More Money Talk

Went back to the financial planners today. Topic of discussion was Variable Universal Life Insurance. Anyone know anything about it or have any personal experience?

No Es Bueno

We went to see our financial guys last Tuesday. They wasted two hours of our time trying to sell us insurance. I called them out on the kickbacks they would be getting out of the deal. For one plan, they got every penny of the first year's premiums (which totalled about a $1,000), plus a percentage of the premiums thereafter for the life of the plan. Oh, and they gave our phone numbers to insurance agents, who have been calling us at work all week without our permission.

This wasn't at all what we thought it was going to be. They had promised us a personalized review of our current plans and investments and custom-tailored advice to fit our needs. But last Tuesday's meeting showed they hadn't done a minute's worth of work on our case, and that they were just giving us the same schpiel (sp?) they give everyone else, and that they were in it to make themselves money, not us.

We have another appointment on Tuesday. We are giving them one more shot to get to the good stuff and impress us, but the reality is we'll probably be disappointed and end up firing them.

Ok, that is pretty cool.

I'm not sure if other credit card companies do this. It's the first time I've seen it. Discover lets you pick your credit card design from hundreds of choices. I picked this one cuz I like giraffes. I also picked another clear, funky dots pattern. You can pick as many different card designs as you want. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Brian wondered why a credit card company would spend so much money doing such a thing. To me, it was obvious. I'm sure Discover is looking for any reason they can give customers to pass up that Visa and Mastercard and use the Discover. I'm personally more likely to reach for this card now that it's got the positive connotation of my favorite animal. And since Discover gives a pretty good cashback bonus, there's no good reason not to.