The pre-need law was passed in December 2009 and the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) were signed in March 2010.

Visit the website of the Insurance Commission at insurance.gov.ph, and you will see the pre-need code and the IRR already published on the site.

You will also see the list of the 23 pre-need firms under Directory of the IC  home page.  However, the list on the IC was still the list previously prepared by the SEC.

The list includes the 23 pre-need firms that were licensed to sell pre-need plans as of December 2009:

1. Abundance Providers and Entrepreneurs Corporation (APEC) (formerly Pacific Plans)
2. AMA Plans
3. Ayala Plans
4. Caritas Financial Plans
5. CityPlans
6. Cocoplans
7. Danvil Plans (formerly Berkley International Plans)
8. Destiny Financial Plans
9. Eternal Plans
10. First Country Plans
11. First Union Plans
12. Grayline Plans
13. Himlayang Pilipino Plans
14. Loyola Plans Consolidated
15. Manulife Financial Plans
16. Mercantile Careplans
17. Paz Memorial Services
18. Philplans First (formerly Philam Plans)
19. Provident International Plans
20. St. Peter Life Plan
21. Sun Life Financial Plans
22. Transnational Plans
23. Trusteeship Plans

The only two changes from the May 2009 list are:

• the addition of APEC to the list
• change of name of Philam Plans to Philplans

For those who have complaints, inquiries or claims, you can address them to:

Public Assistance & Information Division

523-8461 to 70 local 102, 103, 105

pubassist@insurance.gov.ph

Check again because this is often confused with a different company, Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Company (PPLIC), an insurance company headquartered in Pasig City and affiliated with Danvil Plans.  Prudentialife and Prudential Life are not affiliated with each other.

If you have decided to terminate your Prudentialife plans, these are the documents you need to bring to Prudentialife to apply for termination:

1. Plan or policy contract (Original)
2. Certificate of Full Payment (Original)
3. At least two valid IDs (Photocopies signed three times)
4. Benefits Settlement Application Form (3 copies)
5. Processing fee of 300 pesos (to be deducted from the proceeds of the plan)

You can view or download a copy of the Benefits Settlement Application Form here.

If you like to view or download copies of a special power of attorney or affidavits, go here.

Always remember though that if you terminate your plan, you won’t get back all the money you paid.  You’ll only get a small portion.  The percentages are written in your plan.

But as others say, mas mabuti nang merong konti kesa wala.

I don’t have a Prudentialife plan. What I have is a Danvil plan. There was one time I also considered termination because of the pre-need crisis, but I decided to wait.

Nevertheless, we have to decide for ourselves. We gather information and then decide.  Whatever happens, we have ourselves to blame or congratulate.

Main Address:

Website:  www.prudentialife.com

For addresses of Prudentialife branches, go here.

But oftentimes, I still read them just to remind myself that I’m not alone, that I’m not the only one who made wrong financial decisions.

About four years ago, my former-OFW-husband and I lost about 400,000 pesos in a failed investment.

Going back to the Legacy Group scam, here are some of the investors that lost big amounts of money, based on news reports on inquirer.net:

Boy Galang, an OFW in Oman

Galang invested 200,000 in Legacy’s double-your-money scheme. He even canceled his flight back to Oman just to submit his complaint, hoping to get back his money.

Over 12,000 Soldiers and Police Officers Including Colonel Ariel Querubin

The Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association Inc. reported that 12,047 soldiers and police officers invested nearly 318 million pesos in Legacy’s Scholarship Plan Philippines through salary deductions.

Querubin said he had paid a total of 109,000 since buying a plan in  1999.

Legazpi investors

Investors from Albay put in between 200,000 to 37 million pesos in Legacy’s double-your-money scheme. The other regular plan holders bought their plans at 25,000 each.

160 Investors Represented by Lawyer Ceasar Distrito

These 100 investors invested a total of 200 million in Legacy while 60 plan holders invested a total of 7 million in pre-need plans.

Lourdes Redoloza, retired professor of UP Los Banos

Redoloza, 65 years old, invested 100,000 pesos in 2006 in Legacy’s time deposit scheme that promised to double her money in 5 years. She added another 250,000 years later, but Legacy dissolved before she could get it back.

According to Redoloza, there are a lot of UPLB retirees and professors who invested millions in Legacy.

