You need to be aware of self described “veterans advocates” who are in fact unscrupulous investment advisors.

In a Recent AARP article entitled "Taking Aim at Old Soldiers – Seminars target vets with unwise investments” states that you need to be aware of self described “veterans advocates” who are in fact unscrupulous investment advisors.

Because an entity utilizes the name “Veteran” it does not mean, they are advocating for you, or are a non profit organization. Additionally, these scammers utilize assisted living facilities, nursing homes and community centers, to promote themselves.

I have blogged before about this, “Is your Independent Financial Advisor Accredited?” but this AARP article reinforces the commitment to pursue these scammers.

These financial scammers state that “we’ll get you eligible for VA benefits, thus you’ll have more income, to pay for the assisted living facility or the home care nurse, and all you have to do is purchase this annuity.”  The financial scammers state that “there is no lookback period for VA benefits.” Although, this is a true statement, you have to be very careful – Medicaid does have a five year look back period. Therefore, if you “invest” your assets into these annuities and you require nursing home care, within five years, or if the annuity is not structured properly, you will be impacted with a hefty penalty, depending on how much you gave away.

Nevertheless, these financial scammers promote these annuities because they generate high sales commissions. Beware of the "free lunch" or “free dinner” seminars, as the old saying “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”