Some on Wall Street are victims, not villains

I applaud the article "Advisers grapple with stress amid downturn," which appeared in the March 9 issue.

I applaud the article “Advisers grapple with stress amid downturn,” which appeared in the March 9 issue.

The popular press is having a field day with stories of greed on Wall Street, outsized bonuses and lack of contrition on the part of those who got us into this mess.

I know of four financial advisers, including the one to whom you referred, who have taken their lives during the past four months. They were all wonderful people and experienced advisers who not only suffered the loss of their clients’ assets but in several cases had also lost much of their personal savings through the devastation of their company stock.

You are the first to come close to telling that story.

Statistically, if I know of four such people, there must be hundreds.

Depression is an insidious disease that many people don’t recognize at its onset.

I wish that the press at large would stop casting all of Wall Street as villains and realize that many, many more in the industry have become the victims.

Norm Nabhan
Managing director
Smith Barney
Houston

Curious about how sources are chosen for articles

I thoroughly enjoyed the article “Wealthy clients may take out fury on advisers,” which appeared in the March 23 issue, regarding a subject that our firm has been discussing over the past few weeks.

I was drawn to Shilanski & Associates Inc. in Anchorage, Alaska, as I used to live there.

I noticed that it isn’t a huge firm, with just $100 million under management. Then I looked up its website to find just three associates (but I loved their bios and could totally relate).

Debbie Downing
Compliance/client service assistant
Foothills Asset Management Ltd.
Scottsdale, Ariz.

Clients with Alzheimer’s need proactive advisers

I was pleased to read the article “Advisers take on challenge of clients with Alzheimer’s,” which appeared in the March 2 issue, as I run into the same situations with my clients as a care manager for the elderly.

It is a very informative article, and I am glad to see someone bring this subject to light.

So many of my clients don’t have family or the family members that they do have live out of state.

It is always a challenge when a client is in the beginning stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s with regard to their finances and personal affairs.

I am glad to hear that financial advisers are taking on a more proactive role with their clients.

Mary Welsch
Media coordinator
The International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy Inc.
San Diego

‘Onerous’ tax rates aren’t a new thing

In response to the letter “Obama’s tax plan kills the American Dream,” written by Gregory D. Gardner, president of The Gardner Group in Dallas, which appeared in the March 23 issue, if he has been in business for 18 years, then between years two and nine, he was subject to the “onerous” tax rates that he now protests.

Whether or not his income was high enough to be taxed at the higher rates during those years, did he spend them working less than 60 hours a week, not hiring employees, taking Fridays off and/or not trying to expand his business?

I find it interesting that those who protest against these changes act as if the proposed tax rates have never happened before, even though they were in effect from 1993 to 2000.

Also, when I was a younger certified public accountant, investment income was taxed at 70%, and “earned” income was given a break and taxed at “only” 50%. I think the economy still expanded, and entrepreneurs still began and built businesses.

Philip L. Krevitsky
Managing director, client services
TAG Associates LLC
New York

Florida proposal shows it doesn’t get annuities

I read with interest the article “Florida annuity proposal worries insurance industry,” which appeared in the March 23 issue.

These are likely the same brain surgeons who orchestrated the coming end of State Farm representation in our property-and-casualty-insurance sector, to the detriment of homeowners throughout the state.

That process was deemed to be beneficial but is already proving to be just the opposite. They won’t admit their error and ask State Farm Florida Insurance Co. of Winter Haven to stay, as it would require them admitting that they have a vendetta against State Farm. It seems easier to punish insurance customers than to make things right.

I welcome someone putting an end to those ridiculously long times and high rates for surrender of equity index annuity accounts. Those border on criminal anyway.

However, to restrict surrender charges and terms for variable annuities simply makes the contracts — which are appropriate for some clients under certain circumstances — more expensive for the buyers. They should know that the contracts with less than a seven-year surrender charge time frame carry higher costs.

I only hope some investigative journalist will seek records through the Freedom of Information Act laws to uncover the scheme causing all these ill-fated rules from Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and her colleagues. The story of the underlying reasons might be more than meets the eye or that state officials want us to know.

Bradley R. Teets
Owner
Bradley Teets Investment Services
Punta Gorda, Fla.

Column on suicide was compassionate

Regarding the Just Thinking column “The loneliness of the long-term adviser,” about financial advisers and suicide, which appeared in the March 30 issue, it was nice, compassionate work.

Peter J. Chepucavage
General counsel
Plexus Consulting Group LLC
Washington

Florida proposal is ‘scary and alarming’

I found the article “Florida annuity proposal worries insurance industry,” which appeared in the March 23 issue, scary and alarming.

I am licensed to sell securities, and I am also a registered investment adviser representative. I have had an insurance license in Massachusetts since 1973 and don’t have one complaint on my record.

However, I also hold a non-resident license in Florida, where I have sold a few fixed index annuities.

If Florida and or eventually Massachusetts pass this law, I will no longer offer annuities to my clients. Just one customer complaint has the potential to land me in jail.

But not only do we have to worry about aggressive prosecutors, how many attorneys run ads in newspapers encouraging supposed victims to file inappropriate lawsuits?

During a time when most in-vestors have lost 50% of their money in the market since October, many of my clients haven’t lost a dime with their fixed index annuities. I have many clients who have been with me many years who have bought annuities where I have gotten paid upfront with no trails.

I have to handle all their servicing needs for five, 10 or 12 years without additional compensation. If I put clients’ money into managed money at 1% a year, they would pay me a lot more than the traditional 6% to 8% I earn selling annuities.

I can tell them their maximum possible loss right upfront (the surrender charges). What broker selling equities can do that?

It goes against all common sense for regulators/legislators to slam annuities like they do.

The utter hubris that suggests that government knows better contradicts its past record. In this case, they just don’t know what they are doing.

What they would rather do is put everyone in stocks, and sit back and watch Wall Street destroy their life savings.

Brian N. Drake
Master elite IRA adviser
Drake Saunders & Diwinsky Ltd.
South Orleans, Mass.