Joe Lory, a naturalized American citizen from California

Lory mortgaged his house and cashed out his entire 401(k) retirements funds to invest in Legacy’s time deposit schemes.

Bien Donque, a resident of Talisay City

Donque invested 1 million in Legacy.

Investor who filed a syndicated estafa case with help from Senator Mar Roxas

Antonio Evangelista, an assistant hotel manager in Palau, filed a case together with other investors

Josephine Soriano

Soriano initially invested 100,000 in Legacy’s Scholarship Plan Philippines. Later, she invested 4 million in Legacy’s double-your-money scheme. She added another 1 million, putting her total investment at 5 million from 2007 to 2008. She has filed a separate complaint with the NBI Special Task Force.

Pontico Fortuna, a former councilor in Mandaue City

Fortuna invested more than 10 million pesos in Legacy.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles

Nograles invested 18 to 20 million pesos in Legacy.  De Los Angeles said Legacy still owed Nograles 10 million.

Aurora Soriano, former Legacy employee

Soriano, 59 years old, invested 250,000 in Legacy’s pension plans.

Analisa Soto, co-owner of recruitment agencies

Soto invested 1 million pesos in the double-your-money program of Legacy’s Asiatrust Bank, which invested the money in Legacy’s bankrupt Banco Paranaque.

Dole Philippines Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative Inc.

This cooperative borrowed 70 million from Land Bank and deposited it at Rural Bank of DARBCI in General Santos City, one of the banks owned by Legacy. The millions were siphoned off elsewhere before the rural bank collapsed.

This is the story however that touches my heart the most, along with the story of the soldiers and the police officers:

According to Butch del Castillo of Business Mirror, he knows 3 siblings who inherited a house and lot near the center of Makati which can easily be sold at 20 million pesos.  They mortgaged the property in a commercial bank and invested the entire loan proceeds in Legacy’s double-your-money scheme.

After Legacy collapsed, the property was repossessed by the bank, and now the siblings are staying in a small rented apartment.  Certainly,  for decades,  the parents of these children worked hard to buy and pay for the house — and now, it’s gone.

Again, it’s the planholders who are suffering.

Back in April, Permaplans’ president Juan Miguel Vazquez said his firm isn’t considering going to court for rehabilitation because court rehab takes time and delays payments to planholders.

But now the firm has filed for rehab, which according to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez is not the best option for planholders. He mentioned this while commenting on the Legacy case.

An example of a pre-need court rehab is that of CAP. After getting suspended in 2004, CAP petitioned for rehab in 2005. The court granted it in 2006. Up to now,  CAP planholders have not received what is due them.

I also have a fully-paid CAP plan for my niece, but I’ve temporarily stopped pursuing it. I also sold one big CAP plan to a family friend, and I’ve made my big sorry and they’ve been nice. But I don’t know if the family thinks of CAP and then thinks of me. I’m glad now I sold only one.

Going back to PermaPlans:

According to Doris Dumlao of Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Permaplans petitioned a Makati court on May 21 to allow it to do the following:

• pay planholders who want to terminate their plans on a 60-40 basis: 60 percent in assets such as memorial lots and 40 percent in cash

• pay holders of maturing plans in five years: 10 percent on the 1st year, 45 percent on the 4th year and 45 percent on the 5th year.

Permaplans has about 11,000 planholders.

I’m saddened by the fact that Vazquez and the SEC are fighting.

Vazquez said the SEC froze Permaplans’ trust fund, so PermaPlans was forced to file for rehabilitation.

But the SEC said it didn’t freeze Permaplans’ trust fund.

According to the SEC, what it did was:

• to notify Permaplans that SEC opposed its plan of paying planholders who prefer to terminate their plans on a 60-40 basis

• to direct the trustee banks to secure approval first from SEC before approving withdrawals from Permaplans

There’s an article by Neal Cruz titled Gov’t regulatory agencies sleeping on the job . He didn’t name the pre-need firm, but obviously he’s referring to Permaplans.

I’m just bothered by the initial action of court rehab:

protect the pre-need firm from claims or give a reprieve to the pre-need firm from paying its obligations while something is being worked out.

