TIAA-CREF Becomes TIAA, But Not "tee-ah"

TIAA-CREF, a company that everyone I know refer to as TIAA (or tee-ah) has now become TIAA.

But don't call them TIAA (tee-ah), no, that is a bridge to far, they are T.I.A.A. (tee-eye-ay-ay).

Note: "ay" is simply a long "a".

While there are no periods between the letters, you are not supposed to pronounce TIAA as a word, instead you are still supposed to say each letter, so much for simplification.

The CEO, Roger Ferguson says they are "shortening the name, modernizing it and making it more contemporary," but are they? Yesterday it was "tee-eye-ay-ay CREF" and today it's "tee-eye-ay-ay" with the CREF dropped. I have no idea why you have to say each letter, T...I...A....A, but then you can get away with saying CREF (pronounced...cref) without having to say those letters. Well at least you won't have to say "CREF" anymore (though CREF is not disappearing).

Yes, "tee-eye-ay-ay" is shorter than "tee-eye-ay-ay-CREF", but why not just TIAA (tee-ah), wouldn't that in reality be "shortening, modernizing...and..more contemporary"?

Isola: Why Can’t 3.6 Million Teachers Get a Group Discount on their 403(b) Plans?

My friend over at Ritholz Wealth Management, Tony Isola, is out with a new blog post today revealing the disappointing fact that Public School Employees don't get the benefit of their collective bargaining when it comes to their defined contribution 403(b) plans.

Tony elaborates:

"Companies like Walmart are able to receive massive discounts from their suppliers. The reason for this enormous competitive advantage is they buy in tremendous bulk. They maximize their gargantuan resources to get the lowest prices from their vendors.

Contrast this with teachers’ 403(b) plans, that do just the opposite. Instead of collectivizing the investment needs of millions of teachers, spindly individual contracts with plan vendors are the rule."

There is one union that I'm aware of that does use their collective power and the collective bargaining process to help teachers and that is the Wisconsin Education Association, the WEA Trust. www.weatrust.com.

Read Tony's article at his blog, A Teachable Moment.

Inga Chira on CSU Transistion to Single Vendor - Fidelity

I recently met a CSU Professor who has opened a Registered Investment Advisory firm to work with Higher Education employees, her name is Inga Chira. She wrote a short piece on the transition that the Cal State system is currently undergoing from five 403(b) vendors to just one, Fidelity.

How Do We Survive All These Investment Choices... and a BONUS: Upcoming 403(b) Changes

By Inga Chira

Big changes are coming to the Cal State 403(b) plan on April 1st. 

Right now, there are FIVE 403(b) providers. In April, there will be only ONE. And that will be Fidelity. You have probably been getting letters about this if you are enrolled in the 403(b) plan. If you are not sure how to feel about it, I am going to tell you right now: you need to feel GREAT. This is especially true of people who are not currently participating in a voluntary plan but are thinking about doing it in the future. Your life will become so much easier as the result of this consolidation.

Back in November, I was wining about how I love Fidelity but how I had to decide against them, and go for the Savings Plan 401(k) because of the expensive investment options within Fidelity. Well, my friends, that is changing. This is a big enough change to make me wish I got hired about a year later and you should appreciate this big moment. A few things you need to know about the change and what it means to you:

A. Here is the link that will give you more info on the transition: https://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/calstate/transition-home

B. If you are a current participant in the 403(b), you will get information sent to your house in February.

C. There will be workshops and educational resources available on campus between February and April and you better go!

D. The investment choices are getting expanded and for someone (me), a passive investor who believes that a 403(b) account is not the place to do active management, this is really exciting. Starting in April, there will be 5 index funds you can use to build a really good diversified portfolio. All the available choices are on the website I mentioned above. Take a look and celebrate (just make sure you press the investments tab to see all the choices).

