I don’t usually go into a great deal of detail when I gain a new client because I need to be careful about disclosing specific facts which may compromise client confidentiality. With this in mind, I’d like to share an experience I had this week. I met with a new couple who have decided to engage me as their advisor. I am excited about this opportunity as they are very pleasant people who I’m sure I’ll enjoy working with. However, their last two advisor experiences have not been so good. The first advisor was unethical and the second was neglectful because he was too busy. The funny thing is, if this second advisor had known about their wealth, more than just the account he was managing, he may have found the time. In any event, they’re working with me now.
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Archive for April, 2008I went to see the new movie Ben Stein co-wrote, entitled “Expelled.. What does this have to do with my journey to independence, you ask? Quite a lot, actually. Let me explain. The movie is all about the suppression of freedom at large. For instance, whenever university professors attempted to engage in a discussion about a certain subject, they were terminated. As long as they walked the party line and did not upset the applecart, things were fine. But if they attempted to bring up ideas or views which were contrary to the establishment, they suffered consequences. The movie used the Berlin Wall to symbolize the barrier between the establishment and independent thought, or freedom of thought, if you prefer. Whenever intellectual thought is stifled, improvement is deficient and the status quo becomes the static quo, which brings me to my point. There is a similar phenomenon occurring in corporate America today. In the early 1900’s, Henry Ford said, “I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one—and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.” This could have been his mission statement, if he had one. How often I have taken for granted the notion that advisors are altruistic, seeking only to help clients achieve their dreams, and that generating income is secondary to the needs of the client. Then I encounter a prospective client who has been “pitched” what I would consider to be a “bill of goods.” “Put all your money into this annuity”, the salesman says. “See, there are guarantees so you can’t lose!” they declare. Kind of like the old snake oil salesman of the wild-wild west. Guarantees, sure, but at what cost? For the record, I’m not totally against annuities, but I do believe they are frequently sold in situations where they’re not appropriate. |
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