Sources:

Permaplans seeks court approval for rehab
By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer

SEC tightens lid on Legacy
By Darwin G.Amojelar
The Manila Times

At the Senate hearing on pre-need firms, former Legacy executive Carolina Hinola accused SEC Commissioner Jesus Enrique Martinez of covering up Legacy’s financial problems after accepting gifts from Legacy, including a 5-million-peso house and lot and a 1.5-million Ford Expedition from Legacy head Celso de Los Angeles.

Insiders also claimed that Martinez tried to broker the sale of Danvil Plans to the Legacy Group. The sale did not push through after Danvil Plans backed out of the deal allegedly upon the advice of other top pre-need executives.

(Martinez died on May 6 due to colon cancer complications.)

April 21

SEC has canceled the license of Prudentialife Plans Inc. to sell preneed plans because of its trust fund deficiency.

Prudentialife however said that its estimated trust fund of 12 billion pesos is enough to cover its obligations to about 400,000 planholders.

Prudentialife said it is still allowed to sell their other products like life insurance, health plans and mutual funds. Prudentialife President Jose Alberto Alba insisted that his firm will survive the crisis because of its 31-year history of strong performance, including survival of the CAP collapse and the 1997-1998 crisis.

April 22

Permanent Plans or Permaplans has decided to stop its operations  because of trust fund losses in 2008.  In response, SEC canceled Permaplans’ license. Permaplans said it will pay all its planholders (about 10,800) in the form of cash and other types of assets in the next 4 to 6 months.

April 27

Paranaque Representative Roilo Golez condemned CAP for giving only about 400 pesos per sem to most of about 700,000 CAP planholders under a court rehabilitation program.

Chit Baita, head of a group of CAP planholders, questioned court-appointed receiver Mamerto Marcelo for allowing CAP to sell its MRT III bonds and use the proceeds to pay off other firms owned by CAP owners, the Sobrepenas, instead of using the money to pay planholders.

May 1

CAP responded to the report that it is giving out only 400 to 500 pesos per sem to planholders by announcing that it has paid over 220 million to planholders since 2007 and that it is following court-approved schedules for paying planholders in installments up to 2011 and then full payments starting 2012.

CAP instructed planholders to check its list of 147,000 planholders on its website www.cap.com.ph for 334,000 checks ready for release.

May 1

Investigators said fraudulent schemes and fund diversions led to the collapse of Legacy’s banks and pre-need firms. Legacy’s pre-need firms owe about 1.3 billion pesos to its estimated 50,000 pre-need planholders, including more than 12,000 soldiers and police officers who have paid over 320 million pesos through monthly salary deductions by the AFPSLAI.

May 6

Coco Plans said it has 1.4 billion in its trust fund and it is able to cover maturing policies within the next 9 years, according to Coco Plans president

Caesar Michelena. He said the deficiency of 190 million will be covered within 3 years under a program submitted to the SEC.

May 7

The SEC announced that three preneed firms — Coco Plans, AMA Plans and Danvil Plans — had trust fund deficiencies. Coco Plans and Danvil Plans have

already submitted their plans on how they can restore their trust funds to adequate levels.

May 7

Caesar Michelena, president of Coco Plans and  newly-elected head of the Philippine Federation of Pre-need Plan Companies, expressed his hope that no more pre-need company will shut down.

Previous PFPPC President Juan Miguel Vasquez resigned after his firm Permanent Plans decided to cease operations.

May 7

Some Permanent Plans planholders complained at the Senate hearing that Permaplans is offering a 60/40 payment scheme — 40 percent of their maturity value in cash and 60 percent in food and health supplies and lots at a burial site in Payatas.

In a statement made on April 22, Permanent Plans President Juan Miguel Vazquez reiterated that the contracts held by Permaplans planholders allow the company to change the mode of settlement or payment of plans.

May 7

PDIC President Jose Nograles revealed at the Senate hearing that there are still more than 35,000 unclaimed bank accounts under the failed Legacy Group. Senator Mar Roxas asked PDIC to inform the depositors through the mail.

May 12

President Arroyo ordered SEC Chair Fe Barin to determine the financial condition of the preneed firms to ensure that they can meet their obligations

as the plans mature. Arroyo demanded that criminal prosecution be taken against erring firms.

May 13

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said there are loopholes in the law of receivership, allowing failed pre-need firms and other businesses such as condo developers to walk away from their obligations.

May 14

Coco Plans announced that it has paid all its obligations to all its educational planholders this school year.