E. This consolidation is REALLY good for you because now, instead of getting sales pitches, you will be getting education advice. The 403(b) market is pretty messed up because the “advisors” you see on campus are really salesmen trying to convince you to choose their provider over the other bunch (see more on this on #4). When you only have one provider, it is so much easier to do what is best for employees. Fidelity will no longer have to put its efforts into snatching you as a customer from Voya or MetLife. Instead, it can focus on helping you understand what is going on in that 403(b) of yours. This is really good news.

F. On a related note, next time when you are power walking, listen to this podcast: http://teachandretirerich.com/podcasts/2015_13_fidelity.m4a in an interview with Fidelity going through the consolidation for 403(b) providers in the marketplace in general and it can explain many of the things you will be experiencing soon. I don’t want to hear that you don’t have time for this (there is always that one hour of Real Housewives of Atlanta you can trade for some 403(b) fun)!

G. The crazy idea that the more providers you can offer within your 403(b) plan, the more diversified your retirement plan is, can finally die. Having 1 or 55 providers is irrelevant; the choices you have within the provider is what matters and now you got good choices.

It's a F**k n' Great Life at F & G Life - Puerto Rico!

http://wealthmarkadvisors.com/fg-2016-power-producer-conference

St. Regis in Puerto Rico Anyone? Just Sell F&G Annuities...Sad.

If you want a great vacation in Puerto Rico all you need to do is sell $1.5 million in annuity products from F & G Life.

Yes, that's right, for selling on average only $125,000 per month of annuities (that's maybe 1  - 5 victims) an agent can get a 4 night stay at a top resort in Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico.

It's an F'n Great Life at F & G Life! But for the teachers it's just F'n Gallows.

The Safe Income Plus Fixed Index Annuity sold by F & G, the surrender period is 11 years. The commission is 7.25% AND also may qualify for the trip featured in this post.

Let's review. An agent sells $1.5 million of this product to its base of clients and receives potentially over $100,000 in commission plus a trip to the St. Regis in Puerto Rico. That's quite an incentive to sell F & G Life Indexed Annuity products. I wonder if this product would sell at all if not for the high commission and potential for an amazing vacation? My opinion is that it wouldn't.

Do you know what's behind the recommendation of your "advisor"? This type of incentive needs to be stopped. The insurance industry is hooked on Indexed Annuity products and the commissions and incentives that come with those sales, it's their crack.

If F & G has such great annuity products, wouldn't they sell themselves? Wouldn't real advisors WANT to recommend their products?

In this low interest rate/high volatility environment the ability of an index annuity provider to support a decent rate of return to the end client is severely restricted. Add in generous commissions and luxurious trips and it's nearly impossible for the end client to get a reasonable rate of return.

Yes, index annuities are great for retirement, just not yours (they're great for the agents retirement)!

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

Wild West: Providing Fiduciary Advice To Public School Employees | Now Available

Wild West: Providing Fiduciary Advice to Public School Employees is now available for purchase at all major e-retailers.

After working with teachers for almost two decades and finding very few competent, fiduciary-based advisors working in the space I decided to write a book to help the industry better learn how to work with this great niche.

I titled the book Wild West due to the conditions that most teacher retirement plans operate under. The products sold and the statements made to teachers and their colleagues would be criminal if done in an ERISA plan, yet teachers are not protected by ERISA and are taken advantage of every day.

The goal of this book is to create a much broader community of fiduciary advisors serving this market. I'm not asking you to (fiduciary advisors) to work exclusively with public school employees, simply to expand your knowledge base and be part of the solution they need.

The book is less than 150 pages and only 20 short chapters. It mixes the technical with the personal and issues a strong call to action that I hope many of you will follow. Many non-advisors have asked if they should read this book (teachers, administrators, etc.) and my answer is that they should consider Teach and Retire Rich by Dan Otter first, then perhaps my book.

