The funds, known as contractual plans, impose sales fees that eat up half of an investor's contributions in the first year.

By the mid-1980's, contractual plans had virtually disappeared from the civilian market.

Investors who buy contractual plans should know their rights.

He added, "We hope that any changes enacted by Congress will protect people who are currently invested in contractual plans."

Customers who already own contractual plans can continue to contribute to them, he said.

In their defense, they say that contractual plans help discipline investors by keeping them from making costly shifts in and out of the market.

"The choice," he said, "is between saving money through investments in a contractual plan or spending it and winding up with nothing."

Would I ever recommend that an investor buy contractual plans?

The company announced this month that it would no longer sell the products, called contractual plans or systematic investment plans.

Regulators said the company also failed to fully inform investors about the lower long-term returns of contractual plans.