May 17

The SEC assured pre-need planholders that the 22 licensed preneed firms, including Danvil Plans, are financially stable enough to pay their obligations to their planholders. SEC said it has reviewed the financial records of the pre-need firms.

The 22 pre-need firms with licenses to sell plans this year include AMA Plans, Ayala Plans, Caritas Financial Plans, CityPlans, Cocoplans, Danvil Plans, Destiny Financial Plans, Eternal Plans, First Country Plans, First Union Plans, Grayline Plans, Himlayang Pilipino Plans, Loyola Plans Consolidated, Manulife Financial Plans, Mercantile Careplans, Paz Memorial Service, Philam Plans, Provident Plans International, St. Peter Life Plan, Sun Life Financial Plans, Transnational Plans and Trusteeship Plans.

May 19

About 525,000 educational planholders have been trying to get money for their children’s enrolment this school year from 5 failed pre-need firms: CAP, Pet Plans, Platinum Plans, Pacific Plans and TPG Corp.

Meanwhile, Pryce Plans, still solvent but low on cash because it invested in real estate, memorial lots and listed equities, has been issuing checks in queues and paying in kind to consenting planholders.

May 27

President Macapagal-Arroyo returned the SEC under the supervision of DTI, nine years after she placed SEC under DOF. Observers said the transfer was caused by SEC’s failure to prevent the collapse of preneed companies owned by Legacy.

May 29

SEC has required pre-need firms to increase the percentages of their trust fund deposits.  For every peso paid by a pension and education planholder during the first year, the pre-need firm must deposit 70 cents, a big increase from the previous 5-cent requirement.  This requirement will apply only to new plans. Required increases percentages for other plans were also issued.

Above notes were gleaned from various articles and videos published on Inquirer.Net and GMANews.TV.

The information here was gathered by Philippine Daily Inquirer reporters at the resumption of the Senate inquiry into pre-need firms on May 6.

• Coco Plans, AMA Plans and Danvil Plans were found by SEC to have deficient trust funds.
• Coco Plans and Danvil Plans have submitted their proposals on how to build up their capital.
• AMA Plans has not yet submitted its proposal.
• Some of the remaining 19 pre-need firms have submitted their financial statements and have to comply with the SEC requirement until May 14.
• Caesar Michelena of Coco Plans said Coco Plans’ trust fund is enough to make maturity pay-outs for the next 9 years.
• SEC Chairwoman Fe Barin said SEC was reviewing the financial statements of the pre-need firms and coordinating with trustee banks if the trust funds are there.
• Senator Manuel Roxas suggested that SEC require pre-need firms to fill up the deficiencies in their trust funds before they continue selling plans.
• Roxas mentioned that the failed Legacy was still selling plans the month before it applied for dissolution.

Source:  3 more troubled pre-need firms watched
By Christine Avendano
Philippine Daily Inquirer

My mistake was I thought the Prudentialife Plans Inc. which was suspended recently by SEC is the same Prudential which has been partnering with Danvil Plans since 2007.

Thanks so much to Rolly who made the correction. Based on Rolly’s info and on my quick online research, these are some info that would clear things up:

Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co. is the company which bought the life insurance portfolio of Berkley/Danvil in 2007. This is also the issuer of life insurance plans and endowment plans being sold by Danvil Plans.

Philippine Prudential is a life insurance company supervised by the Insurance Commission. It is not a pre-need company.
web site: http://www.philprudentiallife.com/pplic/

On the other hand, Prudentialife Plans Inc. is a pre-need company supervised by the SEC.  This is the company whose license to sell was suspended by the SEC last April 2009.
web site: http://www.prudentialife.com/

The good news then to many of you whose plans were issued by  Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co. ( sold through Danvil Plans) is that your plans are not affected by the  trust fund problems prevalent in the pre-need industry… because your plans are insurance plans issued by an insurance company, which has been operating since 1963, according to its web site.

Prudentialife President Jose Alberto Alba has responded to the SEC’s suspension of its license to sell new pre-need plans by saying that the firm will continue to operate as a servicing firm for its preneed plans.

He said the firm will continue to pay benefits to planholders.

He also said Prudentialife Market Resource Corp. will continue to sell health plans, mutual funds and other insurance products and will continue to pursue new opportunities beyond the preneed industry.

