Six months ago, just a few days after Ruby was born, I published “Bad Things, Good People” where I compared the sales processes of timeshare companies to those of colleges and universities. The post shared the immensely frustrating experience of assisting a client— a sweet elderly women assigned to me early on in my career— in alleviating herself of two timeshare properties she was bamboozled into buying.
We’re taught to be humble and remain anonymous when it comes to our good deeds. That any outward display of our good behavior is “virtue signaling,” the practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or moral correctness. It has become a term favored by internet trolls to knock do-gooders off their *high horse* for having the audacity to proclaim their kindness, generosity of morality.
In Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion we learn that it’s those around us who shape our own feelings and behaviors. That publicly displaying our good deeds are more likely to rub off on our peers and actually perpetuate acts of kindness towards others. If that’s true, we shouldn’t really care what other people think should we choose to be public about our good deeds. Yet, we constantly shamed when we do, especially in online communities which only further pressure us into keeping these things to ourselves, but I digress.
After being given the runaround for weeks from the timeshare company, I contacted a few real estate attorneys. As luck would have it, I was referred by a friend to a lawyer in California with specific expertise in negotiating and litigating timeshare issues. After sharing my client’s background and story, he offered his services to us pro bono, believing that a strong letter and his reputation would be enough to result in a positive outcome. After several months of back and forth emails and a few rounds of paperwork, we inched closer to resolution.
Before taking off for the holiday weekend, I received confirmation that my client was relieved of her timeshares and associated liabilities. She will no longer watch a third of her fixed-income be siphoned away each month by a morally bankrupt corporation that put her there in the first place. Instead, she gets to retain more of the limited income and assets she needs to survive. Make no mistake, the timeshare company is the ultimate winner, but it’s a massive victory for my client. She took back her retirement and her financial independence.
I don’t care if sharing this story is virtue signaling. Something really great took place and without us being able to share stories like these with others, how can we encourage them to do the same? Leading by example means others have to actually see the example that’s being set. Humility is respectable, sure, but it’s often a poor motivator because it means keeping to ourselves the things we’d hope others would emulate in their lives. In some twisted way, not sharing these stories is selfish.
So much of what we do as financial planners gets caught up in the services we provide and the fees we charge. It’s unfortunate, because great planners know that real value comes from not just the planning they do, but also from the desire to go above and beyond their traditional roles to improve the financial lives of their clients. I had no obligation to dig my client out of the hole she dug for herself. I could have kept telling her that she needs to deal with her problems on her own while I sat back and collected a fee on her modest retirement account. But I didn’t.
Sharing stories like there needs to become commonplace in the financial planning profession. By doing so, we illustrate our value and highlight our capabilities, which often extend far beyond our formal training, education and experience. It moves us away from petty debates surrounding compensation models and closer towards our overall mission of creating better financial lives for the individuals we serve. Moreover, it exemplifies what it really means to be a fiduciary, a standard we should all strive for as financial professionals.
Come virtual signal your moral superiority for all to see over on Twitter:
My best guess is that the next recession will involve two consecutive quarters of negative GDP.
— Douglas A. Boneparth (@dougboneparth) September 3, 2019