False Prophets (Profits)
The 403(b) world worships false profits
The buzzword in the 403(b) industry is “choice,” a term that refers to a school employer’s 403(b) plan and the policy to offer any 403(b) vendor who wants to offer a qualified product.
Choice advocates are more adamant that a school employer should protect choice than the NRA is about protecting the second amendment.
Choice advocates are so fanatic they make Swifties (what you call Taylor Swift superfans - of which I count myself as one) seem like casual observers.
Choice is more than buzzword, it’s the religion of the 403(b) industry marketplace.
Agents and representatives alike worship at the alter of vendor choice and are unapologetic about it.
Their church is the National Tax-Deferred Savings Association, which is replete with its own saints and priesthood.
This entire infrastructure has been built and put into place over the last 70 years in order to ensure a massive pipeline of profits from the sale of low-quality, non-fiduciary 403(b) products to unsuspecting educators.
Adherence to “choice” is the key that unlocks the door to being part of this industry, if one doesn’t profess the faith, they are ousted as heretics.
But let’s be honest.
None of this is about “choice.”
“Choice” isn’t the real religion this industry worships.
It’s profit.
The industry isn’t unique, they actually worship at the alter of profit and the policy of choice is the key that unlocks those profits. Without choice, everything falls apart.
The industry doesn’t want choice so much as they want the ability to sell predatory products without having to take responsibility.
They want the unfettered right to sell whatever they want and in whatever manner they please all while expecting to be praised for doing it.
There is a term for these types of people - false prophets (profits).