Guaranteed 8.2% return

My dad is a successful attorney nearing retirement (67 years old). We are on a family vacation and I overheard him talking to his financial guy. Apparently, he is sending the guy $20,000 for a short term “guaranteed” 8.2% gain. I was immediately concerned because I would put all of my money in this guaranteed return if I knew about it (most of this board would, too, but we won’t since it is obviously BS). When I asked him what it was, he threw out “Bank note” and says his last transaction was with Chase bank. He didn’t really know what he was investing in.

Now, at this point (close to retirement) $20,000 is probably a drop in the bucket, but it made me wonder what the heck this guy is doing with the rest of my dad’s money. I don’t trust him at all. It isn’t like this guy is some obvious schyster. He sends all his kids to Newman (the most expensive school in New Orleans), so he must have some sort of decent reputation (or he just successfully preys on financially unsavvy folks). But if anything, I feel like my parents should be rather conservative at this point.

For the record, I told my dad I was going to post this on TD because he seemed annoyed at my alarm over his guy. I said he will be called senile and be viewed as an old sucker (over here on TD). I hope you all agree with me. But honestly, if I’m off base, I’d love to hear that too. So please chime in either way, because the more feedback I get, perhaps I can be more convincing that his new deal seems sketchy and he needs to be careful.