[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4] [Senate] [Page 4622] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS By Mr. KOHL (for himself and Mr. Vitter): S. 2794. A bill to protect older Americans from misleading and fraudulent marketing practices, with the goal of increasing retirement security; to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, many of America's seniors are discovering that their life savings may not be enough to sufficiently provide for their retirement needs. To bridge the gap, some seniors are turning to investments to increase their retirement income and frequently rely on financial advisors to help them invest wisely. Unfortunately, we have learned that seniors are placing their trust in so-called ``senior investment advisors'' who in many cases may not deserve it. More and more, individuals are representing themselves as certified ``senior investment specialists'' when often they have limited or no education and experience in extremely complicated financial matters. It is estimated that there are hundreds of different designations for senior financial advisors that all sound very official, and that there are thousands of unscrupulous individuals marketing themselves out as such ``senior'' specialists. You would be surprised to know that in order to obtain some of them, all it takes is a weekend and as many cracks at an open-book, multiple- choice exam as is needed? It is almost impossible for seniors to tell the difference between the more legitimate titles and those with less rigorous standards. Today, Senator Vitter and I are introducing the Senior Investor Protection Act of 2008 to help ensure there are rules to separate reputable designations, like Certified Financial Planners, from less rigorous designations and clarifications that are meant to confuse and mislead seniors. This bill would encourage states to improve their own rules regulating the use of designations by encouraging them to adopt provisions outlined in the North American Securities Administrators Association's, NASAA, new model rule on the use of senior designations. It would create a grant to help States protect senior investors from unscrupulous individuals who use misleading designations to sell seniors inappropriate financial products. We know that an attorney must go to school for 3 years and pass a State bar exam. A CPA must have a college degree, an additional year of study and must pass a national exam. Neither can offer their professional services without those credentials. Seniors should be able to trust the people who invest their money. They should not be worried that the title after their advisor's name is scarcely more than a marketing ploy, and that it was not earned through sufficiently rigorous financial education or training. I strongly encourage my colleagues to cosponsor this measure. ____________________