Beware the Siren Song of Surf & Turf
By J.R. Robinson, Financial Planner (February 2026)
If you’re retired or approaching retirement, there’s a good chance your mailbox has already sung to you: glossy invitations to a “complimentary gourmet dinner” at a steakhouse or country club, promising “tax‑free income,”“market‑like returns without risk,” or “a safer way to retire.” The presenters often call themselves “retirement specialists, “wealth managers,”or sometimes even “financial planners,” but the real goal is usually simple: sell high‑commission indexed annuities or indexed universal life (IUL) policies.[1][2][3][4]
The anatomy of the steakhouse pitch
Regulators have been studying these “free lunch” or “free dinner” seminars for years and their findings are remarkably consistent.
Events are held at upscale hotels, golf clubs, and high‑end restaurants to create a sense of exclusivity and credibility.[3]
Mailers emphasize that the event is “educational,” with limited seating and an urgent call to reserve a spot, often framed as a public service for retirees.[3]
Presenters highlight risk, taxes, and recent market crashes, then pivot to proprietary “solutions” that just happen to be products they sell and for which they earn substantial commissions.[5][6]
A joint SEC/FINRA/NASAA examination of these seminars noted that the most commonly pitched products are equity‑indexed annuities and indexed universal life insurance policies (IULs). Equity‑indexed annuities, in particular, have become darlings of the surf & turf circuit, including in Honolulu, because they are complicated, opaque, and pay rich compensation to the salespeople promoting them.[4][5][3]
The “fake planner” problem
One of the most concerning patterns is how often pure insurance agents present themselves as comprehensive financial planners or retirement advisors.[2][7]
NASAA has warned that many “senior specialists” at free meal seminars use impressive‑sounding titles and credentials that are either meaningless or self‑awarded to create a false aura of expertise.[1]
State enforcement actions show agents calling themselves “retirement specialists” or “financial planners” while only holding an insurance license, then steering nearly every attendee to the same indexed annuity product.[2]
Some mailers and presentations imply the presenter will review your “entire retirement portfolio” or create a “custom income plan,” but the follow‑up recommendations often boil down to: liquidate current investments and buy the annuity or IUL they sell.[1][2]
In a Massachusetts case, for example, an insurance producer marketed fixed indexed annuities to seniors, identified himself as a retirement specialist or financial planner, and advised clients to liquidate 401(k)s, IRAs, and brokerage accounts to fund annuity purchases—even though he was not licensed to give securities advice. Regulators alleged that 128 out of 158 clients ended up in the same annuity from the same carrier, which is the opposite of personalized planning.[2] To its credit, Massachusetts is one of the few states that has been at least modestly proactive in protecting consumers within the states borders from unscrupulous insurance sales people.
A big part of the problem is that the sales people hosting these events know full well that are operating outside the regulatory reach of the SEC (which regulates advice pertaining to securities) and FINRA (which regulates brokerage securities sales practices), because indexed insurance products are not technically securities, but rather fixed insurance products. For its part, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is positively feckless in addressing the problems of misleading advertising, product misrepresentation, conflicts of interest, and lack of transparency of commissions in IUA and IUL sales practices. In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of Financial Economics placed a spotlight on “Regulatory Leakage” among financial advisors. The study found evidence that brokers and investment advisers who had disciplinary histories on their SEC and FINRA profiles, often thumb their noses at the securities regulators by migrating to the less regulated insurance space.
Why these products are so aggressively pushed
Indexed annuities and IUL policies are not inherently evil; they are tools with specific trade‑offs. But they are especially attractive to salespeople for three reasons:
High commissions. Variable and fixed indexed annuities tend to be among the most complex and conflict‑ridden products because they pay some of the highest commissions and perks to the people selling them. Similar incentives exist in many IUL sales systems.[8][9][5][4]
Long surrender periods. Multi‑year surrender charges, which can exceed 10 years, effectively “lock in” the client and the commission.[4]
Complexity and opacity. Caps, participation rates, spreads, moving cost‑of‑insurance charges, and illustrated crediting strategies are difficult for consumers to evaluate, making it easier to oversell benefits and downplay risks.[9][5][8]
Training materials aimed at agents explicitly frame seminars as a way to “grow your business with IUL” and promise to teach “IUL sales success strategies,” including seminar‑based prospecting. Even industry pieces acknowledge that traditional dinner seminars can be “tremendously expensive” but are used because they fill rooms with prospects, especially retirees.[8][9]
Put bluntly, there is a reason someone is willing to buy 40 strangers a turf‑and‑turf dinner: the expected payoff per attendee is very high.
Regulatory red flags from real cases
Regulators have repeatedly found that free meal seminars are not simply harmless education with dessert.
A multi‑state review found that in about half of examined seminars, there was evidence of misleading or exaggerated claims, and another large portion involved recommendations that were not suitable for at least some attendees.[10][11]
NASAA has documented cases in which seminar hosts recommended that seniors liquidate existing securities to purchase indexed or variable annuities, often unsuitable given their age, liquidity needs, or risk tolerance.[1]
The SEC and FINRA noted that “free lunch” seminars are often explicitly designed as sales events to obtain new customers and sell investment products, despite being advertised as educational.[11][3]
In many enforcement actions, the pattern is striking: an insurance producer, not registered as an investment adviser, holds seminars, positions themselves as a planner, and then systematically directs attendees to sell existing investments and move into annuities through the producer. When that advice crosses from discussing an insurance product into giving recommendations about securities accounts, regulators may treat it as unregistered investment advice.[2][1]
How the narrative hooks you
The sales pitch at these dinners usually follows an emotional arc rather than a balanced analysis.
