Profile Interview

Albert F. Coletti

™

Time for Independence

Speaker, Al Coletti Will The Real Financial Planner Please Stand Up?

Knowledge is power and education is the key to a successful future. Professionals should have a common interest to educate all of the people on the planet, 7 billion strong, in helping them to make smart decisions about their money. This is a lifelong project that will enhance the future of financial services for generations. The Register had some questions about Al’s career in the financial services industry and where he believes we are headed. How did you get started in the financial services business? I’ve been in business for myself since I was ten. By 21, I owned some real estate and got involved in that phase of the business first. I guess I looked mature, dressed reasonably well, and never found age to be a deterrent in working with people older than myself. One of my real estate customers had been a recently appointed agency manager with a life insurance company, and thus recruited Page 8

me into the life insurance industry. Even with some difficulty early on, I managed to qualify for the Million Dollar Round Table after my first full year in the business. Then I made the biggest mistake of my life — I did not attend the annual meeting of MDRT. Anyone who knows MDRT, knows that the annual meeting is one of the most dynamic, inspirational, motivational and educational meetings in the world.

In 1984, I earned the ChFC and RFC designations as I became a founding member of the IARFC. Thereafter, I served on the National Board of Directors for 10 years, met Ed Morrow, who helped change my life for the better forever. Ed has great visionary insights and I learned a great deal from him about forecasting the future of our industry.

By 1974, I became a CLU and still qualified for MDRT. This time I attended the annual meeting in Miami, Florida and found it to be the most extraordinary experience of my life! Attendees and presenters all shared their success and failures.

It took me six years to get through four years of college. There was a war going on, I had significant business commitments and was recently married. The college experience did not do much for me in specific preparation for a career in financial

What was your educational background?

The Register | April 2013