The Table of Contents follows:

Chapter 1           Mini-Memoir

Chapter 2           The Fiduciary Opportunity

Chapter 3           The State of the School Employees Marketplace

Chapter 4           Business Models

Chapter 5           The 403(b) Retirement Plan

Chapter 6           403(b) Products

Chapter 7           Stable Value

Chapter 8           The 457(b) Retirement Plan

Chapter 9           Other School Employee Plans

Chapter 10         Compliance Third Party Administrators

Chapter 11         Enrolling into a 403(b) or 457(b)

Chapter 12         Defined Benefit Plans

Chapter 13         Social Security & School Employees

Chapter 14         California-Specific Laws

Chapter 15         Odds & Ends

Chapter 16         Pension Maximization

Chapter 17         Professional Organizations

Chapter 18         Unions: Good, Bad and the Ugly

Chapter 19         Dan Otter

Chapter 20         A Call To Action 

Buy at Amazon

Buy at Apple

Buy at Google (coming soon)

The book is $14.99 but all the proceeds goto charity and I will make the book available to colleges and universities at no cost.

I've created a website for the book at www.wildwest403b.com and a LinkedIn group here.

Thank you to all who have helped me over the years get this book out, you know who you are.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

Confessions of an Equity Indexed Annuity Salesperson?

Response letters to potential regulatory changes can be a gold mine. I was recently reviewing some old responses to an SEC rule that would bring Equity Indexed Annuities (EIA) under the umbrella of the SEC and require insurance agents who sell them to be registered (Registered Reps of a FINRA Broker/Dealer).

One agent for a company called #ValuTeachers wrote a response and I'm excerpting it below. Please consider that if I were to write a parody response letter to the SEC (posing as an insurance agent selling these products) it probably wouldn't look much different. The entire letter is at the end.

Claim/Statement #1

"To make the equity index annuity a security product would damage the ability of people who need this particular product to receive a fair representation of the product."

My Response:

Two things, first, no one NEEDS an EIA product, no one. Second, a sales agent that is highly motivated to sell a particular product because of its high commissions and potential luxury vacation rewards is NOT capable of providing a "fair representation" of anything. If this agent is truly concerned about representing any product fairly, he should be lobbying for the end to commissions in exchange for product sales.

Claim/Statement #2

"It would first make thousands of current Life insurance representatives have to get securities licensed to continue selling the product. Most will not do so leaving the current clients that they have stranded. This rule has not been thought through with the clients' best interest in mind. If so the SEC would realize the need to keep this an insurance product which is already being regulated by the insurance departments in the various states. If we force thousands of life insurance representatives to get licensed what if they choose not to."

My Response:

An insurance agent who advises clients on what to do with their investments, including talking about the stock market, should certainly be regulated more than the state insurance commission regulates. 

This agent claims that if forced to register as a representative or an advisor, most insurance agents would rather abandon their clients than register. What exactly does this say about such agent or agents in general (I know a lot of insurance agents who are good people and would never abandon their clients)? It says they are lazy and really don't care about their client (note, I don't believe all insurance agents are lazy, just ones that agree with this particular agent). If they really cared, they'd not abandon their clients over a specific product requirement. I find it ironic that this agent believes the SEC should have "the client's best interest in mind" but that the agent shouldn't be required to put the client's best interest first...notice he is not arguing for a fiduciary standard. If thousands of insurance agents choose not to register in order to sell EIAs, fewer EIAs will be sold and more investors/savers will have been protected.

Claim/Statement #3

"Many questions come to my attention in thinking of the client. 1. Are current insurance agents out of compliance for taking care of their current client base when they call and have questions about a product sold to them by their insurance agent but they are not securities licensed? 2. If the insurance agent is not securities licensed but continues in servicing their client and a registered representative files a complaint with the SEC because the insurance agent is discussing securities without a license how can you regulate that? 3. Should the thousands of clients that have billions of dollars in these products be penalized by having their friend and trusted advisor that is an insurance agent no longer be able to help them with their equity index annuity? 4. Will the SEC pay the surrender charges incurred by clients when a registered representative transfers them out of their current equity index annuity and into another product? 5. Will the SEC be able to monitor the activity of the sell of equity index annuities as it has shown it's lack of ability to look into it's current obligations. The headlines are evidence to this very fact! WALL STREET CRISIS! Where is the SEC now that everyone has made their money and left."