Fear and uncertainty. Presenters highlight recent bear markets, inflation, and headlines about retirees running out of money, often cherry‑picking worst‑case scenarios and old crash charts.[6][12]
Distrust of Wall Street. They frame the stock market as a casino, mutual funds as fee‑ridden, and traditional advisors as conflicted, positioning themselves as the straight‑talking outsider.[12][6]
The “safe growth” solution. After priming fear, they introduce indexed annuities or IUL as a way to get “market‑linked returns with no downside,” “tax‑free retirement income,” or “growth without risk,” often glossing over caps, participation rates, fees, and policy risks.[5][9][8]
Urgency and scarcity. Finally, they urge you to sign up for a personal appointment or act before “tax law changes,” “market volatility,” or “limited capacity” closes the window.[13][3]
When you’re digesting both a ribeye and a scary story about running out of money, it’s easy to grasp at whatever sounds safer. That psychological vulnerability is precisely why regulators keep warning that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”[3][1]
Regulation Through Litigation
As a sad practical matter, the most effective enforcement against insurance companies and the agents who are misrepresenting the index annuity and IUL products is coming not from NAIC or the individual state insurance commissioners, but from civil litigation attorneys who see plenty of money to be made in this space. One high profile example involved famed NASCAR driver Kyle Busch. Mr. Busch alleged that Pacific Life and an agent who sold him indexed insurance products cost him and his wife nearly $8.6 million in losses. According to Mr. Busch he was told by the agent that the insurance products he was sold, were, “"something safe and secure that would grow tax-free and protect our family long after racing,” but instead turned out to be a “financial trap.”
I connected with the attorney representing Mr. Busch, Robert Rikard of RP Legal, LLC on LinkedIn, and he agreed that (1) misrepresentation of index annuity and UL products is rampant (including on LinkedIn and other social media platforms). He also agreed that, at this time, the insurance regulatory authorities are not adequately protecting consumers and that civil litigation appears to be the only visible deterrent against unethical sales practices. For more on this topic, see the interview below:
IULs: How They’re Incorrectly Sold & Used (with Robert Rikard). (YouTube)
Practical defenses for consumers
You don’t have to swear off every educational event at a restaurant, but you should approach them like you would a high‑pressure timeshare pitch.
Clarify licenses and obligations. Ask the presenter, in writing if possible, whether they are:
Demand full disclosure. Before meeting one‑on‑one, request:
Get a second opinion. If you’re pitched an indexed annuity or IUL, consider paying an independent, fee‑only fiduciary who does not sell these products to review the proposal.[14][7]
Slow the process down. High‑pressure timelines, limited‑time bonuses, or claims that something is “only available this month” are classic red flags. Any legitimate long‑term retirement strategy will still be there after you’ve slept on it.[10][13][11]
Remember that in many documented cases, seniors were encouraged to surrender existing annuities or liquidate retirement accounts, sometimes incurring steep penalties and tax consequences, just to move into a new product that generated another commission for the agent.[4][1][2]
When an annuity or IUL might still make sense
To be fair, not every dinner seminar is a scam, and not every annuity or IUL sale is abusive.[5][4]
Some firms genuinely use seminars to educate clients and prospects, disclose their conflicts clearly, and make recommendations that fit the client’s age, liquidity needs, and goals.[14][5]
Certain annuities may play a role in a broader plan—for example, providing longevity income for someone who values guaranteed lifetime payments more than flexibility.[4]
Permanent life insurance, including IUL, can be appropriate in specific estate planning or protection contexts when the primary objective is insurance, not pseudo‑investment returns.[8]
The key distinction is not whether a steak was involved; it is whether the recommendation is genuinely tailored, transparently explained, and aligned with your best interest rather than the agent’s commission grid.
Final thoughts – Dine & Dash
For the record, I decided to write this article because I know there is at least one firm in Honolulu that hosts these events on a regular basis. I have not attended one nor have I heard a summary of the presentation, but I do know that the firm promotes itself as doing financial planning, wealth management, and retirement planning , and that it uses “Complimentary Dinner” as bait for seminars that promote indexed insurance products. To be fair, if index annuities are being presented at these events as an alternative to fixed income investments, such as bonds or CDs, then I might agree that it is a reasonable way to position the product (albeit one that is sold with opaque commissions). If, however, these products are being presented in the manner I have described above, then my best advice is to “Dine & Dash.”
The siren song of turf‑and‑turf is seductive because it promises safety, simplicity, and a nice meal in a world that often feels uncertain. Yet the regulatory record shows a recurring pattern of misleading titles, unsuitable recommendations, and complex products sold under the guise of “free education.” If you treat every steakhouse seminar as a sales pitch until conclusively proven otherwise, you are far more likely to keep both your dinner and your retirement intact.[11][10][3][1][2]
John H. Robinson is the founder of Financial Planning Hawaii and Fee-Only Planning Hawaii and a co-founder of retirement simulation software-maker, Nest Egg Guru.
https://www.nasaa.org/1950/senior-investor-alert-free-meal-seminars/
https://www.stantheannuityman.com/learn/pros-and-cons-of-annuities-the-bad-chicken-dinner-seminar
https://taubmanlaw.net/be-aware-of-annuity-scams-and-fake-financial-planners/
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/193810/pdfs/2016/09-Sept/six_strategies_iul_success.pdf
https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/free-lunch-seminars-may-end-up-costing-you-dearly
https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/Industry/p036814.pdf
https://elder-law.com/consumer-alert-watch-out-for-pitchmen-come-hear-our-pitch/
https://www.flatfeeadvisors.us/blog/the-hidden-costs-of-free-financial-seminars/