First Installment From LIFE INSURANCE - The Cause Of Economic Prosperity

PREFACE
I came to Canada in 1990 to start a new life. Prior to that, I was a Life Insurance
salesman in my homeland, Jamaica. In Canada I continued with the career I know and
love. I was shocked when I realized the extent to which people living in sophisticated
countries like Canada and the United States of America lacked understanding of the
principles of life insurance. These people were so vulnerable, they fell victim to the
ill-founded theories advanced by the likes of Norman F. Dacey an estate planner who
wrote What’s Wrong With Your Life Insurance; A.L. Williams an ex-football coach who
wrote Common Sense; William E. McLeod a professor of Business who wrote Canadian
Buyers Guide to Life Insurance; Dr. J.J. Brown a professor of English and a Management
Consultant who wrote Winning The Life Insurance Game; and Charles J. Givens, a man
with no special competence in financial matters, who wrote Wealth Without Risk.
I came to the realisation that these non-insurance people were able to contaminate
the minds of North Americans because there was no prevailing alternative view. Most of
the existing books on life insurance dealt with sales technique or were autobiographies
of successful salesmen. There were some books which dealt with life insurance in a
generic and general way. The good old books, the authoritative texts, were all out of
print. Contemporary people were not aware of these books or their contents. Books like
Understanding Life Insurance by Isadore Dretzin and Simon A. McAvoy, published by
Crown Publishers in 1942; Life Insurance, and The Economics of Life Insurance by
S.S. Huebner published by D. Appleton-Century Co. in 1935 and 1944 respectively;
Introduction to the Mathematics of Life Insurance by W. O. Menge and J. W. Glover
published by MacMillan in 1935; and History of Life Insurance in Its Formative Years,
compiled by Terence O’Donnell, published by American Insurance Digest and Insurance
Monitor in 1936.
What is happening to life insurance in North America reminds me of a situation
which occurred with building practices in Jamaica. In 1988 hurricane Gilbert struck
Jamaica with devastating fury. After the storm, several homes were without roofs. An
interesting observation was that newer homes were more severely damaged. Older
homes, the ones built in the 1950s and 60s fared much better. The reason was simple;
in 1951 hurricane Charlie had struck causing catastrophic damage. The rebuilding
which followed, and the building which occurred while the memory of that storm
was fresh in the mind of builders, was done to specifications designed to withstand a
similar storm. Over time, memory fades, and the older builders passed on. They were
replaced by builders who, not having experienced a storm, could not appreciate the rigid
specifications which were prescribed. Gradually they developed substandard practices,
which manifested themselves when Gilbert struck.
A similar thing is occurring with life insurance in North America. Insurance
veterans have set standards and have designed policies based on hundreds of years of
experience, only to have inexperienced non-insurance nit-wits scoff at these ideas and
replace them with nonsensical ones. To compound the confusion, the life insurance
companies responded to the critics by introducing new plans. The companies did this
in the belief that they were giving the people what they want. The people seeing these
changes believe the critics were right.
So utter was the stupidity that right was wrong and wrong was right. Untrained,
uneducated, part-time agents unleashed by A. L. Williams, got respect and made more
sales than well-trained career professionals with their CLUs, Ch.F.Cs and CFPs. To buy
Term and Group Life insurance was sophisticated and smart, and to buy permanent
cash value life insurance was stupid. It was truly a case of the inmates taking over the
asylum.
Being a recent immigrant to Canada, the North American way of doing things
stood out in sharp contrast to the way I was accustomed to doing them in Jamaica. I
was brought up believing that permanent cash value life insurance was best for people,
and that it was unethical to replace any policies sold by another agent, especially cash
value plans. I found the North American way repugnant. I was not prepared to make a
career change so to put my mind at ease I went in search of the truth. I started research
to find out, which was the right way.
My findings were astounding! The evidence showed that permanent cash value
plans are more beneficial to individuals. Research proved that the idea of “Buying Term
and Invest the Difference” is a theoretical absurdity. But there was more, I found out
that permanent cash value life insurance has an enormous impact on the economies of
countries. It is one of the key factors in making rich countries rich, and the lack thereof
is one of the main reasons why poor countries are poor.
I do not know if the overwhelming impact of life insurance has ever been documented
before. This work presents irrefutable evidence. It is my hope that this work will provide
the people of the world with sufficient knowledge of life insurance so that the folly of
North America is not repeated anywhere. I also hope that people will realize that when
they buy permanent cash value life insurance, they are not only building themselves
and their families but they are building their country.
Dorlan H. Francis
Toronto, Ontario
January, 1999

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Watch this blog. As a gift from the author to the people of the world, excerpts from the book LIFE INSURANCE - The Cause Of Economic Prosperity will be posted on this site starting in November 2009. You won't want to miss it. Its a must read.