We've all too often heard these assertions: Insurance is not bought, it's sold. People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan. We have a financially illiterate society.
The upshot of these familiar sayings is that in the financial services world, individuals need to be practically forced into understanding even simple concepts. This is an implicit put down of consumers, and in reality, it's an explicit indictment of us.
We know consumers will go to great lengths to research buying a cell phone, a coffee pot or a microwave oven, but they avoid researching financial products like the plague. Imagine how few consumers spend time researching a critical illness product, a health insurance plan, disability plan or life plan. And yet the coffee pot or cell phone costs a fraction of the amount entrusted to the financial products we sell.
Perhaps it all starts with our desire to be entertained and pampered. Financial products don't offer instant gratification. In fact, they generally only deliver value in situations that are either boring or disturbing. Who wants to think about disturbing events such as poor health, critical illnesses, disabilities and premature death? And saving money for the future is boring—you have to save for years and years to have enough to live on comfortably.
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