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An Insurance Pro Shop Exclusive
Financial Services Committee
Should Be Voted Out-of-Office!
By
Forrest Wallace Cato, RFMA, RFC
What
type of image does this present to you? Five months before the
Wall Street melt-down, a financial journalist and media advocate
for advisors wrote to each individual Congressional member of “our”
Financial Services Committee in Washington, DC. That financial
journalist was Forrest Wallace Cato (the writer of this
article).
You’ve grown to know me rather well
during the almost thirty years that I have been editing and writing
for financial magazines. Loren Dunton, the founder of
financial planning, hired me to promote the new profession he
created. My job was to help bring about understanding and
acceptance of what became a multi-trillion dollar industry.
The feds Financial Services Committee
is composed of 36 Democrats and 33 Republications,
plus Chairman Barney Frank (D of MA). In my Priority Mail
package I included a copy of the official monthly publication of the
International Association of Registered Financial Consultants,
plus detailed info about this important association of more than
professional 10,000 active members, along with other
credential establishing enclosures. I explained that I was writing
to ask one question on behalf of all IARFC members who are
mostly financial planners, insurance agents, broker dealers, money
managers, accountants, tax lawyers, bank trust officers and other
fiduciaries.
Contact Number One:
I politely indicated to each elected official that I would like to
ask him or her one single question for a “round-up” article. A
“round-up” article is when you ask a number of people the same
question or questions then “round-up” their answers, thus they
create the article for you. Remember, this was before the Wall
Street collapse that we all saw coming for a long-long time.
In my cover letter, I informed each
Congressman or Congresswoman “serving” on America’s Financial
Services Committee that each IARFC member would like to know
their answer to this one question: Should all financial
professionals be required to have some form of practice liability
insurance coverage just as broker dealers require their responsible
financial planners to have?
Here is a question for readers of
this publication: How many of these so-called honorable
“public servants” do you think answered me with intelligent
replies? Now for the answer: None! I did not receive one
single reply of any type from even one of the 69 committee members.
All of these members of
Congress totally ignored the question that I asked on behalf of
these professionals (you) who work with America’s investing public.
None had the courtesy, interest, or even the manners to respond!
After phoning nine Congressmen’s offices and receiving nine quick
brush-offs from staff members, I simply gave-up.
These 69 members of Congress have approximately 80 additional
staff members assisting them in their “work” on “our” Financial
Services Committee.
Yet out of approximately 149 people (all on “our” federal
government payroll), twice not one single person bothered
to answer this one question for you!
Contact
Number Two: After two months of
waiting, I sent each committee member a second package by Priority
Mail. Again, I enclosed a current issue of The IARFC Register
magazine, plus expanded credential-establishing enclosures. For
contact number two I included a different but simpler letter asking
the same question. My second request was also totally
ignored. Again, I did not receive one single reply.
I repeat, for the
second time, not one “serving” Financial Services Committee member
could be bothered to communicate with me – not even to merely
acknowledge this request in any way. You were again totally
ignored!
Of course my first
thought was, and remains, “They ignored me because I did not enclose
a check.” I can well-understand why “our” elected officials have
such poor images among the voters. They certainly deserve the low
opinions in which our citizens hold them. They truly should be
voted out as soon as possible!
Only Barney Frank Responded!
To his credit, I
must report to you that Congressman Barney Frank quickly got
back to me each time I sent this question. Barney Frank as
you well-know is Chairman of the Financial Services Committee and
most-likely he is by far the busiest, most informed, and most
involved member of this important group. Yet Chairman Barney
Frank made time to give us his informed thoughts and he phoned
me twice. Plus his staff members phoned to offer follow-up
assistance. (These results will be contained in a separate
article.) But we never received even one word from any of the 69
committee members. I think all of these committee members are
worthless – as most of us have long suspected.
Jack Gargan Again Says “Throw The
Bums Out!”
Barney Frank is the only
member of this group that I believe to be worthy of the office he
holds. When I explained this experience to Jack Gargan,
founder of the IARFC, Jack replied, “Voters across our nation
should throw-out every single member of the Financial Services
Committee, for this and many other reasons.”
Gargan continued, “In fact, we should throw-out all other
Congressional representatives except for my man Ron Paul! We
should begin efforts now and not stop until every bum has been
kicked-out of office.”
Seven months ago, when Jack Gargan visited Lew Nason and
Jeremy Nason of the Insurance Pro Shop, I had the
good fortune of being present. Back then Jack warned those present,
in detail, about the major melt-down he foresaw about to take place
in the financial industry.
