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In 1969, a man with a dream envisioned a new profession of highly trained, skilled, and dedicated financial professionals who would "help average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for their future, to achieve financial independence." As most readers of Financial Services Journal On-Line know, that great man of vision was Loren Dunton.
From the beginning Ed Morrow was an enormous help to Dunton. To this day Morrow has continued to influence the entire evolution of financial planning. In fact, he has most likely had the greatest influence on how this profession has developed, i.e., the techniques and strategies of the practice itself. Morrow became the greatest and most accomplished world-wide ambassador for financial planning of all time. Ed Morrow exported financial planning from America to China, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Trinidad, Bermuda, Greece, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and is presently establishing this “new” profession in Dubai (Middle East). “Financial planning did not exist in these countries until Ed Morrow fathered the profession there,” according to the Inspirator International magazine in their March 1999 edition.
Another key player – from the original beginning – in helping establish this “new professional discipline” was Forrest Wallace Cato, the media advocate who for years played the key role in making “financial planning” a well-known term among American citizens. Cato was the second editor of the original Financial Planning magazine, following Dunton who became too busy to remain editor. Cato, on a very limited budget, brought about the increased understanding that lead to national acceptance of financial planning as a valued and needed service. Today Cato enjoys an enormous amount of good-will in the financial planning industry and is actually beloved by many planners and agents. Dunton and Cato never practiced financial planning. Morrow did.
After many years of hard work and sacrifice, in 1982, these men realized a major part of their dreams with the creation of the College for Financial Planning and the Certified Financial Planner designation! And, a short time later they gave birth to the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP). Today this is the FPA. This organization has strayed largely from its origin and now no longer even recognizes it’s founders.
Marta Dunton, widow of the late Loren Dunton, said, “Often, in the early days, there was one crisis after another in the ongoing efforts to create the legitimate financial planning profession. Many times everything fell apart and the movement almost died. At times they hung-on by mere threads. But other wonderful men and women who believed in the dream of financial planning would step-in and contribute their valuable time, talent, work, and money, and the movement would be saved and able to resume growing. Those people who helped hugely included John Keeble, Hal Chorney, Paul Richard, Vernon D. Gwynne, Venita VanCaspel, Ben G. Baldwin, Roy Henry, Kemp Fain, and many-many others.”
Ed Morrow later grew the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC) by strictly adhering to Dunton’s exact original concepts. Today the IARFC is the fastest-growing financial planning association in the world.
“When Loren Dunton first envisioned a financial planning profession, it was to serve the needs of the lower and middle classes, not to help the wealthy make even more money. As the saying goes, healthy people don't need a doctor.”
Thomas W. Johnson, Financial-Planning.com, There's Something About Gary |
Today, it seems that the vast majority of the organizations who promote financial planning and most of the people who call themselves financial planners have significantly strayed from the original concept of being consumer protectors, advocates, and helpers. Financial planning has largely become all about ‘helping the wealthy to become wealthier.’ The main focus of too many has become about how to make money in the stock market and transfer that wealth to future generations. There is very little training about… helping average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for the future, to achieve financial independence.
“Too many so-called financial planners are placing all of Middle American family's assets at risk in the market with stocks, bonds, etc., based solely on reaping the highest investment returns. This is totally wrong and even highly unethical.”
Forrest Wallace Cato, writing in Financial Planning magazine, April 1983. Cato is now a legendary media advocate to the financial industry.
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What Has Caused This Change?
The main reason for this change in focus is that the organizations that are responsible for training financial planners are focusing almost entirely on the technical aspects of financial planning and very little on the sales aspects of financial planning.
The result is that most financial planners do not understand that, by necessity, they are sales people. They are not receiving any marketing and sales training. If you don’t know how to market and sell your services, then you are forced into taking the path of least resistance. You end up giving people what the want, even when it’s not in their best interests, instead of helping them to get what they really need. You are forced into taking the easy sale, in order to make a living.
Without marketing sales skills, and without the right image, you cannot help people to see why they should meet with you. Without sales skills you cannot help people to understand the problems they face today and the value of investing in the products and services you provide.
“Loren Dunton was an idealist and a conceptual salesman, one who
believed the key to the sale was sales training. Cato was a creative pragmatist who believed the correct image preceded acceptance.”
Edwin P. Morrow, CEO, International Association of Registered Financial Consultants and creator of the most widely-used financial planning software programs.
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This change of focus within financial planning is a major reason why we have serious, increasing financial problems in this country and all over the world. As financial planners we are not addressing the concerns and problems that most middle-income families face today! Consumer debt is out of control. Most families have very little saved for their retirement. And it’s not going to change unless we, as financial planners, do something about this.
