Acting NJ Banking Commissioner Ken Kobylowski has been making his outreach to New Jersey's Senior Citizens a priority lately. He says he's going around giving tips to seniors about insurance products, long-term care insurance, annuity's and reverse mortgages as part of his Senior Financial Literacy program.

Kobylowski says in addition, he wants to give seniors some warnings about speaking to people and making commitments that may not necessarily be in their best interest. "there are a lot of people our there who are looking to take advantage of our seniors."

He says he's getting lots of questions about the onslaught of calls and mailings they're receiving  from companies trying to sell financial products. Kobylowski says he told a crowd at the Brick Township Senior Center Thursday "when someone approaches you with a new insurance product or a new financial product. Your first response should always be no thank you."

He says "a lot of these products come with high upfront cost and fees that go on during the term of the product and the folks need to be aware that those cost are involved."

Regarding reverse mortgages, he gives an example of a woman who signed up for one but was never told about the down side. "No one ever told her that real estate can go down in value and now she is facing the situation where she owes more on the mortgage than the value of her home."

He advices folks to do their homework on financial products before making any commitments. He brings his Senior Literacy program to the Toms River Senior Center on Wednesday the 29th at 12:30.

Get more information at www.dobi.nj.gov

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