Invitations to retirement planning meals

[kcowan]

I went to a couple about 10 years ago, one for portfolio management and another for RE investment. The format was a downtown hotel with pretty good food, pitch at noon, food at 1pm. Generally low key pitch. I shut down the RE right away but went for an appointment for the portfolio manager. I had questions about my MILs portfolio. They had no good answers and it helped me have the confidence take over MILs portfolio, saving her many $1000s over the years.

I still get occasional invitations but they are always when we are down south, not that I would go. We have also gone to a couple of timeshare pitches. They were at breakfast so the food was cold buns plus a free night stay. Never was tempted but I had fun talking to them about the fact that their properties were 3-4x as expensive as outright purchase.

 

[dtbach]

OK, so maybe the next time they have one at a really good restaurant maybe I'll sign up and go. I know pretty much all the angles but hey, a free dinner is a free dinner. . . . .

 

[target2019]

Question is, to no one in particular, do you want your spouse to attend, but after you're gone? Or do you go now, eat and listen, and discuss how the pitch may sound good, but here is what you're giving away when signing an agreement. Here's our instructions, and how to move forward when the time comes...

 

[Gumby]

I'd rather pay for my own food and eat in peace.

 

[papadad111]

I've never ever been invited to one of these events.

Closest I can come is got an invite to an Amway sales pitch once . ...

I must not be in the target demographic or I fly below their radar.

 

[pb4uski]

I am thankful that somehow I am flying under the radar and don't get invitations. I would not go if I did receive invitations. Like Gumby, I would just soon pay for my own meal and avoid the hassle and phone calls.

 

[Whisper66]

Question is, to no one in particular, do you want your spouse to attend, but after you're gone? Or do you go now, eat and listen, and discuss how the pitch may sound good, but here is what you're giving away when signing an agreement. Here's our instructions, and how to move forward when the time comes...

My wife and I attended together. In our discussions afterward she learned a lot about how we could manage our money just as well as most FA's could. It gave her confidence that we could manage things ourselves. Now we are retired and she is learning the nuts and bolts of our plan so she can manage when I pass on.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[athena53]

We used to live in a ritzier Zip Code and got a lot of them. We moved last July to an area with less glamorous demographics and either they haven't found us yet or they think there's no money in this area. Fine with me. We've never attended. Now that I'm retired I have the time, but I just don't want to deal with super-friendly guys/women in suits with expensive haircuts who are cozying up to me because they want to help me "manage my wealth".

 

[dtbach]

We used to live in a ritzier Zip Code and got a lot of them. We moved last July to an area with less glamorous demographics and either they haven't found us yet or they think there's no money in this area. Fine with me. We've never attended. Now that I'm retired I have the time, but I just don't want to deal with super-friendly guys/women in suits with expensive haircuts who are cozying up to me because they want to help me "manage my wealth".

But it can be fun to have a nice meal off those "super-friendly guys/women in suits with expensive haircuts who are cozying up to me"

Like in Call Saul, where he got an FA to buy $50 shots of tequila. . . .

 

[rodi]

Not my thing. I'm too much of an INTJ type to be comfortable going and having lunch with a bunch of strangers. Free food doesn't compensate for the dread of that.

 

[REWahoo]

Having lunch with a bunch of strangers would be less bothersome to me than listening to the spiel and having to constantly resist the urge to shout "Bullsh!t!".

Bad for my digestion...

 

[powerplay]

I'd rather pay for my own food and eat in peace.

+1000 This is exactly how I feel. I would not find this type of "free food" adventure at all desirable.

 

[txtig]

Like in Call Saul, where he got an FA to buy $50 shots of tequila. . . .

That was one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite shows. LOL!!

 

[braumeister]

I'd rather pay for my own food and eat in peace.

Exactly how I feel. I've never been to one of these meals although I get invitations at least monthly.

 

[youbet]

I keep getting invites to pretty good restaurants for a "free" seminar on retirement planning. Is the hassle worth the meal? I'm pretty thick skinned and can get a good laugh at some of the "hard" sell, but still, is it worth the hassle?

If you feel like you can control yourself and NOT POST A "RANT" after attending, go. It's not a big commitment of time and, with the right mindset, you can learn by paying attention to what's between the lines of the sales pitch.