I’m just bothered by the last statement in the article, saying that only 2 preneed firms submitted their capital build-up plans before the deadline of April 15 — Prudentialife and Cocoplans. Cocoplans’ proposal was approved while Prudentialife’s plan was not.

What about the other preneed firms?  What are their capital build-up plans?

In a related article, SEC Chairperson Fe Barin was quoted as saying that planholders affected by the suspension of Prudentialife’s license to sell pre-need plans should go to the SEC for advice.

Source/Reference:  Hannah L. Torregoza, author
SEC revokes license to sell of Prudential Life Plans, firm airs side

Manila Bulletin     mb.com.ph

March 7, 2009

It is of great help for me it you could answer me on this inquiry. I finished paying my Danvil plan and it will mature in 2019. Actually I paid it in advance so as not to miss payments. But I’m having many sleepless nights because of many doubts about how pre-need companies are doing in the market today. I am having second thoughts about waiting for my plan to mature. Any idea on this? How much money would I get in return if I apply for early reimbursement of my payments? Much as I would like to inquire personally at the Danvil office regarding the matter, I’m here in Japan working hard to make both ends meet for my family. It was hard earned money that I used to pay for my plan. That’s why I am really bothered and annoyed by different news I heard about the pre-need business.

Dalawa ang aking plans sa Danvil. Sad to say na noong kinuha ko yon sa SM Southmall, di ko naintindihan masyado ang paliwanag. Kadarating ko lang noon, galing ako sa work ko abroad and I’m only on my vacation. Actually, I can say na forced and pressured lang din ako ng Danvil employee. Para bang para makauwi na lang ako kumuha na lang ako, then bahala na. Parang ganoon ang nangyari sa akin.

But all is history now, natapos ko na bayaran yong isa, 5 years investment period yata and my plan is supposed to mature on Feb 2019 pa. At yong isa ay sa Oct 2011 ko pa matatapos at magma-mature naman on Oct 2021. And that’s a long long time for me to wait. Tama yong iba na nagsasabi na dugo at pawis ang puhunan para lang makabayad. Presently andito ulit ako abroad working to make both ends meet for my family. If sa status kong bayad na last month ang plan ko at mag apply ako ng reimbursement ilang percent po ang makukuha ko? Your answer will be of great help for me lalo na po sa decision making na gagawin ko, and also it will be of great help for me para mabawasan na ang burden ko sa pag-iisip kasi balak ko na po talaga mag-apply for reimbursement.

March 8, 2009

Gusto kong iparamdam hindi lang sa mga katulad kong planholders, but also to the employees and the company of Danvil as a whole, it is very true na magsisi man po tayo or even if we condemn ourselves kung bakit tayo kumuha or sapilitan tayong napakuha ng plan sa Danvil, the sad truth is wala na tayong magagawa. We only have two options left on our sleeves, firstly and POSITIVELY speaking umasa na lang tayo, especially those which own a plan na malapit na ang mga maturity date, na comes our due date makuha natin ng buo lahat ng ating inaasahan. And for those who are willing to gamble to wait dahil nagsisimula or maybe katatapos lang nilang bayaran ang kani-kanilang plans ay umasa pa tayo na through the coming years maging mas stable pa ang kalagayan or status ng Danvil.

Or secondly which is very NEGATIVE ay bumuo na tayo ng desisyon hanggang maaga pa if we’re to wait or we have to make up our minds kung kukunin na natin pabalik ang ating mga naihulog, may it be 20% or 50% of the amount we already paid to Danvil. Ok na sana kung 20% or 50% of the maturity value ang makukuha natin, kaso 20% or 50% lang ng ating mga naihulog. If I may use ang isang salitang pang matanda na lagi nating naririnig,  “talagang parang iginisa nila tayo sa sarili nating mantika.” It is really so sad and devastating knowing in the first place na talagang napakahirap ng buhay ngayon, na tayong mga planholders ay halos magpakamatay sa hirap di lang sa katawan lalo at higit sa isipan para lamang mabayaran at umasa na sa darating na panahon ay mayroon tayong “kayamanang inaasahan.”

For the planholders reading this article, I appeal to all of us to continue praying for us to see a brighter tomorrow, at doon po sa ilan na malapit na ang maturity date nila at makakakuha, please update us para kahit paano we can generate some strength and inspiration.

