Ethan Schwartz, Columnist

These Ads Could Be Bad for Your Financial Health

Peddlers of retirement products need to give consumers better information.

June 4, 2019 at 10:00 AM EDT

Ethan Schwartz has worked as an investment manager and financial services executive for 21 years. He was a special assistant to the deputy secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration.

Retirement vehicle?
Photographer: Guillaume Souvant/AFP/Getty Images

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How well do America’s consumer protection laws serve people saving for retirement? To get a sense, let’s compare an old car ad with a brochure produced by a modern-day insurance company.

The ad, for the bare-bones Citroen 2CV, plays with the way sellers of consumer products sometimes make extravagant claims:

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