“According to the Federal Reserve, the total amount of outstanding revolving consumer credit, which is primarily credit card debt,
reached $743 billion. In 2005, nearly nine times the amount
recorded 20-years ago.”
Secret History of the Credit Card, © May 2005, FRONTLINE®
“More than half of workers saving for retirement report having less than $50,000 total in savings and investments (not including the value of their primaryresidence or any defined benefit plans). Worse
yet, the large majority of workers say their assets total
less than $10,000.”
Employee Benefit Research Institute's
2006 Retirement Confidence Survey
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T. Jerry Royer, RFC, of Group 10 Financial in Haines City, Florida, says,” It’s time for all financial planners to get back to the basics of real financial planning. We have a duty and obligation as financial planners to really help people. We need to stop focusing on investment returns and transferring wealth. We need to stop taking the easy sales. We must always focus our financial planning efforts on helping average people to reduce and eliminate all of their consumer debt and then help them start saving for their futures. And, as Dunton, Morrow, and Cato believed in the early years of this profession, that means we need to work on developing our marketing and sales skills.
“The Pension and Welfare Administration says in the coming years, Social Security will replace only 16% of income from married couples earning between $50,000 and $100,000 a year, and less than 10% for couples earning more than $100,000.”
Karin Price Mueller, Retirement Is Closer Than You Think
“The annual saving rate, hovered close to 10 percent between 1970 and the mid-1980s; it steadily declined during the 1990s.
Between 1999 and 2004, the savings rate has averaged
around 2 percent, until it became negative in 2005.”
Bureau of Economic Analysis, March 2007
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Where Do We Start?
It all starts with each of us refocusing our efforts and learning how to truly service middle-income families. It’s taking an hour or more each day to learn (or relearn) basic marketing and sales skills. It’s reading everything we can about marketing and sales. It’s taking industry courses (Such as those offered by the IARFC) and attending industry-training events. It’s supporting your own association events and contributing to your association in positive ways. It is not by taking and taking and never returning anything. It is appalling how many association members do not even attend their once a year gathering for learning and networking. It’s finding training and support organizations that promote working with middle-income families such as LEAP, Circle of Wealth, the great Gary and George Kinder and our Insurance Pro Shop. (Finding organizations that are not just recruiters in disguise.)
It’s working with real coaches and mentors such as Bill Goode, Liang Tien Lung, Jeffrey Eshun, Alan W. Altmann, Samuel W. K. Yung, James McCarty, Tom Moore, Jeffrey Chiew, Lester W. Anderson, George Flack, Don Blanton and others to fine-tune your sales process. Joining, supporting and actively participating in our industry organizations that promote working with average people such as NAIFA (National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors), GAMA (General Agent and Managers Association), and especially the MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) and the IARFC (International Association of Registered Financial Consultants).
Can You Make Big Money Serving Middle Income Families?
Consider this: All of the major insurance companies amassed their great fortunes by servicing middle-income families. (Prudential, New York Life, MetLife, Northwestern Mutual, etc.) All of the largest and most profitable businesses in the world today amassed their great fortunes by serving Middle America. (Wal-Mart, General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Disney, Exxon, Home Depot, etc.)
Industry Sales Legends such as Ben Feldman, John Savage, and Mehdi Fakharzadeh (the beloved MetLife super agent) all initially built their businesses and their fame by servicing middle-income families.
Legendary master agency builders Al Granum and Norman G. Levine (past president of NAIFA, MDRT and GAMA) each built their agencies and their fame by servicing middle-income families.
Serving Middle-Income families is where the real money is to be made… If you learn the marketing skills needed to attract prospects and the sales skills needed to help people to get what they really need and want!
Remember that ‘Real Financial Planning’ is "helping average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for their future, to achieve financial independence."
If we, as financial planners, don’t help middle-income families, who will? And this is a large part of what Loren Dunton envisioned in the beginning.
Lew Nason, LUTC RFC, with his sons Jeremy Nason, RFC, and Will Nason, RFA, are the founders of the famous Insurance Pro Shop and the creators of the Found Money Management™ Advanced Life Insurance Sales System. Financial Services Advisor Magazine reported, "This is the most endorsed and successful life insurance prospecting and sales system available for today's financial planners and insurance agents!"
Lew has been helping financial professionals to achieve long-term success in the financial products and services industry for over two decades. When he sold insurance he became well-known in the insurance world as "The nine out of ten guy!" because he closed nine out of ten presentations. His unique perspective, on how to truly help clients, has enabled scores of agents and advisors reach the top levels of their profession. Visit his web site at www.insuranceproshop.com or call him toll free @ 877-297-4608.
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