February 25, 2008 4:44PM

Leave Grandma Alone

By Cheryl Casone

Sometimes, well, many times it is the behind the scenes events here that make things very interesting. Today, was one of those days.

We had a segment about the selling of one’s own life insurance policy. It’s an old practice, and has been around for years (Tom tells me) but it seems to have recently gained steam. Why? Because now with more of the “young” investors, or targets, as you may not realize you are when it comes to the selling of financial products, the same guys who invented the subprime loan, realize that seniors, who have a guaranteed check coming every month, are ripe for the picking.

So, there you are 80, and you own your house outright, no more payments, and you have a life insurance policy you’ve been paying on, and you need some money. Or, maybe you are much younger than that, and think, hey, what a great deal. This company/person/agent is offering to pay me monthly for my house (a reverse mortgage), or pay me for my life insurance policy. So, when I die, the payment goes to someone else.

Tom and I really got into this one, because elder scams is something that makes our blood boil. So much of the time, there is someone out there willing to sell you, your mom, your grandma, some annuity, or vehicle, or policy. It always sounds good, and they always smile when they pitch you.

But Tom and I both were frustrated that people, in particular the older generation, are becoming more of a target. Tom was saying “hey these products have been around forever.” He didn’t feel the story was fresh. But, I completely disagree. As I pointed out above, with subprime loans gone, and credit tightening everywhere, who else to go after more aggressively than those that have fixed income, probably do not care as much about their credit rating, and are much of the time susceptible to either scare tactics and/or charming sales pitches.

I don’t know about you, but what if some shark (aka Tony Soprano) buys your life insurance policy from you? Lock your doors, bolt the windows, and please, please, be careful out there.

CC