So much has been written about best practices in financial services. The unfortunate thing about financial services is that most people in the profession are full of shit. In truth, virtually all financial services positions are nothing but glorified sales. Financial services professionals laud the fact in private but few would openly admit it.
When your job is sales, you get very good at selling. I wanted to start this blog to shed light on things that don’t seem to be discussed enough. Everyone in financial services seems to be so PC all the time. Black suit, black tie.. Polished and slick. They make sure to drive the right cars and present themselves in a professional manner. The truth? More often than not, you’re getting conned by some who doesn’t know their ass from their elbow… They just want to SELL YOU.
Without further adieu, here are 3 professionals who’ve convinced the American public they’re financial planners. They’re not.
Financial Services Profession #1) Life Insurance Agents
Let’s start with this. Life insurance is not a financial plan. Life insurance is life insurance.
If you’re 29 with no plan to ever have kids and a pre-existing medical condition, run very far away as fast as you can. Unless you’re endowing a trust at the guidance of an estate planning professional and REAL financial planning professional OR insuring against the death of a business partner, I’ll bet my left leg that you’re about to make a very bad decision.
Why do life insurance agents like to push permanent policies even though very few people actually need them?
Because they pay the most money :). They can earn up to 100% of the policy premium for the first year. Nuff said. I can wax poetic about these lovely creatures for quite some time, but you get the point for this post. The next time your Northwestern Mutual agent calls, don’t answer and then block his number.
Financial Services Profession #2) Stock Brokers
I got a hot tip! Great, go fuck yourself!
Your broker knows as much about the market as you do. He watches a lot of CNBC (just like you do) to give himself the false sense that he ‘has an edge’. Trust me, he doesn’t. It’s not the ’80s anymore and stock tips are illegal. Unless your broker is pouring over financial statements, building pro forma models and speaking directly with management, he brings little to no value to the table. By the way, I’ll bet my right leg (I bet my left leg in the ‘Insurance Agent’ section) that your broker spends virtually his whole day on the phone. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for actually knowing what the fuck he’s talking about. It just gives him the practice to get very good at SOUNDING LIKE HE KNOWS WHAT HE’S SAYING.
Please stop paying these fools and let this breed of wanna-be planners die off already.
Financial Services Profession #3) National Financial Planning Brands
Edward Jones / Ameriprise / Other
These guys are not as bad as the previous two, but they still suck. Your Edward Jones advisor is the same guy or gal who was passed over by every other legitimate firm. They are entry level sales professionals peddling whatever product the national brand recommends. Most times they are proprietary and carry higher fees than equally accessible comparable products. Please, please, please do not hire an Edward Jones advisor, you are far better off putting your money with a robo. They do the exact same thing for a lower cost and probably get you better diversification and risk / return economics.
I’ll add more to this list over time. Let’s not forget the honorable mentions like accountants, retail bankers, business coaches and anyone who wants to talk to you about debt consolidation.
Keep your eyes open. There are good professionals out there and honestly there IS a place for the professionals above in the financial services field. That said, they ARE NOT financial planners despite their many claim and it’s time they stayed in their lane for the good of the American public.