ScaredtoQuit
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2007
- Messages
- 211
This past Saturday, I went to a retirement party for a friend who had successfully retired from MegaCorp after a 34 year tenure. The affair was really very nice. About a hundred of his close friends and family sat down to dine on a choice of chicken marsala, glazed salmon, or filet mignon in a beautiful setting to a background of light jazz. After everyone had finished eating and we had thorougly roasted the guest of honor, the master of ceremonies proceeded to thank all of the people who had helped pull the affair together. One of the guests was singled out and thanked for his financial contribution to the affair. That seemed a little strange to me and at the time I thought he might have been a representative from MegaCorp who had kicked in something toward the party. But then later on when the affair was completely over I learned exactly who he was.
This guy made a point of introducing himself to me and handed me a business card. He was a representative from a leading Financial Services firm and was culling for more business!! It was only then that I deduced what his game plan was. He cements his relationship with a new client by shelling out $3 to $5K for a fancy retirement affair. Yeah, it's a lot of money, but at $10,000 or more in new fees each year he'll make it back pretty quick. But the more important thing for him is that he changes the nature of his relationship with the retiree. He becomes the retiree's "friend". If the retiree ever considers terminating the relationship in the future, there is a good chance that the memory of that nice dinner "Joe" paid for when I retired might make him change his mind.
My theory was bolstered when I recalled another retirement party that I had attended a couple of years ago. The set-up was a little different (drinks and hor d'oerves - no dinner) but appeared to be no less costly. What I remember about that party was the prominent role that the retiree's financial advisor played. The FA had even presented all of the guests with a complementary CD burned with inspirational songs like "We've only just begun" - all with a little label that said "Compliments of XXX"
Is my assesment of this situation correct?? Have any of you seen similar arrangements made by FA's for others? At this point, I can't possibly bring myself to tell my friend that he's been snookered. Who knows? Maybe he hasn't. What do you guys think?
This guy made a point of introducing himself to me and handed me a business card. He was a representative from a leading Financial Services firm and was culling for more business!! It was only then that I deduced what his game plan was. He cements his relationship with a new client by shelling out $3 to $5K for a fancy retirement affair. Yeah, it's a lot of money, but at $10,000 or more in new fees each year he'll make it back pretty quick. But the more important thing for him is that he changes the nature of his relationship with the retiree. He becomes the retiree's "friend". If the retiree ever considers terminating the relationship in the future, there is a good chance that the memory of that nice dinner "Joe" paid for when I retired might make him change his mind.
My theory was bolstered when I recalled another retirement party that I had attended a couple of years ago. The set-up was a little different (drinks and hor d'oerves - no dinner) but appeared to be no less costly. What I remember about that party was the prominent role that the retiree's financial advisor played. The FA had even presented all of the guests with a complementary CD burned with inspirational songs like "We've only just begun" - all with a little label that said "Compliments of XXX"
Is my assesment of this situation correct?? Have any of you seen similar arrangements made by FA's for others? At this point, I can't possibly bring myself to tell my friend that he's been snookered. Who knows? Maybe he hasn't. What do you guys think?