But, if you feel like you might be unable to control yourself from coming back from the "seminar" and posting yet another "RANT" on this site, please, please don't go. Others have been pretty active starting those threads and they're getting old.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Life's too short and I eat too much good food already. I don't know what would make me desperate enough to go to one of these seminars.

I'd rather pay for my own food and eat in peace.

I agree. There is no free lunch ! Who wants to sit with Guido (The Closer) for a "free" meal. I'd rather eat something modest at home.

Ditto for timeshare deals

 

[mickeyd]

I have attended a couple of dozen of these dog & pony shows and have usually gotten to eat a pretty decent free noon meal. They usually pitched equity index annuity and I found it entertaining to see how the presenter danced around what the product actually was (a way for him to make a lot of $) by showing a series of slides with vague facts and figures. I never made an appointment with the guy (that's the sole reason that I was invited) but many of the folks in attendance took the bait.

I found this a good activity (hobby?) to take advantage of prior to DW retiring and me having a lot of free time on my hands. Since DW retired, I seldom attend.

 

[Walt34]

I guess our zip code isn't ritzy enough for FAs buying us a meal, but we did get one for some scheme to allegedly lower our utilities by 40%. We have been to the restaurant (once, and never again!) so we didn't go.

They're gonna have to spend more than that to get me to [-]listen to[/-] ignore their spiels.

 

[niven]

Question is, to no one in particular, do you want your spouse to attend, but after you're gone? Or do you go now, eat and listen, and discuss how the pitch may sound good, but here is what you're giving away when signing an agreement. Here's our instructions, and how to move forward when the time comes...

My wife is just as unlikely to turn money over to someone to manage as I am. She knows no one has a crystal ball and would charge far too much for any possible value they could add. At most, she would move everything to something more conservative than we have now and just make do (if needed).

 

[jkern]

I have only attended one dinner. The FA gave a financial presentation that was ok (I knew almost everything he said). No hard sale, just mark on a form "Not Interested" and no further discussions. The restaurant was very nice, the room in the restaurant was very nice and the dinner was great. I would do this again if the restaurant is top notch.

 

[athena53]

Question is, to no one in particular, do you want your spouse to attend, but after you're gone? Or do you go now, eat and listen, and discuss how the pitch may sound good, but here is what you're giving away when signing an agreement. Here's our instructions, and how to move forward when the time comes...

DH is not in the lest interested in investing although he knows what we have and roughly how it's invested. He's more skeptical and cynical than I am and I can't picture him attending on his own. Should he outlive me (unlikely since I'm 15 years younger), he'll be taken care of a by a trust managed by my brother the CPA, and we're all OK with that.

 

[dtbach]

If you feel like you can control yourself and NOT POST A "RANT" after attending, go. It's not a big commitment of time and, with the right mindset, you can learn by paying attention to what's between the lines of the sales pitch.

But, if you feel like you might be unable to control yourself from coming back from the "seminar" and posting yet another "RANT" on this site, please, please don't go. Others have been pretty active starting those threads and they're getting old.

I didn't realize I was ranting. . .

 

[dtbach]

Well this is interesting. I just got a call from my Fidelity Rep and invited to a really decent restaurant for a lunch on their Select funds of which I own a couple. Doesn't really count though, as Fidelity is very low sales pressure and I do usually learn some good stuff from them.

And I promise I won't RANT after going. .

 

[youbet]

I didn't realize I was ranting. . .

You weren't........ Didn't say that. It was just my plea that you don't start a rant thread AFTER you go. FA and/or dinner-seminar rant threads have become very prolific.

And I promise I won't RANT after going. .

Sweet!

Enjoy the Fidelity presentation. I go to some Schwab dinner/lunch presentations. Like the Fidelity presentations you mentioned, they're very low sales pressure and more just perks for high NW account folks, even DIY folks using low cost index funds.

They've had a few all day "Frequent Trader" education days at a downtown Chicago hotel including a fancy lunch and speakers from the MSNBC TV show which were great. Not something I'd want to do everyday, but once or twice a year it's good to spend a day hanging around with other investors, many FIRE'd, with skin in the game and listen to some speakers and trade ideas.

 

[Lucantes]

I didn't realize I was ranting. . .

Feel free to "rant" away, if you like.
One person's rant is another's free entertainment or information!
It is still an open forum right?