Introduction

Should a senior purchase an annuity? The answer depends on the person's financial, health and personal situation and goals. For some, an annuity can be an appropriate part of an overall financial plan. For others, an annuity can be totally unsuitable.

How to Protect Yourself.  Annuities can be confusing. Get the facts! You need to do your homework, before you invest. You need to know the details of any annuity being offered to you. You need to know whether the annuity fits your situation.

Effective January 1, 2004, California added annuity sale protections for seniors, covering meetings in a senior's home, unnecessary replacement policies and more. A model for other states? Our article on this legislation.

To help do your homework and make better decisions about annuities, read our Special Report. In this free Special Report you'll find 

• information on how annuities work,
• warnings from financial writers and regulators,
• the truth about certain alleged benefits of annuities,
• our list of "stinky" annuity sales situations,
• and more.

Already Purchased an Unsuitable Annuity? Go to our new Who Can Help section for information on who to complain to.

Who are we? H.E.L.P. (Healthcare and Elder Law Programs Corporation) is an awardwinning, private, I.R.C. §501(c)(3) nonprofit education and counseling center providing impartial information to older adults and their families on elder care, law, finances, consumer protection and more. See the H.E.L.P. web site at www.help4srs.org

Why are we doing this? We fulfill our mission by providing impartial information to older adults and their caring families and friends. 

An important part of H.E.L.P.'s work is helping people plan ahead, to maintain control of their care and finances. In doing our work, we often discuss the financial steps people have taken. All too frequently in these discussions, we find that seniors have been sold annuities in what appear to be very inappropriate circumstances.

Seniors and their families need more information about annuities. We’re very concerned that people are not being told in a clear way about all aspects of the annuities they are being offered. Our Special Report is part of our work to address this. We admit that our Special Report does not provide a complete and balanced statement of advantages and disadvantages. We’ve had to choose what to discuss. It appears that advantages of annuities are being covered by those who successfully sell them. So, we’ve chosen to focus on disadvantages of annuities that frequently apply to seniors. Our hope is that readers will use our Special Report as part of developing their own balanced understanding of annuities.

Our concern is reinforced by the stomach-turning report in the Wall Street Journal on July 2, 2002 detailing annuity sales training by "Annuity University." For a summary, go to WSJ Report.

For more news and alerts, see the SeniorTruth blog.

How do we make our money? This site is free. All of our services are free or low-cost. We do not have any financial product to sell, nor do we prepare legal documents, take on representation of clients or accept referral fees. More than 90% of the funding for our services and programs comes from donations by individuals, families and couples, and from grants by foundations and corporations. The bulk of the remainder comes from our modest publication and service charges. H.E.L.P. is an I.R.S.-recognized Section 501(c)(3) public charity, and donations are deductible as charitable contributions. You can make a donation on-line.

May 2007