State Senate bill merits serious attention
Annuities which guarantee buyers regular income after a long-term investment can be useful tools for retirement planning. Unfortunately, the annuities market is also ripe for fraud.

For instance, most annuities do not provide any returns for 10 years or more. They are inappropriate for most people in their 80s and yet self-described experts advertise them to seniors. It's a very common problem that leads to seniors buying harmful annuities.

The New York Times reported last summer that more than 18,700 people had been given the dubious title of Certified Senior Advisor, which required an easy multiple choice test. Many of these people then go on to sell annuities that are wholly inappropriate for seniors. One person who has passed the certification told the Times, "The degree isn't worth the paper it's written on."

On Feb. 14 state Sen. John Adler, state Sen. Robert Singer and state Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein introduced a bill that provides some simple safeguards to potential buyers of annuities in New Jersey.

The safeguards include requirements for a one-page form that clearly explains the terms of the annuity, a ban on annuity salespeople using false or misleading titles, and a 10-day free look period during which buyers can cancel their annuity contract without penalty.

For the worst circumstances, buyers are given the right to sue.

It is an excellent bill, one with which honest annuity brokers should have no problem. Dishonest sales people, of course, will be opposed because they are profiting from indefensible business practices in the annuities market.

Sy Larson AARP New Jersey State

President Princeton