My Response:

This rambling and nonsensical statement goes after Registered Representatives as criminals and again builds a straw man. Insurance agents will not abandon their clients and source of income if forced to register, they'll register and if they don't, someone else will steal their clients. This is not an attempt to avoid needless regulation, it's an attempt to stay essentially unregulated. The insurance industry still allows what amount to kickbacks in their sales process and allowing such a system to continue is the real purpose of this agent in my opinion, a perpetuation of a corrupt system.

Claim/Statement #4

"It has been my experience in dealing with securities licensed people that the only thing that everyone needs is to put money in the market and securities. Any fixed annuity is almost below them when in fact often times people instruct them to give them a safe investment. Whoops! Insurance companies sell insurance products and broker/dealers sell securities products. This is not a time when we need to be arguing over what type of product should the equity index annuity be but whether or not the SEC a federal organization that cannot even handle it's current obligations be given authority to regulate even more that they cannot." 

My Response:

So this agent's limited experience now makes him an expert on all products sold across the industry. He presents no evidence. He does get one thing right, insurance companies sell insurance products! But B/D's sell all sorts of products, not just market based securities. If you only have an insurance license, all you can sell is fixed annuities (which are not investment, but savings products), it's the same old adage, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I'm certainly not going to argue that the products B/Ds sell are good for clients, but the main reason (left unspoken), in my opinion that this ValuTeachers/LSW agent doesn't want additional regulations is because it will end up cutting his commissions and all the perks received from the insurance companies. This is about the gravy train, not the regulatory train.

Claim/Statement #5

"It is evident with the current crisis on Wall Street that the SEC should spend more time regulating Wall Street and leave the insurance products to the insurance companies."

My Response:

Umm, AIG anyone? They were an insurance company, right? Nuff said.

Claim/Statement #6

"I urge you to give careful consideration to this rule and see through the mere attempt at increasing the number of people paying fees to the SEC. The product is harmless in most cases to the investor. There have been abuses as there have been in the selling of mutual funds to investors who have said they do not want any risk. The SEC handles the registered representative that does wrong and the insurance departments are handling the insurance agents that do wrong."

My Response:

The SEC doesn't regulate brokers (Registered Representatives), FINRA does (technically there is some overlap). Can anyone with a straight face really say that the state insurance departments have a handle on the sale of Equity Indexed Annuities? Anyone who reads this blog knows they don't. These products do cause harm and are mostly sold because of the high commissions and lack of any need to register combined with sales contests that send agents to Cabo, Maui, Monte Carlo...etc.

Conclusion

I've reprinted the letter below, I found it on the net, here. This letter provides some insights into the way EIA agents think. They are attempting to defend their turf and their income, but we need to make sure that the defense of their income doesn't come at the expense of the client. EIAs need more regulation.
Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

ValuTeachers Letter to SEC

My Congressman Is Clueless - Fiduciary Rule Response

I contacted my Congressman to let him know that he should support the Department of Labor's Fiduciary rule. His response was basically a copy and paste of an industry lobbyist, no original thinking or real explanation as to why citizen's shouldn't be protected when they receive financial advice.

Here is representative Ken Calvert's lame response:

