Like a shark circling some feast in the ocean, Merle Gilley, self professed genius of the indexed universal life market has decided to take a bite out of every “average” American’s assets if they make under $100,000 a year. You may remember the last time I wrote about Merle was after I had received a similar email suggesting I read his material about how to make huge money by targeting teachers, firemen and police, a group that on average makes $60,000 or less per year. He had a foolproof sales technique to talk them out of 1/3 of their income and get them to “invest” it in an indexed universal life insurance policy. I said it then and I’ll repeat it. No one should be spending 1/3 of their income on life insurance or even worse, throwing it away on indexed universal life.

Keep in mind that Merle Gilley is writing his email to life insurance agents in hopes that they will write their business through him and he will be enormously enriched by his cut. If he was talking to you, the customer, he wouldn’t use demeaning thoughts to win you over. He refers to you as the forgotten sector, those that earn 75% or less, who need financial advice the most. He says, “This sector relies mostly on advice from friends, family or the financial entertainers they hear and see on radio or television. This is the class of folks professional money managers and financial planners pretty much avoid”.

He goes on to say (remember he’s talking to agents), “I would recommend a new agent or advisor work within this sector ($75,000 or under income) starting out. It will make you a better advisor because you learn to talk to people about their assets using a simple formula they can understand”. I have reviewed his formula and as a veteran life insurance agent and financial advisor I can assure you there is nothing simple about the formula other than the fact that if you leave out the sordid details about how much money you stand to lose, it does simplify the presentation part that is so important to the agent.

The plan is simple. Gut your assets by getting you to extend your mortgage, rob your retirement and cash in your savings (emergency fund), freeing up $10,000 or more a year to spend on an indexed universal life policy. But really what this is all about (remember he’s talking to agents), “My goal is to have a national team to go out and help these families as soon as you can. By doing so, you can change YOUR financial future forever.” They could change your financial future forever too by talking you into spending 15% or more of your base income on indexed universal life insurance, a flawed product at best.

Bottom line. You too could live a future with no guarantees if you fall for the indexed universal life myth of big money retirements and life insurance forever. It isn’t there folks. It hasn’t performed as presented since they introduced IUL and there is no reason to expect that it ever will. Merle Gilley and anyone who listens to him and takes the bait will soon find out that they are on the wrong end of lawsuits because they have used a “system” to defraud a “sector”. Last time around I challenged Merle to offer proof that IUL’s work, that they are a good product, and he responded by having his attorney contact me and suggest I back off. If Merle doesn’t want me commenting on his email, he shouldn’t send it to me. If you have questions or have bought or are considering IUL, call or email me directly. My name is Ed Hinerman. Let’s talk.