Guard against early retirement scams

HR Magazine, Oct, 2008 by Rita Zeidner

Many organizations are offering early retirement as a way to cut payroll costs. Meanwhile, crooks prowl around for opportunities to exploit the payouts. Two new, product-neutral resources from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)--formerly the National Association of Security Dealers--can help employers and their older workers guard against early retirement scams.

Help Your Employees Achieve Their Retirement Dream: Tips for Spotting Early Retirement Scams offers tips for employers to recognize scamsters. As a service to employers, FINRA will also help review vendor materials to determine if they are shady. Early Retirement Seminars 101: Smart Tips for Spotting Retirement Scams alerts employees to the risks of early retirement schemes.

"While many third-party seminars offer solid information, others--especially those that promote early retirement--may not be appropriate," said FINRA Chief Executive Officer Mary L. Schapiro. "Some seminars include misleading assumptions about investment returns, suggest risky withdrawal strategies or lead to outright fraud."

FINRA offers other tools to protect retirees. BrokerCheck, a free online tool, helps investors check the professional backgrounds of current and former FINRA-registered securities firms and brokers. FINRA officials recommend it as the first resource investors should turn to when choosing a broker.

For questions regarding BrokerCheck, call FINRA's toll-free hotline at (800) 289-9999, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Online Resources

Far more information about financial literacy scams, see the online version of this article at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine for links to:

* The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

* HR News and HR Magazine articles on financial literacy.

* The SHRM Financial Literacy web page.