Here is the list of members (bums!) on the fed’s Financial Services
Committee:
Democrats
Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, PA
Rep. Maxine Waters, CA
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, NY
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, IL
Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, NY
Rep. Melvin L. Watt, NC
Rep. Gary L. Ackerman, NY
Rep. Brad Sherman, CA
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, NY
Rep. Dennis Moore, KS
Rep. Michael E. Capuano, MA
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, TX
Rep. William Lacy Clay, MO
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, NY
Rep. Joe Baca, CA
Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, MA
Rep. Brad Miller, NC
Rep. David Scott, GA
Rep. Al Green, TX
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, MO
Rep. Melissa L. Bean, IL
Rep. Gwen Moore, WI
Rep. Lincoln Davis, TN
Rep. Paul W. Hodes, NH
Rep. Keith Ellison, MN
Rep. Ron Klein, FL
Rep. Tim Mahoney, FL
Rep. Charles Wilson, OH
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, CO
Rep. Christopher S. Murphy, CT
Rep. Joe Donnelly, IN
Rep. Bill Foster, IL
Rep. Andre Carson, IN
Rep. Jackie Speier, CA
Rep. Don Cazayoux, LA
Rep. Travis Childers, MS
Republicans
Rev. Spencer Bachus, AL
Rep. Deborah Pryce, OH
Rep. Michael N. Castle, DE
Rep. Peter King, NY
Rep. Edward R. Royce, CA
Rep. Frank D. Lucas, OK
Rep. Ron Paul, TX
Rep. Steven C. La Tourette, OH
Rep. Donald A. Manzullo, IL
Rep. Walter B. Jones, NC
Rep. Judy Biggert, IL
Rep. Christopher Shays, CT
Rep. Gary G. Miller, CA
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, WV
Rep. Tom Feeney, FL
Rep. Job Hensarling, TX
Rep. Scott Garrett, NJ
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, FL
Rep. J. Gresham Barrett, SC
Rep. Jim Gerlach, PA
Rep. Stevan Pearce, NM
Rep. Randy Neugebauer, TX
Rep. Tom Price, GA
Rep. Geoff Davis, KY
Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, NC
Rep. John Campbell, CA
Rep. Adam Putnam, FL
Rep. Michele Bachmann, MN
Rep. Peter J. Roskam, IL
Rep. Kenny Marchant, TX
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, MI
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, CA
Rep. Dean Heller, NY
When further pressed Jack Gargan added, “For far too long we
have tolerated this typical high-handed lack of concern for the
tax-paying citizens! Americans are being highly exploited by
everyone and everything. We have no real representation. We have
no meaningful voice. Our ‘so called’ representatives make it
possible for all of us to be skinned at every turn. We live in the
age of deceptive packaging, regarding everything!”
(Apparently Jack gave up on the United States. Jack moved to
Thailand and now believes our country is being sold down the
commode by “our representatives” in Washington who serve
first and foremost the special corporate interest.) For example,
the banking industry has gotten every law they wanted passed for the
last sixty years. Look at how credit cards are allowed to legally
rob our citizens. Same with all other special corporate interests!
They are able to bribe “our elected representatives.” Of course
these laws enable the American people to be hugely exploited and
taxed.
Remember, between 1990 and 1992, our IARFC
founder
Jack Gargan started the
THRO (Throw the
Hypocritical Rascals Out)
nation-wide movement
that resulted in 124 Congress members and 17 Senators
being dumped! This was by far the largest
“house cleaning” since the Great Depression days.
Do you desire to revive Jack’s
THRO
movement?
Jack also persuaded
Ross Perot and
Jesse Ventura
to get involved
and run for elective office.
I
agree with Jack that this group, except for possibly Congressman
Barney Frank, is composed of bums serving the special interest.
There may be two-or-three more Congress people outside this group
who are worth retaining. It is possible.
Ten
IARFC members were asked for their thoughts about this total
lack of response. Resulting comments will make you proud. Their
replies follow:
Steve Bailey, CEP, CSA, LUTCF, CEBA, MFP, RFC,
who is IARFC President and directs HB Financial Resources, LTD, in
Charlotte, NC, reacted by proclaiming, “It is so difficult to support government
functions you do not respect or government officials you do not
respect. About two years ago after becoming a Democrat, then a
Republican again, I switched to an Independent. What I have seen of
both political parties is that they must remain a part of the
private club. Both the House and Senate are more concerned with
being re-elected, than with helping our citizen voters or our
children and grandchildren. Just like in ancient Rome we are
watching as these people destroy our country. God help our
country.”
Geoffrey A. VanderPal, CFP, CLU, CTP, MBA, RFC
of the Elite Financial Planning Group of American, Inc., in Las
Vegas, commented,
“I believe many Congress members forgot how important it is to
communicate with their constituents. This lesson is well understood
in our financial advisory industry where if advisers do not speak to
their clients the end result is usually not positive for the
advisor. The same holds true for members of Congress. Ignoring an
influential group of professionals that have influence on the
financial services industry is a major gaffe, especially for those
‘serving’ on ‘our’ Committee.”
John F. Lampe, JD, RFC,
is a brilliant attorney and highly successful money Manager with
Bruges Asset Management in Ventura, CA. He
describes himself as a long-time reader of Financial Services
Journal On-Line. Lampe said simply, “I have no
sympathy for any of these politicians.”