Dear Mr. Dauenhauer, Thank you for contacting me regarding the Department of Labor's proposed rule to impose a fiduciary duty on brokerage firms. I appreciate the opportunity to respond. As you may know, two federal agencies, the Department of Labor (DOL) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are expected to release separate rules in the coming months that would change the definition of a "fiduciary" to include broker-dealers providing advice to retirement investors on a varying fee structure. This highly anticipated proposal comes nearly five years after the Obama Administration proposed a similar rule that was ultimately not adopted due to an outpouring of serious concerns over the negative impacts of the change. The current system allows low-and-moderate income investors to seek the advice of brokers on all levels of investment by providing the flexibility of a commission structure rather than an ongoing fee for service. Though it sounds like we may disagree, I believe the DOL's proposal may prove to be considerably cost-prohibitive and actually price retail-investors out of the process by taking a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Unfortunately, this proposal would do more harm than good and could make it harder for Americans to invest for retirement, college tuition, or other purposes. On February 25, 2015, Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO), introduced legislation, H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act, following the announcement of impending rule making. H.R. 1090 would require the DOL to wait on issuing new rules until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has primary authority and expertise on the issue, dictates recommendations. The legislation also includes some important checks and balances on the SEC's rule-making process to ensure that retail investors are not actually harmed by these new rules. I was pleased to support this legislation when it passed the House on October 27, 2015 by a vote of 245-186. Rest assured, I will keep your comments in mind moving forward in the 114^th Congress.Once again, thank you for your correspondence. I hope you will continue to contact me regarding issues of importance to you and your family. In the meantime, I encourage you to visit my website at www.calvert.house.gov and sign up for my weekly e-newsletters. For urgent updates on critical issues, follow me on Twitter (@KenCalvert) and check out my Facebook page (Congressman Ken Calvert). Sincerely,
KEN CALVERTMember of Congress

Perhaps it should have been signed "Ken Calvert, Industry Shill". I wonder if he has seen this video from Elizabeth Warren:

One more Congressman I won't be voting for - neither should you.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

Sound of Silence

There is a deficit in leadership in this country on the issue of public school employee supplemental retirement programs and it’s hurting everyone (employees, employers, students and taxpayers). That sound you hear coming from the unions, district administrators and politicians is…silence.

No more. It’s time for change. The great rock band Pink Floyd sang:

Don’t accept that what’s happening

Is just a case of others’ suffering

Or you’ll find that you’re joining in 

The turning away

While I certainly won’t compare the suffering referred to in the song (On The Turning Away) to school employee retirement, it’s time we stop accepting what happening with school employee retirement plans.

For decades their has been to much silence. But over the past decade you might say the speechless have united in a silent accord (see what I did there Pink Floyd fans?). It’s time for that silent accord to become vocal. It’s time to stop being Comfortably Numb (just couldn’t help myself). It’s time to change shadow to light (I know, I’ll stop).

I’m calling on government leaders, unions, associations, teachers, school employees and fiduciary financial planners to turn on, tune in and drop in to fighting for what is right for school employee retirement plans.

There are many reasons that 403(b) and 457(b) plans are ignored by school business officials and unions, but among the most is important is that they are busy doing things that are, in the scheme of things, more important. School safety (especially poignant after the most recent shooting in San Bernardino), positive learning environments, balanced budgets and community involvemnt are much higher on the list for administrators than a supplemental retirement plan, especially since school employees have a pension. However, the reality is that school employees who feel more secure financially will be more productive, more tuned in to their work and more likely to retire at a normal retirement age — all goals for any School Administrator or Superintendent.

One way to feel more secure financially is through consistent contributions to 403(b) & 457(b) retirement plans that are operated in a manner that is in the best interest of participants. In addition, auto-enroll and auto-escalate are needed (not as much as in the private sector, but still a big need).

Right now there is almost no fiduciary responsibility for 403(b) and 457(b) plans across America. The silence is deafening. If you ask a Chief Business Officer of a school district, they’d rather not think about fiduciary responsibility and would likely whisper to you that they don’t want it. The last thing school officials want is to be subject to ERISA and all the headaches that come with it. I can sympathize with this point of view. But school employee’s retirements are suffering because of it and their productivity is most certainly lower as well.

How can we provide for better retirement outcomes without burdening school officials with overly complicated rules and regulations? This is the question that must be answered. I believe one answer to this are state run retirement programs that accept the fiduciary burden and essentially do the work for the school employers (similar to how they currently do it on the defined benefit side).

What are your ideas?

