WhiteS2k

We get invitations to these Retirement Planning "Seminars" just about once every other week. It is usually held at some fancy restaurant, hotel, or country club. My wife and I would go depending on the place and our schedule, and we've had some great (free) meals -- for example, we discovered a great Moroccan restaurant because of these seminars. My conclusion, based on the venues and the meals, is that Retirement Planning must be a very profitable business. I found that many of these are "hosted" by husband and wife teams. Some of these people are well into their late 60s or early 70s, with difficulty remembering what to say. And yet, they continue to give these "seminars" to try to get other people's money.

Do you get such invitations? Do you ever attend?

fltsfshr

I get a lot of them. Most of them promise a free dinner at a nice restaurant. Some of them send very nice looking invitations.

I have no idea where they got my name. I'd like to join a do not solicit list however. They seem to have replaced AARP in the quantity of solicitations.

fltsfshr

Jet sitter

Receive them all the time and I never attend. I would think by now, they would stop sending them. I posted up on this a couple of years ago and someone mentioned that they go by zip codes. Anyhow, I don't need any experts to tell me how to lose money.

trapper

A buddy of mine and I went to one for fun just after we'd retired [our wives were glad to get is out of the their hair for a couple of nights]. It was a two evening event given at the local community college by some financial group. The first night was OK and somewhat informative. The second night was devoted to the hard sell of a variable annuity with ridiculous fees and penalties. Those were glossed over during the talk and were buried in the fine print of the contract.....We did NOT buy in. That was the only one I ever went to.

I still get invites from time to time from various organizations and some of the restaurants and dinners look really nice, but I'll pass.

NNY S2k

X2
Levi

valentine

X3

ralper

There really is no such thing as a free lunch, or in this case, a free dinner. In exchange for the meal you have to sit and listen to a sales pitch that generally is much more painful than the meal is good.

Years ago insurance salesmen used to promise a free atlas, diary or some trinket with no obligation but only if they could deliver it personally. After the first one Liz and I vowed never to fall for that type of promotion again.

I get lots of these offers every week. Everything from estate planning, to investing, to retirement planning to long term healthcare. We even get invites to sessions about time shares and vacation properties. Most often they go into the shredder immediately after they're opened.

I also get a lot of mail marked Official and/or Time Sensitive. Usually they're from car dealers or companies trying to sell us extended warranties. I get a lot of credit card offers too.

MsPerky

X3
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X4.

dlq04

I would rather go to the dentist than sit through a sales presentation, no matter what the product or meal.

WhiteS2k

I wonder if the S2ki community is different from the general public. I only go when I want to check out a new restaurant. And of the few times that I attended, the hall is always full of people. Yet I have never heard of anyone actually giving these organizers any money to invest. So my conclusion is that they must make a LOT of money from the few who do sign up.