We need a president to match!
Posted on 07/22/2020 4:30:50 AM PDT by Kaslin
Editor's Note: Jon Decker is the co-author of this piece.
Last week, the AARP sent a letter to the Department of Labor requesting a delay of a Department of Labor proposal to align its rules for investment advisers with the SEC's "best interest" standard, to give investors more choices while protecting their retirement savings.
It's no surprise that the AARP would seek to thwart one of President Trump's policy objectives. Instead of being a neutral advocate for seniors, the AARP routinely engages in far-left political advocacy. Recall that when seniors were contacting the AARP 14-to-1 urging the group to oppose Obamacare, they instead supported it. Since the law’s passage and implementation, the AARP has received well over $4 billion in “royalties” from its for-profit partner UnitedHealth, most of which comes from their exclusive sale of "AARP" branded UnitedHealth insurance plans.
There is some unique irony in AARP's latest foray into political activism. They are seeking to delay President Trump's retirement rules which are designed to replace an Obama administration regulation known as the fiduciary rule that was struck down in court.
Obama's so-called "fiduciary rule" was dubbed "Obamacare for your retirement" because, under his proposal, if you like your retirement plan or investment advisor, you may not be able to keep it. Estimates show that the rule would have disqualified up to 7 million IRA holders from receiving investment advice and cost consumers an eye-popping $31.5 billion.
Despite the fact that Obama's regulations amounted to an all-out war on seniors' retirement plans, the AARP – allegedly a seniors advocacy group – supported it due to their misguided belief that seniors aren't smart enough to plan for their own retirement. (We can't help but wonder if the Obama rule would have benefited AARP's corporate investment advisory partners.)
It is laughable that the AARP would call for the federal government to tell seniors how to manage their money – just look how the government manages its own!
But here's the real kicker. While the AARP wants to police retirement decisions by enforcing a "fiduciary rule" in an ill-fated attempt to protect seniors, the AARP recently got a lawsuit dismissed by claiming they themselves have no "fiduciary" responsibility to seniors whatsoever – even though they are a seniors organization!
The lawsuit Krukas v. AARP alleged:
“AARP and UnitedHealth, together and through their respective subsidiaries, have orchestrated an elaborate scheme where AARP, as the de facto agent of UnitedHealth, helps market, solicit, and sell or renew AARP Medigap policies and generally administers the AARP Medigap program for UnitedHealth… AARP received ‘a 4.95% commission from every policy sold or renewed,’ id., which ‘constitutes an illegal kickback,’… AARP collects an illegal commission, acts as an unlicensed insurance agent, and materially misrepresents information about the 4.95% charge, all of which constitute violations of the CPPA and common law.”
Lawyers for AARP successfully got the case dismissed by arguing that there is no requirement for the AARP to “act with the interests of [seniors] in mind" and that "The relationship between a member and a membership organization is not one of ‘trust or confidence’ that creates a fiduciary duty.” Membership to the AARP “does not ‘transcend an ordinary business’ relationship.”
So while the AARP is clamoring for the federal government to enforce "fiduciary rules" on retirement investing, the organization refuses to hold itself to any fiduciary standard whatsoever.
If the AARP isn't accountable to seniors, why should anyone pay any attention to their advocacy?
AARP is an insurance broker.
Yes, cleverly disguised as a Senior's advocacy group.
It is considered one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in D.C.
Anyone that falls for them is stupid, and deserves what they get.
I’ve heard of them. Unfortunately businesses promote AARP and don’t offer any discounts
Lol
I was recently retired due to COVID-19. I consider my new lack of association with anything a feature of retirement, not something I need to join an association to remedy.
I was social distancing long before it was cool.
see my post #20 ... my agent’s name was pam wilson.
We need a president to match!
I mail the postage “free” envelopes back empty so they have to pay for it. I stopped getting them after wwhile!
I’m an AMAC member. IMO it’s worth it just for the PureTalk wireless service offer.
I save all of their junk mail up, stuff it all into their prepaid return envelopes, and drop them in the mail. If you cut the pieces right, you can usually get the envelope to be almost 2" thick.
“ AARP is an insurance broker. I return their prepaid envelopes to them empty.”
NO! If they are “Postage Paid” fill them as full as you can of the heaviest things you can find, rocks, crushed sardine cans, etc.. Let them pay out the nose.
I have United Healthcare ONLY because it is what my long time doctors accept. It is THE INSURANCE that allowed me to keep my doctors after I retired. I DO NOT LIKE AARP. But I do like being able to continue with doctors that I know and appreciate.
I asked them to stop spamming me - no response other than more spam. So I wrote again informing them that henceforth I would be returning their post-paid envelopes - and they weren’t going to like it. They sent more spam.
So I filled the envelopes with steel plates (cost me nothing) that probably wound up costing them 10-15 dollars a whack. Still the spam came. So I attached an envelope to a piece of broken machinery and mailed that to them - $320.00 in postage.
Curiously the spam ceased and I never see anything from them anymore.
;’}
The last mailing From AARP required a stamp to return the envelope>.
That’s funny - it looks like they’re slow but they catch on....eventually.
bump
What is the minimum age to join AMAC?
It should be an SEC rule, not the labor department which Obama wanted.
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