I’m starting to think my soapbox needs a tune up. I started late last year warning about the appearance of the impending end of the downward trend in term insurance rates. I also started fussing about what appeared to be a shift in both the price, rate increases, and the availability, products being discontinued, of the external guaranteed universal life products.

As 2009 dawned I started yelling about the sky falling and pointing to exactly where we were going to see the first chunks fall from. Then I started leaking industry news to all within leaking distance of this forum and Twitter giving all who cared as much warning as possible as companies started implementing the rate and product changes I had been fussing about.

As the dominoes started falling I upped the volume and yelled to all who would listen that this was not a drill. It was the real thing and the downward spiral in life insurance rates was in fact turning around and heading the other way. I started keeping you current seven months ago and today, June 9, 2009, the Wall St Journal decided to break the news.

Financial advisers got a bad name last year because they weren’t responsive, let alone proactive, for their customers. Getting this kind of news after the fact is a little like having a tourniquet applied after all your blood is gone.

You can’t really blame the Journal though. I mean, what? Are they supposed to have their finger on the pulse of every little major thing that’s happening? Oh, they are? Well they’re kind of sucking at that little task then.

Cited in the article are Accuquote and Insure.com, a couple of the big boys of the online insurance business. I would have hoped that both of them, especially having the ear of the Journal, might have started a clamor a bit earlier in this whole event. Kudos to Byron at Accuquote for at least addressing the issue a few times in his blog starting in March, but no mention at all from Robert Bland at Insure.com. Guys, we are the people that should be getting the word out soon and often when industry changing events happen. And this didn’t start in March and it doesn’t just impact term insurance.

Bottom line. We all found out last year what slow and late financial advice does for us. With social media really being where news is broken these days, don’t get caught waiting for the Wall St Journal.