Phil Cannella leads the way in the insurance and financial industry in terms of bringing real consumer advocacy to the forefront of the way financial professionals deal with their consumers. Unlike his peers, Phil Cannella has built a system that is designed to never lose a penny of his client’s principal no matter what the stock markets do.
A typical financial advisor will look at a client’s portfolio and see that he or she made a 7% return on their investments, and will tell the consumer that they can do better than that. But what is behind this? It is the fact that the typical financial advisor makes a 1%–2% commission off the value of the portfolios under his or her management. That’s a pretty good gig if you can get it. No concerns about results, regardless of how the market is performing this financial advisor will make a commission.
In contrast to this stands Phil Cannella, much like the Lone Ranger pursuing outlaws. Phil Cannella stands for the everyday investor and has the investor’s best interests in mind rather than his own. Unlike many other financial professionals, he doesn’t make any commissions or income by receiving ongoing fees. This is one of those things that separates him out from the pack.
Phil Cannella could be likened to a financial gladiator out to protect the interests of the consumers who come to see him and a man who fights the battle in the trenches to see to it that the greed of Wall Street doesn’t impact his client’s nest eggs. For Phil Cannella it is all about bringing Truth to the American Retiree and helping that retiree enjoy or her Golden years as they always wanted to.
Phil is what one can truly call a consumer advocate. But what is a consumer advocate? As one website explains:
“In most countries, laws have been passed to protect consumers against dangerous or faulty workmanship, deceitful sales practices, and misleading advertising. In the United States, the governmental agencies responsible for enforcing these regulations are the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the UK, the Office of Fair Trading has a primary role, while in Canada several departments participate in consumer protection. A consumer advocate is a person or group that seeks to educate consumers, protect their safety, and expose unfair practices.” http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-consumer-advocate.htm
This is exactly what Phil Cannella strives to exemplify day in and day out. He first and foremost educates the consumer, who comes to see him regardless of whether or not the person intends to do business with him. He holds weekly educational events where he provides valuable information to those who attend, enabling them to make better-informed decisions regarding their own finances.
Tens of thousands have been educated in this way by Phil Cannella over the last few years. Better armed with knowledge, these consumers often go to their financial professional and challenge the advice they have been given.
Phil Cannella doesn’t stop there, however, he continues to educate those who come to find out about a Crash Proof Retirement by taking them through a more detailed three-step process to further educate and inform them. This consumer advocacy role ties right in with this as the same article goes on to explain:
“The primary focus of some consumer advocate groups is education. Organizations such as the American Association for Retired People (AARP) provide information, insurance packages and other services to middle age and senior citizens. Other groups focus on specific issues such as health care and provide research-based information on food, medicines, healthy lifestyles and environmental factors. Some even publish statistical data regarding hospitals and medical providers to assist citizens in making informed decisions.”
“One of the most widely known business related consumer advocate organizations in the US is the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is a member-driven organization with local chapters throughout the country. Members are offered educational materials and are expected to comply with fair business practices. Complaints against a member are investigated, and if founded, the member is expected to remedy the situation or face expulsion. Consumers are encouraged to check a business’s standing with the BBB prior to entering into contracts with them.”
It has been this attitude and this work that have driven industry change within the insurance and financial services industries. Phil continues to demand complete consumer advocacy on the part of financial professionals for those consumers who come to them for advice and help. Through Phil’s Crash Proof Retirement Show he provides an education. This is something he has been doing now for over 6 years, week in and week out on Philadelphia’s #1 talk show station.
How many financial professionals are there out there who have done the same? Sure there may be a few who are on the radio educating like Phil is, and perhaps even less that have been doing so for the length of time Phil has. But there are not a lot of insurance professionals who will go to the lengths and efforts and expense like Phil Cannella with the singular purpose of educating and informing seniors of the pitfalls of the financial markets.
After this education, Phil Cannella then provides a good overview of solutions that exis, within financial vehicles available that can protect the nest eggs of seniors so that they are immune to market risk and volatility, where protection of principal is of utmost importance and growth is still provided.
This is what makes Phil Cannella the consummate financial professional and is the reason he is sought after so much as a public speaker. His clients support him at every turn for he has truly helped those who have come through his doors so that market crashes such as has occurred many times in the past, cannot affect the investments of his clients.
Phil Cannella is much like a hero to his clients and those who come to see him for financial advice. He calls himself a financial gladiator for good reason. He is in the trenches fighting the cause, fighting the battle for the everyday investor against the giants of Wall Street who manipulate the markets in order to further their own ends at the expense of others.
This is what Phil Cannella is so vocal about and this is where he gets in the face of these titans and through his media firm, Retirement Media Inc., he brings the truth to the American retiree no matter how unpalatable it may be to those who he is targeting. At the end of the day it is the senior, the retiree, the person approaching retirement and the everyday investor who is truly benefitting from Phil Cannella standing up for their rights and demanding a fiduciary accountability among all financial professionals toward their clients.
It is in this same vein that Phil Cannella flew down to Washington for an exclusive interview with the then- Inspector General of the SEC and conducted a groundbreaking interview that exposes the shortfalls of the SEC in policing the affairs it is meant to be supervising. It is this sort of action that has earned Phil several feathers in his cap. He is no coward when it comes to facing adversity. No matter how large the Goliath might be, Phil Cannella is the David that comes in to save the day.
This all boils down to Phil’s mission to help the American retiree, the American family, from the pitfalls of the financial system and provide a means so that every American can enjoy the retirement they always envisioned.