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Become a Free Lunch Seminar MonitorBy: AARP.org | Source: AARP.org 
Seeking VolunteersDownload the 'What to Listen for Checklist' form. The MailbagIf you receive any free lunch
investment seminar invitations, send
them to:
Additional Resources
Do you receive "Free Lunch Seminar" invitations? If
so, and you are looking for an exciting
volunteer opportunity, you can become an AARP
Volunteer Free Lunch Monitor.
Four out of five investors age 60 and over received
at least one invitation to a free investment
seminar in the past three years—and three out of
five received six or more. The invitations
often promise to educate you about investing
strategies or managing money in retirement—usually
with an expensive meal provided at no cost.
Chances are good that you, too, have received
similar invitations and wondered whether you should
attend.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and
state securities regulators, who are members of the
North American Securities Administrators
Association (NASAA), sent investigators to some of
these events. Their findings were deeply
disturbing. "Every rock that we turned over
seemed to have a bug or a worm crawling out
underneath," says SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. "In
each of the sweeps we conducted, we found
significant fraud."
The free meal does not always mean free information. The ultimate goals are to recruit new clients and sell products. While some pitches can be easy to swallow, the consequences can be expensive. Consumers may go to the seminar with the expectation of learning how to grow and protect their investments and retirement savings. During the seminar, however, and in follow-up phone calls or in-home visits individuals may be pressured to make unsuitable investment decisions without having done their homework.
State regulators sit in on presentations as they
are able, but with small staffs and a large number
of seminars offered daily, their reach is limited.
How to Become a Free Lunch Monitor
If you choose to attend a free lunch seminar,
consider bringing our checklist along. Use
our checklist to help assure that free investment
seminars adhere to the guidelines set by financial
regulators.
Instructions for the Free Lunch Monitor include:
Mail your completed checklist form to:
AARP Financial Security Free Lunch Mailbag
601 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20049
S11-176
We'll make sure your state regulator gets your input.
Many seminar sales use a "soft sell" followed by
either a phone call or in-house visit where the
pressure to purchase— and do so quickly— may occur.
We highly discourage inviting individuals you do
not know into your home. If you
get a phone call as a follow-up to the seminar,
we'd like to know if the caller was more aggressive
in trying to make a sale than was observed in the
seminar. The back of the seminar checklist has
space for additional comments.
Thanks in advance for being a Free Lunch
Monitor. Let us know how you felt about this
volunteer experience, and if you would do it again.
Also let your friends know that they too can be
Free Lunch Monitors. Using the checklist is a good
way to know what to watch and listen for and not be
swayed by an exciting sales pitch and a free
meal.
The Mailbag
If you're not interested in attending any of the
seminars, we'd love to have you share your
invitations with us. Gather up any invitations you
or your friends receive. Send them to:
AARP
Financial Security Free Lunch Mailbag
601 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20049
S11-176
AARP wants to see what the invitations are saying
and who is sending them. The more invitations you
send us the better we can work together to assure
that investment professionals truly work in the
best interest of each investor.
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