A guy walks into a bar and orders a beer.
Bartender says “That’ll cost you 80 bucks!”
Guy says “But that is more than twice as much as the pub next door charges!”
Bartender says “That’s not entirely true… if you agree upfront to drink at least 6 beers, upon finishing your 6th beer, we will reward you your 7th one for free. If you then keep on drinking your beers at this establishment, after your 10th beer we will refund you for two more. And that’s not all, after your 20th beer we will refund you up to four more beers.”
Furthermore said the small print:“The actual amount of free beers we will reward you with, will depend on your behaviour…..
– If you leave our pub without drinking the pre-agreed 6 beers we are still going to charge you for the full six beers.
– If you slow down the pace at which you drink your beers, or
– If you do not manage to drink 20 beers, or
– If you decide to change to wine,
we ‘”may” reduce the number of free beers or rewards you receive.”
If you suspect that may not be the best deal for you, I would encourage you to go and scrutinize your retirement planning charging structure.
Look up or request from your provider, your “detailed EAC” or Effective Annual Charge. If there is a large number (Positive or negative) under the category “Other”, then you are quite probably on a similar type of “reward” program to that described above, only its going to leave you with a much bigger hangover come retirement.
If you find the proverbial red flag under the category of “Other” as described above, I would leave you with a few questions to ponder…
What is the purpose of the complex pricing structure?
Is it to make it easier for you to understand?
Is it to make it more transparent as to what you are actually paying?
If you are concerned about the charges you are paying on your plan, send us a message and we will help you decipher the code.
You deserve better.