Andy NearyI help insurance professionals turn brand awareness into business growth.

Are you just focused on fattening your commissions? Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

10 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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1:04

In this YouTube segment, the speaker argues that charging a modest 25 basis points in the RIA space is not a profit‑driven scheme but a relationship‑focused value‑add. By aligning the financial advisor, investment manager, and life‑insurance specialist, each takes their own fee while the client reaps the greatest benefit and the government (Uncle Sam) loses the most tax revenue. The speaker contrasts typical retail platform investing (e.g., Schwab, Fidelity) with tax‑free structures, illustrating that a $10 million trust earning 9% over 30 years would grow to roughly $38‑45 million after taxes, whereas a Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) structure could push the after‑tax value beyond $100 million. The overall message is that low‑fee, tax‑efficient strategies dramatically enhance client wealth compared to conventional commission‑focused approaches.

Chapters

But I think the saying that we abide by here is pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. We charge 25 basis points in this space, right? This is not a moneymaker for us. This is a relationship value-add deepening for the client and the people that we work with in the RIA space. Said differently, this is a way where the finance and the investment guy can row the boat with the life insurance guy. Each of them are taking their respective fee, and guess who wins the most here? It's the client. Guess who loses the most here? Uncle Sam. So, you know, to oversimplify a fairly complex conversation, 99% of what you're doing on a Schwab, Fidelity, or otherwise retail platform, right? You can do the exact same thing inside of a tax-free structure. And it's a really simple comparison. They say your health is your wealth, so you do have to qualify for it. But if I were to show you like $10 million in a trust invested at 9% over the next 30 years, it grow to about $38 to $45 million depending on the blended tax rate you want to assume, portfolio turnover, et cetera. The PPLI structure is going to push Clear over $100 million.