And to Danvil employees specially to those initiating/implementing some sort of forced/aggressive sales strategy, I am appealing to you guys to please put some HEART into your work. Alam ko at nauunawaan ko na kayo ay nasa ganyang linya ng hanapbuhay,  subalit sana po ilagay natin sa mas maayos at pantay na paraan ng panghihikayat. At ipaunawa po nating ng buong linaw sa ating mga kababayan ang lahat ng detalye lalo na ukol sa haba ng panahong ipaghihintay rather than focus the discussion on how your prospective clients will gain at the very moment you invited them. The money we put in Danvil is hard-earned and of good faith. Huwag po ninyong hayaan na ang makuha ninyong kliyente ay kumuha ng plan sa Danvil dahil napilitan lang. Kawawa naman po sila. Please put yourself on their shoes, then look at the mirror and ask yourself if you really invited them para tulungan sila, as many of you guys will surely reason out or you invited them based on your own agenda… I sincerely hope that this appeal won’t bring any misinterpretations or rather bring some sort of bad reaction on all people involved.

May God bless us all!  And let our prayers reunite us for more positive things in the future!

1. Four more pre-need companies are nearing bankruptcy, according to Philip Piccio, president of the Parents-Enabling Parents Coalition (PEP), a group of parents fighting for their open-ended plans with Pacific Plans. Piccio named Pryce Plans as one of the four, but didn’t name the three other pre-need firms in trouble.

2.  SEC chairwoman Fe Barin told congressmen that SEC issued 2009 licenses to only 24 of more than 50 pre-need companies.

3.  The proposed transfer of pre-need regulation from the SEC to the Insurance Commission has been approved by members of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries. The transfer is included in a pre-need draft by Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara.

4.  Jose Miguel M. Vasquez, president of the Philippine Federation of Pre-Need Plan Companies (PFPPCI) and Permanent Plans, denied they invested in companies abroad which later became bankrupt because Philippine law prohibits them.

5.  Cocoplans President Caesar T. Michelena said his firm has informed planholders that their trust fund, worth over P1.5 billion, can pay claims worth P500 million over five years.  It is interesting to note that Cocoplans was the only pre-need firm that released trust fund figures during this particular pre-need meeting of more than 10 members.

6. ABS-CBN News obtained documents showing that preneed firms have a deficit of almost 47 billion pesos in trust funds. It says that 11 pre-need firms have been losing since June 2008 because of the fall in the rates of return from 12 % to only 6% for their investments in government securities, in blue-chip stocks and other financial instruments. Another reason is the drastic drop in sales of pre-need plans.

7.  PFPPCI President Vasquez said pre-need companies can increase their capital over the next three years under relaxed SEC rules or stop selling new pre-need plans and undergo restructuring.

8.  Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) Coalition, an organization of owners of Pacific Plans open-ended plans, said that none of the pre-need firms under rehabilitation such CAP and Pacific Plans has been punished for mismanagement.

9.  PFPPCI President Vasquez will ask the SEC and the Central Bank to allow the pre-need industry to invest up to 10% of their total investments in dollar-denominated securities. Currently, the pre-need industry is allowed to invest only in peso-denominated securities.

10.  The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, through its secretary general Ernesto Herrera, has called on legislators to pass without further delay the Preneed Industry Code to protect pre-need planholders.

11.  A list of 19 pre-need firms willing to increase their capital in 2009 to cope with difficulties in the financial markets is included in Salve Duplito’s article on Inquirer.net Money Smarts.  One of them is Danvil Plans.
It’s interesting to note that there are 6  licensed pre-need firms for 2009 that are not in this list. They are:
AMA Plans
Caritas Financial
CityPlans
Destiny Financial
First Country

In the case of AMA Plans, it’s new in the 2009 pre-need dealer’s list, so it’s safe to assume its capital is adequate. It is also interesting to note that Pacific Plans and Ideal Pension Plans are not licensed to sell in 2009, but they are included in this list of pre-need firms willing to increase their capital.

The article said that Philam Plans didn’t sign the 19-firm agreement because its trust fund is more than adequate to pay its planholders.

Advice From Journalists to Planholders:

1.   Know your options.

2. Avoid panic. Negative news will worsen the pre-need firm’s operations.

3. Do your own research. Ask SEC about your firm.