Don't believe everything

Well, there I was thinking I knew it all. And I forgot the first rule of journalism - get both sides of the story. I published a newsletter this week about a reader who complained about having to pay fees when he had given notice months before.

What our clever friend neglected to tell me was that he actually owed the FSB some cash and they were being sticky because of the money owed. They could and did put a stop on his membership almost immediately, but were waiting for payment of another outstanding amount.

This may be too much detail - but a valuable lesson for me.

Onto less stressful issues... ongoing commission and commission paid to brokers when the premium is increased. There seems to be a little confusion. Its simple - ongoing commission for annual increases, and recurring commission only for those servicing intermediaries.

But then the churning question comes up and why should a broker get commission on the annual increase anyway - what work was done to initiate the annual increase option, anyway? Its all too much for me. Time for a lie-down.

I want to apply my mind to more complicated and complex issues. Like why consumers won't pay for a service? And why the product providers don't build products that are ethical, and not focused on the shareholder and profit margins.

I guess the answer is simple - this is a capitalist society and profit is king, or queen. And it doesn't matter what country you live or work in. They are all the same.