To The Editor:
It is an outrage that you would devote an entire page to Suze Orman and that the piece would be anything less that a scathing denunciation.
Have you ever read what her "9 steps" actually are?
This is from #6: "…Pay attention to your inner voice it will tell you if, how and in what you are investing is right for you."
Really. Do you think we could get that by the SEC? Why don't we try because if that's the case I'll stop wasting time on this Series 7 mumbo jumbo, or CLU, ChFC, CFP, etc. Who needs all that work? I can just hawk some Suze's Choice LTC, hold some group meditation sessions. Hey, maybe the Psychic Hotline would be interested in a joint venture.
Or how about #7: "Give a portion of your money to others. By releasing an anxious grasp on your money, you will open yourself to receive all that is meant to be yours." Hmm. Could there be a subliminal message there? Why don't we poll a few insurance compliance departments and see what they have to say about that kind of language.
LTC is not my market. But the superficial financial-babble spewed out by Orman is an insult to our entire industry. Does she really think that, rather than sitting face-to-face with a professional agent, consumers will be better served by a network of "tele-agents" selling one policy that has been "packaged" with Suze's "specific recommendations"? Well, she may think so. I don't.
I hope GE does not represent so much ad revenue that you fail to deal openly and honestly with this issue in the future.
Dennis M. Munroe, CLU
MassMutual Financial Group
Portsmouth, N.H.
Editor's note: We would remind Mr. Munroe that it was a news article he read about an unusual marketing venture by a major player in the LTC area, and therefore of interest to our readers as competitive information. In a news story, a denunciation, scathing or otherwise, would be inappropriate (as would, for that matter, indiscriminate praise).
