Chuck Jaffe of MarketWatch sums up his thoughts on the Gerber College Plan this way: “In the end, this Gerber product takes advantage of the consumer’s best intentions to give them a less-than-optimal solution to the problem they’re solving. Most people can do better on their own.” Read Chuck’s article, This college savings plan flunks the test, in its entirety.
After a reasoned analysis of costs, surrender charges, tax consequences and other negative nuances of life insurance as college savings tool, Mr. Jaffe opines that traditional 529 college savings plans beat out insurance-based plans almost every time, calling the Gerber Life College Plan, “awful,” “lousy,” and the “stupid investment of the week.”
This sums it up pretty well. Insurance salesman will often sell you insurance whether you need it or not. Remember what Warren Buffet said “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.” Anthony Isola
Anthony is currently heading the Educator/403(b) Division at Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. The goal of our division is to transform the way teachers save for retirement. For disclosure information please see here.
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