Surrounded and Pressured
At one time, just after returning back from UK, I had a significant balance in my HDFC savings account. HDFC people started calling me stating that they will send a special advisor to help me get good returns - better than savings account; all free. So I invited them to meet me at my home (COVID times).
At the first instance two gentlemen came and started preaching about HDFC Life Sanchay Plus scheme. I was not interested but I did not wish to sound rude. So I told them that I will think about it and meanwhile they can send me prospectus, etc. The next week the two came back.
They first called and said that their senior, a lady, would also like to meet me to explain the plan, options, benefits, etc. They came with rather good looking lady. This is a typical ploy. There is a group of people about 3–4 who come and target you. One of them is a pretty girl/lady who will go on to explain how life is uncertain, how one must be ready for the future, how their scheme works the best, etc. This is a psychological ploy.
First you are surrounded and hounded. Then the pretty lady, without saying so, tell you how you are making a colossal mistake. They play on your fears. You don’t wish to look stupid in front of a pretty lady. So you cave in. Once again, I was not convinced. I said I didn’t need insurance plans or pension plans. I may be open to look at investment plans and retirement income plan. Again, they went (or tried to go) for the jagular. They said that this plan they were suggesting “guarantees me” income for any term that I chose - 10 years, 30 years, life. The amount is free of tax. At my death, my nominee/heir will get the full invested amount, etc. I told them - let me think.
Related Horror Stories
Dodged a Bullet: I Fired My Adviser Who Wanted Me to Mortgage My Home for a Risky Annuity
My former adviser recommended that I, on the eve of retirement, take out a mortgage on my fully paid-for home to buy a variable annuity from her. I would have gone from having zero layers of humans between me and a valuable asset (100% equity in my home) to three layers of humans between me and my asset.
First layer was her (collecting the fat commission on that annuity). Second layer was the insurance company selling that notoriously questionable product, and lastly the fund managers of the mutual funds into which the insurance company would invest my annuity dollars. Everybody would be taking their cut, and I would be last in line for value. How did I fix the problem? You'll notice I began by describing that person as my former adviser.
Is your financial advisor stealing from you?
What are some signs that your financial advisor is stealing from you?
- They don’t provide timely statements of activity on your account.
- They give you excuses if you want to move money around.
- They can’t explain withdrawals from your account.
- They can’t provide third party account statements to support internally reported information.
Churned and burned
Some time in the past, a “financial advisor” convinced me that I could make a lot of money trading commodities. Wrong! I figured out he was just “churning” me (putting me into and out of too many positions, just to earn the commission), and I closed the account, buy not until he lost 80% of my money in less than a year!
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2. As of February 20. 2025
3. $30B Assets on Platform as of February 20. 2025. Aggregated across all plans (including the free plan). Assets on Platform represent the total value of connected and manually inputted accounts (including assets like real estate and private equity) and does not in any way represent Asset Under Management as Global Predictions does not manage any client funds.
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