Of a Certain Age aka all those retirement workshop invites

[Grace Hopper]

I used to just toss them with a sneer but I am seriously thinking about eating all their free lunches. Plus some are offered at local colleges and libraries.  Any of you ever attend one of these things and find it helpful?

DH does a good job managing our finances but I believe we are possibly stuck in an old way of doing things and need to be more aware of how our needs will change once we get into Medicare range. I mean who knows what Medicare will look like in 5-6 years but we should have some strategy figured out. 

[Pawz4me]

We get them all the time and throw them straight into the recycle bin. But we're already retired and have had our own investment adviser for 25 years or so. Still . . I wouldn't attend one of those. We have a general rule of not accepting any sort of solicitation (and those are no different than a scammer tree person knocking on the door) and we don't do anything that's likely to involve high pressure sales tactics.

I'd ask around and see if anyone in your circle knows of a financial planner/investment adviser who is fee based that they recommend.

[cjzimmer1]

12 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

I used to just toss them with a sneer but I am seriously thinking about eating all their free lunches. Plus some are offered at local colleges and libraries.  Any of you ever attend one of these things and find it helpful?

DH does a good job managing our finances but I believe we are possibly stuck in an old way of doing things and need to be more aware of how our needs will change once we get into Medicare range. I mean who knows what Medicare will look like in 5-6 years but we should have some strategy figured out. 

I've been contemplating them too.  Mostly because they are at restaurants I could never afford to eat at myself (aka my out to eat budget consists of  1-2 trips from Taco Bell's value menu a month.  Sit downs don't exist here).  It would be pretty easy to say no to whatever they are peddling because I have nothing to buy it with even if I wanted to.  

Will be curious to hear what others have to say.

[Grace Hopper]

30 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

We get them all the time and throw them straight into the recycle bin. But we're already retired and have had our own investment adviser for 25 years or so. Still . . I wouldn't attend one of those. We have a general rule of not accepting any sort of solicitation (and those are no different than a scammer tree person knocking on the door) and we don't do anything that's likely to involve high pressure sales tactics.

I'd ask around and see if anyone in your circle knows of a financial planner/investment adviser who is fee based that they recommend.

Oh we would totally do as you recommend when we eventually make changes and get things organized for retirement - ask acquaintances for recommendations of trustworthy advisers. We are skeptics by nature and wouldn’t bend to any kind of on the spot tactics. 
 

I’m just really curious to know if all these people will give consistent info, kwim? And yeah…. lunch! 😂 @cjzimmer1 the invites we get are also to high end restaurants so it’s tempting. 

[City Mouse]

If you are just wanting information about Medicare, Medicare supplements, and social security. Search for The Medicare Family on YouTube. There are lots of short videos that really helped me when I was trying to understand all that stuff for my parents. 

[gardenmom5]

Dh's background is finance.  yeah, we'll eat their steak dinner.  He might (or might not) get some idead.  We've talked to a couple over the years - never signed up with any of them.

[gardenmom5]

14 minutes ago, City Mouse said:

If you are just wanting information about Medicare, Medicare supplements, and social security. Search for The Medicare Family on YouTube. There are lots of short videos that really helped me when I was trying to understand all that stuff for my parents. 

These dog and ponies do A LOT more than those basics.

there are often 60+ people listening to their spiel in the room with a dozen tables of six to eight people  - it's very easy to not sign up with them.  They don't have time to high pressure sales.  It's just presenting their ideas of what's what, and how they do things and why they think they'll handle your retirement investments better than the next guy.  We've never felt pressured.

Edited September 29, 2023 by gardenmom5

[Annie G]

We went to one about 5 years before dh retired, and it was actually helpful because it reassured us that we (mostly) had our ducks in a row, and gave us some topics to think about and research further. We did get emails from the guy for a while, and when we moved we unsubscribed. No pressure at all. 

[Faith-manor]

Twice a year our investment/finance guy has a pastry breakfast for his clients. Though we do not really need the info since we have our own personal reviews with him, dh goes anyway because the specialty coffee and chocolate croissants are apparently "divine". 😂

[Grace Hopper]

41 minutes ago, Annie G said:

We went to one about 5 years before dh retired, and it was actually helpful because it reassured us that we (mostly) had our ducks in a row, and gave us some topics to think about and research further. We did get emails from the guy for a while, and when we moved we unsubscribed. No pressure at all. 

Good reminder to only provide our “throwaway” email address if asked to give one. 

[Bambam]

We've been invited by our credit union to an "Estate Planning" event. No food because it is a webinar, but we signed up anyway. Maybe we will learn something? If not, we will simply sign off. 

[J-rap]

We've been invited to some Medicare seminars, mostly through our health insurance (BCBS).  We have a financial advisor for everything else, but I do think that health insurance after retirement sounds very confusing to me.  I'd like to attend a seminar or two to have a better understanding of that!  I don't think our health insurance company is offering a free dinner though.

[Hyacinth]

We’ve gone to several for the food 😁. 

They host these events to get new clients so, of course, you’re going to get a sales pitch. But it’s easy enough to say “No, thank you” when they come around and ask if you’d like to book an appointment. I’ve never felt pressured.