From: ttroberts@aol.com (TTRoberts)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
Subject: Re: VUL vs Roth
Date: 25 Aug 2003 23:05:12 GMT
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Laura (a.k.a. l.hutton@aemail4u.com  (L Hutton)) you wrote:

<< Not all VULs are bad. In most cases, they are a poor choice for
retirement savings due to the high fees. >>

 . .  . . agreed. 
 
 <<The original poster is single, no dependents, has student loan debts,
has credit card debts. Based on these facts, does a VUL look like a
good choice for this person? If yes, why? If no, then why would this
product be recommended?  >>

Is that really all the information you need to make a determination?  I might
have suspicions that it's not appropriate.  All we know for sure is what has
been written.  That fact that he has credit card debts doesn't mean he doesn't
have sizeable assets to work with. But I would want a lot more information
rather than make assumptions only based on probability.  He might be a business
owner/partner or be a partner in a professional practice of some kind; maybe
real-estate assets or family farm assets; inheritances that my soon come about
. . .etc., etc.   I'm just trying to make the point that I'd want to see much
more of the picture before drawing conclusions.  

<< Too bad these companies prey on the financially naive and/or
uneducated.  >>

An interesting choice of words.   It seems to say more than just what is
written. ;-)


<< These VULs are complicated and these companies hand the
client a 200 page prospectus knowing they won't be able to decipher
the prospectus. This makes for easy pickings to increase the bottom
line at the unsuspecting client's expense. >>

I feel you'd better point the finger more at the NASD and even the SEC for the
size of these prospectuses.  From comments I've heard from company executives,
they don't like the size of prospectuses either.   As you suggest . . . .who
the heck is actually going to read one of these monsters?   But if they want
the information, it's all there.  And the idea, isn't it . . . to help give Joe
Public information and to reduce the exposure of becoming an "unsuspecting
client?"