Are financial products too complicated?

Delivering on the promise will be the industry’s greatest challenge as compliance evolves from “point of sale” due diligence issues to performance measures over the course of contracted periods. Many products nowadays are in fact complex legal contracts imbedded with an array of contingency driven and default provisions. This alone makes them difficult to understand and explain. Of course, the fact that very few advisors actually read the contracts they sell could also contribute to the “malaise.” The desire for simpler and more transparent products is understandable. When it comes to sales, easier tends to trump challenging. However, it is not a shortcoming of the industry for its alleged failure to “dumb down” products. Perhaps, the failure lies elsewhere.
- David F. Sterling, Esq.

In years past, I got 24 long term care insurance leads per week. I only sold annuities with long term care riders to those folks that were not healthy enough to qualify for coverage with my pure long term care carriers. My expertise is on the one item only. It is my passion, perhaps due to my complete recovery from a near-fatal brain aneurism in 1992.
- Carolynn Brady