Saying goodbye to GoFundMe

By Marc Cadin

For more than 20 years, I’ve been blessed to work with some of the finest financial security professionals in the business. These experiences have also afforded me a chance to reflect on what it really means to help others. And that’s why I was stunned by some recent figures from GoFundMe.

GoFundMe has raised $30 billion since its inception in 2010. And just recently, it was revealed that more than 125,000 memorial fundraisers are created on its site — totaling more than $330 million raised every year. Although I can certainly see why people are willing to help, because of my experience with so many amazing financial security professionals, I see every GoFundMe campaign as a flashing neon billboard proclaiming that someone, somewhere, was tragically unprepared. And it’s simply not the way America should work. It is not how we should live our lives or how we should take care of those we love.

Don’t get me wrong: The incredible generosity and compassion that is shown in the responses to these appeals is awesome. It is truly heartwarming to see people’s innate goodness in action. But what about those doing the asking — is relying on the kindness of strangers really the best way for anyone to deal with emergencies?

We’ve made incredible strides with respect to social safety nets in America. In 1965, at the signing ceremony for Medicare, former President Harry Truman said, “Not one of these, our citizens, should ever be abandoned to the indignity of charity. Charity is indignity when you have to have it. But we don’t want these people to have anything to do with charity and we don’t want them to have any idea of hopeless despair.”

As a nation, we’ve come up with any number of remedies to very tragic situations. And while I commend the innovations around crowdfunding, I believe that when it comes to people’s financial security, it’s time for Americans to rally around people like you, financial security professionals, going forward.

The simple and amazingly effective antidote to GoFundMe is planning. Strategic, careful planning with folks from this profession can make all the difference regardless of what tomorrow may bring.

As Ernst and Young’s research shows, life insurance — especially permanent policies, investments and deferred income annuities — outperforms investment-only or investment-plus-other-products approaches, in every combination. Individuals and families who have life insurance, investments and guaranteed streams of lifetime income through things like annuities are in a significantly better position to absorb the challenges that life throws their way.

The reality is that financial security for Americans — no matter where they live or how much their family earns or what degrees they have or don’t have — is very much within reach. There’s no mysterious magic formula. The process is simple and straightforward: It is you.

Again, while I am deeply grateful for the generous nature inherent in the American people who give through GoFundMe, I think we need to have an honest conversation about our GoFundMe problem.

There is a better way. When your clients work with you, a trusted financial security professional, they will never have to crowdsource their future again.