Reverse Mortgage Guide

If you’re a senior looking for investment help you might want to use a little caution.

As The New York Times reports, “as older Americans’ wealth has grown, so too have programs that offer quickly earned credentials or that teach agents how to sell to the elderly. The number of certified senior advisers has increased by 78 percent in the last five years. More than two dozen such programs now exist, and have enrolled more than 39,000 people over the last decade. As more baby boomers retire, the number of programs and enrollees is likely to grow significantly, analysts say. (See: For Elderly Investors, Instant Experts Abound, July 9, 2007).

The Times also reports that some programs certify students in less than four days — and in some cases no high school or college degree is required.

Protect your interests: When you seek financial counseling look for more than certificates on the wall. Ask how long it took to acquire each certification — Certified Financial Planners (three years) and Chartered Financial Analysts (four years) are likely to be your best choices in addition to attorneys who specialize in elder law and certified public accountants who know about retirement issues.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 at 1:56 am and is filed under Reverse Mortgage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.