Annuity FYI Visitor Blog

FINRA has partnered with the United Way to spread financial education, according to FINRA’s news release “FINRA Investor Education Foundation and United Way Worldwide Announce Nearly $1.5 Million in Grants to Support Grassroots Financial Education Projects.”  Twelve United Way branches and community groups received the grants to help promote the FINRA Foundation and United Way’s new program, Financial Education in Your Community.  FINRA is working hard to help lower-income families become financially stable.  Through these education programs, someone who doesn’t even know what an annuity is may realize that the product is best for protecting their financial future.

Community groups have the ability to reach large numbers of people and relay information that can help them without bias.  During this tough economic time, these grants were given in areas hardest hit financially to help people become stable and look forward to their future.  Free educational programs will help working families and individuals on the road to financial stability.  They may learn about the best annuity rates to protect their retirement or simply how to balance their checkbook.  Community needs are across the financial spectrum.  These twelve grants were given to seven United Way branches located in Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York.  The community groups receiving the other five grants are in Georgia, Arizona, South Dakota, and Tennessee.  FINRA believes that their help in financially educating the communities will make Americans self-sufficient and in charge of their futures.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) will ask the SEC for permission to expand their BrokerCheck system, according to FINRA’s news release “FINRA Proposes Further Expansion of Broker Information Publicly Available Through BrokerCheck.”  The BrokerCheck system allows the public to view records of securities brokers both current and former for free.  The proposed changes would increase the amount of complaints that are publicly available.  It would also make the records of brokers that left the industry available for ten years, up from the two years currently available.  Information regarding any criminal convictions and certain lawsuits would actually be permanently available.

Wise consumers compare annuities before making their investments.  Now it can be easier to compare the brokers who sell annuities to consumers.  Unfortunately, shady brokers who have been forced to leave the industry have shown up in other facets of finance looking to do harm.  They have been involved in fraud and other forms of misconduct related to finance.  FINRA wants to get rid of these former brokers for good, but as wise consumers we need to use FINRA’s free online BrokerCheck service for it to be effective.  Before you purchase annuities or make other financial investments, check your broker out online and make sure that they have a moral financial record.

“FINRA Issues Guidance to Firms, Brokers on Communications with Public Through Social Networking Web Sites” is the latest news release from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).  FINRA’s Regulatory Notice 10-06 is a question and answer document meant to provide recommendations to securities firms and brokers regarding social networking sites.  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and other social networking sites are one of the most popular ways for companies to communicate with the public.  With their soaring popularity, issues arise regarding the credibility of the information being posted.  FINRA’s document stresses how important it is for companies not to mislead clients and to keep good records of their social networking postings.

Whether in the business of annuities, stocks, or another financial product, FINRA wants to ensure that firms and brokers have developed new procedures to handle social networking.  All regulations relating to the industry still need to be followed when using social networking for marketing and other communications.  There are actually technology systems being developed to help companies keep records and maintain accountability with social networking.  FINRA developed this document through their own research and experience along with a Social Networking Task Force representing 14 different firms.

FINRA alerted investors last month about financial scams based on “green” companies.  Their Investor Alert, “Save Your Greenbacks-Don’t Fall for Green Energy Scams” describes how green energy scams work and how to avoid them.  Investments that promise huge gains by investing in alternative or renewable energy products should be looked at with a fine-toothed comb.  Since green energy initiatives are so popular right now, scam artists have emerged with “green” based Ponzi schemes and “pump and dump” stock fraud to try and get investors’ money.  This is happening through Twitter, text messages and webinars targeting investors looking to make a lot of money on something different.

The purchase of fixed annuities might be a wiser investment for you.  While you aren’t going to get rich quick with annuities, you can guarantee a stream of lifetime income to help pay your expenses.  Any investment that is recommended to you unsolicited should be fully researched and questioned, especially those promising enormous returns.  A recent “green” scam advertised a potential 1,000 percent jump in a company’s stock value.  As the old adage says, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!  Another scam warning sign is the pressure to go “all in” with these investments.  A recent scam encouraged investors to liquidate all of their other investments and borrow against homes and businesses to put all of their money into a new “green” company.  It is crucial for investors to spot these potential scams before being financially hurt by dishonest people.

From the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)’s news release, the “FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the American Library Association Announce $1.5 Million in Grants to Public Libraries to Support Grassroots Financial Literacy.”  There are 19 libraries receiving the $1,522,122 through the program ‘Smart investing@your library’.  Providing the public with financial education information is the program’s goal.  This is the third year for ’smart investing@your library’, whose goal is to help library patrons with small and large financial decisions free of bias.

The library programs implemented with grant money are meant to help all ages of people, from youth just learning about money to senior citizens looking to compare annuities for retirement.  They also target low-income citizens and immigrants that are new to America with education programs.  The education programs include online learning, teaching in classrooms, individual clinics, and other online educational activities.  Libraries receiving these grants also partner up with other organizations to extend community education even further.  This includes schools, colleges, local government, and veterans clubs.

Grants are not only given in urban communities but also suburban and rural areas as well.  People often turn to free services like libraries when they are struggling economically.  With grants from FINRA and the ALA, libraries can better serve and educate these citizens about their finances and help to either get or keep them on track.  Whether they need information on annuities, credit cards, saving for college, or just budgeting; ’smart investing@your library’ is there to help and educate.