Matthew
J. Rettick, CEP, CSA, CAS, RFC,
of Covenant Reliance Producers, LLC, in Nashville, TN,
“I’m amazed and sad that we were one hundred percent ignored
by these politicians who supposedly work for the people. But like
many Americans today, I am not surprised. This is just another
example of the old ‘head buried in the sand’ routine that many
members of congress seem adopt – no matter the subject.”
According to
Matthew J. Rettick, “If my clients called or wrote me with
questions and concerns and I just ignored them, then I would be
accused of malpractice, potentially sued, and in all likelihood lose
my license. Wouldn’t it be common sense to hold all members of
congress to a similar standard of basic responsibility and simple
courtesy?”
The
Pretend System
Lew
Nason, LUTC Graduate, FMM, RFC,
of the famous Insurance Pro Shop in Dallas, GA,
is concerned. Lew said, “The
young people in financial planning and insurance who participate in
our Insurance Pro Shop have excellent educations, intentions,
and discipline. But they are cynical and disillusioned about our
system of government representation. They call this ‘The Pretend
System.’ They explain the prevailing Pretend System this way.
We pretend that we have representation. We pretend we have a
voice. We pretend our elected servants care about what we think.
We pretend they are not serving only those who line their pockets.
Our future industry practitioners believe this is all one big
pretense.”
Jeremy Nason, RFC, FMM, a
co-founder of the Insurance Pro Shop, located in an Atlanta suburb,
added, “The Cato experience proves that when it comes to our federal
Financial Services Committee we too are only pretending that they
care. The obvious reality is that they have no interest at all in
what we think even though we work very closely with America’s
consumer investors.”
Comments From 'Insurance
Pro Shop' Graduates...
T. Jerry Royer, RFC,
one of our profession’s respected leaders, with Group 10 Financial
in Haines City, FL,
responded with some of the strongest
comments I received. T. Jerry Royer, an award-winning
crusader for his clients, remarked, “Our elected officials couldn’t
care less what we think and they like it that way. They are only
interested in bailing out the greedy bastards in the banking and
brokerage firms, and let’s not forget the insurance companies.”
T.
Jerry Royer added, “These
shameless folks all helped themselves to the investor’s money. Why
you may ask? Because these groups have the strongest lobbyist and
bribe with the most Pac money! Plus the politicians are busy using
their power to grab through taxes. The citizen or individual
investor gets horribly shafted. Each financial advisor has the
moral and ethical responsibility to fight for and help protect the
citizen investor.”
Antonio Filippone, RFC,
of the Rockford Retirement Resource
Center in Loves
Park, IL,
commented, “It is appalling that the vast majority of the members of
a governmental agency set-up to answer questions about the future
regulation of our industry could not even respond to a basic inquiry
from our highly respected association. Cato’s experience is yet
another example of governmental bureaucracy at its worst and the
American tax dollar being wasted by people who could care less.
Their image could not be lower in my estimation.”
Hal Chorney, RTIA, RFC,
founder of the
International Association
of Registered Tangible Investment Advisors, Boston, MA,
observed, “There is an appearance that the members of ‘our’
Financial Services Committee are ‘our masters’ instead of ‘our
public servants.’ This attitude of ‘our elected
representatives’ is unacceptable. We have no accountability.
It seems that we are always dealing with ‘crises management’ and
can never get a simple straight answer to our questions. Not
even Wally Cato’s one single question!”
Hal Chorney
continued with, “They are so caught-up in themselves that if
they are not directly told how we feel about their lack of
response, they will never ever realize it. This lack of
meaningful accountability, lack of enforcement of existing
regulations, and lack of general response, has caused tangibles
to become more attractive to investors.”
“This lack of meaningful
accountability and response from those charged with making laws
concerning securities and other paper investments, as well as
overseeing those laws already on the books, has caused tangibles
to become even more attractive to many knowledgeable investors,
viewing tangibles as a safer haven.”
 Forrest
Wallace Cato
is a speaker at the Insurance Pro Shop, where he lectures on How To Become Famous. Cato received a
Hollywood Walk-of-Fame Star for his speaking skills. Cato is
former Editor-In-Chief of Financial Planning magazine
and former Editor-In-Chief of Trusts & Estates: The Journal of
Wealth Management. He wrote the introduction to the
newly revised version of the classic book How To Sell Your Way
Through Life by Napoleon Hill. Cato is also
International Editor of Advisor magazine in China.
Cato is the legendary 'Image Branding' specialist for financial professionals...
www.catomakesyoufamous.com/
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Prospecting Update…
Cultivating Telephone
Relationships
Whether you are in customer service, telephone sales, prospecting
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• Know your caller's name and use it.
People like to hear their names spoken.
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• Remain calm when someone else becomes
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• If you must put someone "On Hold,"
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• Be well rehearsed and organized.
Fumbling around, shuffling papers and lack of information is
distracting, wastes time and portrays disorganization.
By following these basic guidelines you should be
able to earn and convey respect on the telephone.
"Acting on a good idea is better
than just
having a good idea."
Robert Half
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