Enter the Financial Advisory Gurus?

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Join Our Mailing List 

Understanding the Nexus Between Fame and Quality

[By Rick Kahler CFP®]  http://www.KahlerFinancial.com

  • “I see that firm’s ads everywhere.”
  • “His books are best-sellers.”
  • “That advisor does all kinds of free seminars for retirees.”
  • “She’s on TV all the time.”

The Case … For?

When a financial advisor, someone with a radio or television show, or an author of financial books becomes well-known, it’s easy to assume you can trust that person’s advice. This isn’t necessarily the case.

Recently I was selected by an Internet community site called moneytips.com as one of their top 50 “social influencers.” This is a list of professionals in the areas of wealth and personal finance who use social media and other Internet tools effectively.

Among the top three on this list are Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman, whose books and advice include a great deal of solid information to help people get out of debt, manage money well, and provide for the future. Many others in the top 50 are respected financial journalists and advisors.

The Case … Against?

However, the list also includes a few advocates for high-risk investment methods, proponents of dubious get-rich-quick schemes, and purveyors of poorly researched advice. Those who put together the list focused on how well people established a presence on the Internet and used technology to communicate. That’s an assessment completely unrelated to the question of whether the advice or information being communicated was worthwhile.

Financial Planning

Financial planning, just like any other field, has a solid core of practitioners who quietly and ethically serve their clients. It also has its gurus, its outstanding marketers, and its fringe practitioners with extreme ideas. The challenge for consumers is not to assume fame and quality always go together.

Linking Fame and Quality?

Here are a few suggestions for keeping a balanced perspective about famous or familiar financial faces:

1. Knowing about a professional isn’t the same as knowing a professional. Everyone you know may have heard of Noted Local Advisor. That’s not the same as being able to recommend him or her. Get recommendations first-hand, from people who actually are clients of a firm or have used someone’s plan or advice. Ask specific questions about what they’ve done and how it worked for them.

2. Yes, there are shortcuts to building wealth, but they come with very high risks. For most of us, the best ways to build wealth are gradual and even boring: saving part of every paycheck, living on less than we earn, and investing for the long term in a well-diversified portfolio of different asset classes. It’s natural to wish for an easier, faster way, but that desire can make you more vulnerable to high-risk schemes and even scams.

3. Even if a method of building wealth is perfectly legitimate and works for others, it still may not be a good fit for you. If you’re a reclusive introvert, for example, sales is probably not your best path to success.

4. Apply the same common sense and skepticism to financial products or wealth-building methods that you would use anywhere else. For example, you probably don’t assume that a car’s advertised gas mileage is what you’ll actually get under real-world conditions. In the same way, it’s a good idea to assume that your real-world results from a proposed investment or business will be lower than the advertised numbers.

5. Don’t assume every financial guru is a crook. Many reputable professionals can teach you a great deal about money. Your job is to learn the financial basics so you can evaluate them with some educated skepticism.

networking advisors

More:

Assessment

And always keep in mind that a product or idea is not the same thing as the selling of that product or idea. The true genius of some financial “experts,” after all, is marketing.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

Product Details  Product Details

Filed under: CMP Program, Ethics, Experts Invited, Financial Planning | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Mike Kitces asks: What Can Financial Planners Learn from Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey?

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Join Our Mailing List

Follow Paretto’s Law – or Learn Something Unique and Compete?

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; FACFAS, MBA, CMP™

[Publisher-in-Chief]

Michael Kitces is an industry pundit, and well known certified financial planner [CFP], who writes for a financial advisory and financial planner audience at thewebsite Nerd’s Eye View:

http://www.kitces.com

He is a bright guy, who holds the following professional degrees and designations:

  • MSFS – Master of Science in Financial Services
  • MTAX – Master’s in Taxation
  • CFP – Certified Financial Planner
  • CLU – Chartered Life Underwriter
  • ChFC – Chartered Financial Consultant
  • RHU – Registered Health Underwriter
  • REBC – Registered Employee Benefits Consultant
  • CASL – Chartered Advisor of Senior Living
  • CWPP – Chartered Wealth Preservation Planner

Yet, in a recent essay, he laments that all the CFPs® in the country added together don’t have as much reach, or impact, as three mass marketing gurus: Suze Orman, David Bach, and Dave Ramsey. And, he is correct.

Markets Vary

These gurus, and the CFPs®, serve different markets for sure. The gurus’ products are free or inexpensive. Their messages are simple and actionable. Once you go beyond the simple messages, however, you will find the gurus no longer satisfying. So, it’s no coincidence that the three gurus focus on controlling spending and getting out of debt. Why?

Eighty percent of us do need to get out of debt and control our spending, period!

Link: Do Financial Planners Have Something To Learn From Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey?

Pareto’s Law

Here is where the mass market is located, said economist V. Pareto PhD more than a century ago. The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of scarsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. It is a common thumb-rule in business; e.g., “80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients”.

Look, most clients can’t control their income but they can be taught to control spending and debt habits [needs versus wants]. Most patients need a family doctor; not a brain surgeon.  And, most of us do not have Einstein’s intelligence, Gate’s wealth, or Hercules’s strength.

But, our lives can vastly be improved by 80%, with just 20% more effort and cost. This is what the gurus know – most of us are average – not so the CFPs® who believe we all need a comprehensive financial plan and have the ability to pay for it and the time to execute and monitor it.

Assessment

And so, CFPs® can’t charge an 80% premium – to 80% of the population – when clients don’t need or want a comprehensive financial plan. Or, when clients can be better off by 80%, and such success can be had for 20% of the cost and effort offered by the CFPs®.

Basic supply-demand economics 101! Ford autos are fine – we all don’t need or want a Mercedes.

More confusing is the fact that even the CFPs® themselves are suspect since prior to 2008 a college degree was not required for the certification mark. And, having same allows the practitioner no additional diagnostic or interventional tools.

IOW: Whatever a CFP® can do – a non-CFP® can do.  And, it is increasingly considered by the well-informed …. to be a marketing mark …. to hold a marketing mark. This is akin to being famous; for being famous.  That’s why I resigned my CFP® mark years ago.

Full Disclosure: I am the Founder of the: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org online program. CMP™ certificants – like doctors – hold fiduciary accountability at all times and with unique healthcare industry specificity.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

 

Product DetailsProduct Details

  Product Details

   Product Details 

Filed under: "Advisors Only", Career Development, CMP Program, Financial Planning, Practice Management | Tagged: , , , , , , | 6 Comments »