Some of us have been very vocal over the years and at least one politician has been very good on the issues, but it isn’t enough to defeat the forces that seek to undermine retirement security for educators (while proclaiming they are doing the opposite). It’s time to join the fight.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

Welcome To The Fight — A Teachable Moment

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Tony Isola, a former teacher who has decided to pursue a career helping his former colleagues overcome terrible products and a more secure retirement. Tony’s new blog is called A Teachable Moment and he recently posted his introduction, here is a clip and a link to the blog:

Revenge of the Teachers | A Teachable Moment

Please welcome Tony to the fold of 403(b) Warriors.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

My Book Is Coming Soon! Wild West: Providing Fiduciary Advice to Public School Employees

It's taken me almost four years, but I'm almost there!

I'm in the formatting and distribution phase of my new book and anticipate it will be released in January 2016.

Wild West: Providing Fiduciary Advice to Public School Employees is written for financial advisors who consider themselves Fiduciaries and who want to learn how to work with those in education.

I'll post a chapter or two over the next 6 weeks as a preview. But look for it on Amazon, iTunes and Google Play in January.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

Warren Commission: Villas, Castles, and Vacations

Senator Elizabeth Warren began an investigation of insurance company non-cash compensation methods several months ago, what she found will be shocking to most people, but not to those of us who've been following the unethical sales practices of the annuity industry for decades.

Titled Villas, Castles, and Vacations: How Perks and Giveaways Create Conflicts of Interest in the Annuity Industry, the document outlines some of the incredible perks that insurance agents receive in addition to commissions when they sell annuity products. Warren hinted at some of these perks in a Senate Banking Committee back in April, you can watch her below:

In this report Warren attempts to discover the entirety of non-cash compensation, though she isn't entirely successful, here's an excerpt:

"Kickbacks pose an especially dangerous problem. When companies can offer kickbacks to agents for recommending high-cost financial products, and when those kickbacks are hidden from the customers, the likelihood that consumers will be duped into buying bad products increases sharply. 

To explore the prevalence of this type of conflict of interest, in April 2015 Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) opened an investigation, asking fifteen leading annuity providers for information on whether they offered non-cash incentives such as lavish cruises, luxury car leases, and other perks to annuity sales agents to promote their products and whether their customers were aware of the agents’ compensation arrangements."

Reading this report one wonders how the insurance industry continues to get away with such unethical and clearly conflicted business practices, it's a testament to the power of that industry and Warren is confronting them head on.

Dan Otter of 403bwise.com and I recently did a podcast on such compensation practices and you should be able to listen to it soon by going to www.teachandretirerich.com and clicking the podcast link.

I encourage you to watch the above video and then dive into Warren's report.

2015-10-27 Senator Warren Report on Annuity Industry

It's time to put a stop to these unethical compensation practices.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

Texas Superintendent Ignites Controversy Over Primerica Affiliation

Primerica Million $ Club

A Superintendent in the Longview Independent School District in Longview, Texas is in hot water for using his position to promote Primerica financial products to his employees. The Longview News-Journal published Longview ISD' Superintendent's Business Banned in which it says the following:

Since taking the top job in Longview ISD, Superintendent James Wilcox has had a side business selling what he calls retirement planning to educators. As of this week, however, he and his representatives won't be peddling their products on Longview ISD campuses.

After representatives from Primerica — a company some say is essentially a pyramid scheme — made their pitch Oct. 22 at Longview High School, the district's school board directed Wilcox to "not allow any meetings of this type on any LISD property in that future," Wilcox said last week.

"That will be fully complied with in the future," he said.

A portion of the district's employee policy manual seems to prohibit such an on-campus sales pitch, but Longview ISD board President Chris Mack said last week he didn't see anything wrong with the company's services being sold on district property. The manual, however, prohibits employees from using their position with the district "to attempt to sell products or services."

The board made its decision, Mack said, not because of its policy but after hearing an uproar from the community.

"We got a lot of complaints," he said. "I honestly think James is trying to help people. Here's the thing: Nobody was forced to go to that meeting. ... Had he forced people to go, had he forced people to sign up, that would be inappropriate.

