55 years ago as a twenty-year old airman 3rd class, just after basic training in the Air Force, I was ushered into a small conference room and introduced to a retired AF general who was then in the business of selling life insurance to 'captive' G.I.'s! He gave me a spiel about the benefits of a twenty-year endowment policy and signed me up for one (I can't remember the amount) under a payroll deduction plan. I didn't have to buy the policy but wasn't sure how my superiors would treat me later on if I didn't! I do know that I already had a government term life policy for $10K which had been provided free upon enlistment!
I don't think I kept the endowment policy for even a year because $97 per month base pay didn't leave room for much other than necessities! Of course the general still got his commission!...AG]
Congress OKs insurance bill shielding troops
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation to protect U.S. military personnel from abusive sales of overpriced life insurance and investments was given final approval by Congress on Thursday and sent to President Bush for signing into law.
The House of Representatives voted 418-3 to approve a measure that had already been passed by the Senate. Work on the legislation began two years ago after media reports that aggressive sales agents were marketing high-fee financial products to unsophisticated young recruits about to ship out to Iraq.
Louisiana Republican Rep. Richard Baker, noting the risks that military men and women take every day, said that "risking their financial future should not be among them."
But the measure does not take action against payday loans, which are high-interest cash advances made against future paychecks. The Pentagon has urged Congress to cap interest rates lenders charge on these loans to American troops, as part of a still-pending defense spending bill.
The measure sent to President Bush on Thursday would ban sales to the military of contractual plans, a mutual fund investment product that has virtually disappeared from the civilian marketplace because of exorbitant fees baked into the payments.
The measure also would require military personnel be told about life insurance that is available to them through the federal government. In the past, some troops have been sold life insurance policies offering the same coverage as the government plan but costing far more.
The legislation would also establish a list of barred brokers and sales agents to be made available to military installation commanders.
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