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Can we talk about those 'free' financial advisor seminars at hotels?
I went to one last fall at the Marriott downtown, thinking it was just a talk. They got me to sign up for a whole life insurance plan pitched as an investment. I put in $200 a month for eight months before I really looked at the fees. I'm out over $1,600 and the cash value is basically zero. Has anyone else gotten stuck in something like this and found a good way to get out of it?
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the_susan1mo ago
You're focusing on the fees now, but you did get a death benefit from day one for those eight months. That's real coverage you paid for, not nothing. These plans are long term by design, so a low cash value early on is normal and expected. It sounds like the advisor should have explained the timeline better, but the product itself isn't a scam.
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patg921mo ago
Yeah, the death benefit part is key. Read a deep dive that said these policies can take like 10-15 years to really break even on the cash value side.
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the_sage9d ago
@the_susan is right that whole life isn't a total scam but man, the way they push it at these free dinners is predatory. I fell for the same thing with a different company and it took me six months of calling and threatening to report them to get out with most of my money back.
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