When Phil Cannella speaks to gatherings of hundreds of people around the Tri-State area, it’s important to him to understand the mindset of each attendee.
That’s why at or near the start of each presentation, Phil Cannella asks the crowd two simple questions:
“How many people think there’s going to be another financial crisis?”
Inevitably, almost every hand in the room goes up—that is, until they hear the second part of the question.
“How many people feel they’re prepared for the next financial crisis?”
At this point, a few hands remain in the air—usually the hands of current Crash Proof Retirement clients. But if you asked that second question at the end of Phil Cannella’s presentation, the number of hands in the air would grow exponentially.
That’s because Phil Cannella devotes the presentation to truth and logic, which add up to equal a top-notch education you won’t find anywhere else. He exposes the corruption and greed of Wall Street through groundbreaking interviews with some of this country’s foremost authorities of finance.
Phil Cannella pulls back the curtain on the three illusions of investing: Wall Street, mutual funds and trust in one’s financial advisor. He accomplishes this by discussing the conflicts of interest that permeate the stock market, as well as the layers of fees hidden in every mutual fund.
But Phil Cannella saves the best—the most convincing—piece of evidence for last. Between the obvious conflicts of interest of all securities brokers, and fees that take almost 3% of your money annually, why would anyone in or near retirement still have their money on the market?
It’s the same reason that all those hands go down when Phil Cannella asks that second question—people just aren’t prepared. They aren’t aware of the corruption—the conflicts of interest, the leaks in their retirement bucket brought about by fees—because their advisors haven’t told them. Wall Street advisors aren’t held to a fiduciary duty—an obligation to act in the sole interest of the client, with no regard for one’s own professional well-being or profit.
Wall Street advisers, rather, are held to a suitability standard, meaning they must only ensure that the products they recommend and sell are suitable for the client’s financial objectives. As you can imagine, this is a considerably easier objective to attain. But without that fiduciary responsibility, people in or near retirement have no assurance that their investments are the ideal ones to protect their nest eggs.
Add it all up—conflicts of interest, layers of hidden fees, and dubious financial advice—and you get Phil Cannella’s third question—one that he says he’d love to hear the people on Wall Street answer:
“How can you distinguish between sound financial advice and a sales pitch?”