"We got a lot of complaints, but there was no pressure there. But because of the fallout, we felt like it would be better if we didn't allow it anymore. It's a shame that we had to say that because there was a lot of potential there."

Wilcox isn't the first person or educator for that matter to fall for the siren's call of Primerica. Who wouldn't want to earn an extra income while helping our nation's educators? Yet Primerica is NOT a financial planning company, it's a product sales company and is focused first on selling those financial products as well as recruiting others to sell their products, a multi-level marketing type business.

The issue here really isn't Primerica or Wilcox, it's the sorry state of the 403(b) market where things like this occur on a regular basis. The wild west of defined contribution world needs dramatic change if it's going to become an important part of educator's savings plans.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

 

Scholastic: Retirement 101 for Teachers (featuring me!)

Retirement 101 for Teachers | Scholastic.com

CalSTRS National Retirement Security Week

National Retirement Security Week

The CalSTRS Pension2 program is a proud participant in National Retirement Security Week. In the spirit of this week, we will be hosting a variety of events. Come join us to learn more about saving for your future.

Online Workshops

• Pension2: CalSTRS Retirement Savings Plan for Your Future
• Tuesday, October 20 at 4 p.m.
• Register now

• AMA (Ask Me Anything) Session with 403b/457b Advocate Scott Dauenhauer
• Wednesday, October 21 at 4 p.m.
• Register now

• Build a Budget Plan Using 50/20/30 Guideline
• Thursday, October 22 at 4 p.m.
• Register now

Free Financial Advice: Schedule a One-on-One 

Appointment at a CalSTRS Member Service Center

Half-hour Appointments Available

Member Service Center	Date	Times Available
Glendale	Tuesday, 10/20/2015	10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Irvine	Wednesday, 10/21/2015	10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Santa Clara	Wednesday, 10/21/2015	10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Riverside	Thursday, 10/22/2015	10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
West Sacramento	Thursday, 10/22/2015	10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Book your private session:

• Call 888-426-2684
• Email Pension2@CalSTRS.com

Pension2 on Campus (via CalSTRS New Beginnings Workshop)

Lake Elsinore School District: Wednesday 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Register now

The Ring: Warren Speaks Out About Annuity Incentives #incentivesmatter

Senator Warren mentions a diamond encrusted, Super Bowl style ring with a ruby in the middle. No, this is not a piece for the Onion, I found something quite similar. #incentivesmatter

Incentives Matter: Elizabeth Warren Investigates

A quick post of a few videos that I think are worth reviewing in the fight against annuity incentives.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

Why Is an Enron Billionaire Trying to Keep Teachers From Retiring?

Why Is an Enron Billionaire Trying to Keep Teachers From Retiring?

WGN Hosts Finance For Teachers

It's always nice to see a fiduciary advisor on television giving advice to teachers. Dave Grant of Finance for Teachers (and the F4T Network) was invited on the local WGN news show to provide some tips for teachers.

More Ridiculous Annuity Ads - 11% Commissions!

It amazes me what makes its way into my inbox these days.

This time I received an e-mail about an annuity that pays an 11% commission, wow!

Think about that, for every $100,000 you place into this annuity, you (the agent) make $11,000 - that is huge.

Notice how the details to the left are almost non-existent though? Most of the "features" are just throwaway gimmicks, what is missing is what the term, rate and surrender charges are...you know, the important stuff.

How much could this annuity actually pay in interest when the company has to pay 11% out to an agent and then credits the client with a 5% premium bonus, that's fully 16% of the amount deposited. You can be sure the client isn't making much interest.

How these companies can get away selling such junk is beyond me. This is why we need a Conflict of Interest Rule.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF

More Annuity Incentives - This Need To Stop

I've posted several e-mails that I've received from Insurance Marketing Organizations (IMO), they really should be more careful who they send this stuff out to. The latest advertises a 7% commission with several ways of increasing that commission by selling certain amounts of a particular annuity through a particular IMO.

If you are wondering what's behind the annuity recommendation your agent is trying to sell you...this is a clue. #IncentivesMatter

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF