Tribes, Collegiality &
The Systemic Death of Professionalism - Part III
"Personal" Financial Planning
If you are kind when you should be cruel;
you’ll be cruel when you should be kind
Judaic
thought
Tribe – clan, ancestral
Tribal - clannish
Profession – occupation, vocation
Professional – proficient, certified,
licensed, authority, specialized
The concept of a profession assumes:
·
An
assured level of competency
·
Substitute
reliance (from the client, patient to the ‘professional’ beyond that of
caveat emptor ((buyer beware)) standard of the ‘trades’ and ‘businesses’). Reliance on the
another's statement or ability is a, claim or promise then the person upon whom
one relied is entitled to expect performance. Substitute is a surrogate,
stand in, deputy.
·
Self accepted
& imposed (though rarely
disposed) Ethical Obligations
Thesis: the assertion of a profession
and professionalism is primarily a self absorbed trade declaration wrapped in
claims of self imposed ethics masking the reality of being but a trade association
for self protection of the clan/tribe’s
economic benefit even if it means sacrificing & at the expense of assured level of competency and substitute
reliance. Furthermore, systemically, professional collegiality amongst the
clan/the tribe (regardless of haughty self absorbed declarations for the good
of the client’) also supersedes assured level of competency and substitute
reliance. And the ‘few bad apples’ defense (let alone the chunk up – of context
– ‘millions satisfied and these are isolated incidents’) is just retort, deflection, and spin to avoid
responsibility
Stipulated
Qualification: ‘Client Amnesia©’ is a
real but not offsetting defense of the professions examined though not limited
to below. Clients suffer – all too often – from client amnesia – selective
& convenient loss of memory of their own responsibility looking to blame
everyone but themselves for their own actions.. This client amnesia is a strain
– enhanced & geometrically perfected by ‘takers’ (Leftist Collectivist Progressives
and Liberals) - to play the victim – be offended – rather than accept one’s own
responsibility – while seeking recourse at others’ expense
Collegiality:
Personal Financial Planners,
Their
Trade Associations, & Their Irregulators
Unfortunately
the above story is not limited to irregulators in insurance arena. Today there
is a legislative argument over what is called The Fiduciary Rule for financial
planners, advisors etc. The intent is to create a higher standard of care. And
what is the purpose of this higher standard of care: hopefully to prevent or
minimize fraud and abuse.
Now
even according to hitch hiker of virtue Consumer Federation of America’s Roper
in the ‘90’s, ‘all fraud and abuse is a question of compensation.’ Twice
defeated in the Colorado legislature, I
was the catalyst and co author (Colorado legislators carried the bill) of bills
in the ‘90’s that would have created a deterrent (treble damages) and legal
fees under existing law (Colorado Consumer Protection Act) without creating a
bureaucracy (with no stay out to prevent revolving doors). The bill required an
estimate of all compensation upfront (not just method) and actual amounts
quarterly reported to the client. Democrat State Insecurities Commission Phil
Feigin fought the bills – worked to defeat them and then represented in private
practice an insurance/agent planner who, had the bill Feigin not fought to
defeat been enacted and while though the schmuck would still be probably be in
Canon City – fewer clients would have
been fleeced. Feigin after his Colorado State Insecurities Commissioner stint
but before reentering private practice again became head of the State
Securities Commissioner Association (NASSA).
Collegiality
trumps incompetency.
The
tax exempt (alleged) not for profit tax exempt College for Financial Planning,
certified financial planner trainer, owned the CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
trademark. The CFP Board, the self regulator of CFP’s, had a committee to
oversee CFP Trainers. The College – a trainer – was on the committee overseeing
itself and other trainers (sort of like Dracula guarding the Bloodbank).
The
College incorrectly and knowingly continued to train then 40,000+ CFP’s (not
including all that were not granted the mark) in wrong math methodology to
determine a client’s retirement needs. And the College continued despite this
being brought to it’s attention, despite Forbes’ expose ‘Bad Math, Bad Advice,’
despite the likes of world class mathematician like John Allen Paulus (I hope I
have his name correctly spelled) seconding my contention. The impact of this
wrong math methodology – would be to save too much, save too little – etc etc for
retirement– effectively and conceivably harming clients in the multi multi
millions or billions
I
was the one to start and continue the fight – no thanks to the rest of the
pusillanimous lily-livered spineless
coward financial planning association officers and officials – the same one’s
who pontificated the virtues of ‘the profession.’
Concurrently
then, with the College controlling the CFP mark and the certification of CFP
trainers, though a trainer itself, it was able to amass as a not for profit tax
exempt over $120 million. How? Effectively through structural barriers to
trade, the College was a monopoly constructively keeping out other institutions
from offering the CFP designation. (Alleged clever tricks like sending the
materials to a competing higher education institution offering the courses –
after their quarter began – was not beneath The College).
NAPFA,
the National Association of Personal Financial Advisers, the association of fee
only personal financial planners which I cofounded – not only stood on the
sidelines forgetting ‘assured level of competency’ relative to the College, but
its President sat then on committees of the CFP Board which effectively the
College controlled – a major conflict of interest. Worst, the NAPFA President
wrote to the membership calling me ‘a terrorist.’
Collegiality
by NAPFA as well as the CFP Board!
The
upshot: I resigned from the weenie gutless yellow belly NAPFA organization.
Subsequently, but without any finger pointing at then past conflicted
President, NAPFA outlawed its officers and officials from concurrently sitting
on another financial planning organization board. As for the College, most
likely fearing an anti-trust suit for its monopolistic structural barrier to
trade as a not for profit – disgorged the CFP mark and sold itself to the
people of Phoenix
University.
Cowardly
collegiality (NAPFA) turning tail against one of its founders (who was proven
to be right) was essentially a co-conspirator in attempts to cover up ‘bad math
bad advice’ failing ‘assured level of competency and substitute reliance. The
former President involved in trying to quash the uncovering of the College’s
bad math, bad advice – to this day goes unscathed.
Collegiality.
