $10,000)
It appeared that the person representing the company we trusted for years wanted us to buy an unneeded , overpriced furnace.
Two similar incidents with salespeople in a one month period makes me wonder. Are seniors targeted for deceptive sales practices? Do they think we’re too senile to check things out?
.These incidents didn’t come close to being fraudulent, and I’m quite sure no lawyer would have advised us to take legal action had we fallen for these sales pitches. . Nevertheless, it’s disappointing to know that even the most reputable of companies might attempt to deceive the elderly..
Seniors: Don’t let anyone mess with your money.