Anyone Remember This Guy (Lunatic)???

The other day, I was remembering a financial advisor that was all over late night TV when I was kid in the 80's. A guy who suggested one way to get rich was to cut out the costs of insurance. Basically, becoming self insured. However, I couldn't remember his name. Then a couple days ago, Dave Ramsey was answering a callers question, and happened to mention Charles Givens. Finally, I had a name, and the research into this guy began.
The first thing I found was that he died in 1998 (July 12th).

During his rein he wrote 3 best-selling books:

1. Wealth Without Risk (1988)
   
2. Financial Self-Defense (1990)
   
3. More Wealth Without Risk (1991)
   

Charles J. Givens was a self-styled financial planner, investment educator, and investment guru who once appeared in infomercials on late-night television to tell the world about the fortunes he had made and lost, free seminars run by his associates, and the Charles J. Givens Organization. He died in 1998, but one of his organizations, International Administrative Services Inc. (IAS), lives on.
- http://invest-faq.com/articles/warn-givens.html

The article continued,

Givens offers quite a bit of helpful advice but contrary to the titles of his books, his ideas can be extremely risky. For example, some of his suggestions about insurance, especially dropping uninsured motorist coverage from one's automobile insurance, may leave people under insured and vulnerable in case of an accident unless they are very careful about reading their policies and asking hard questions. On the other hand, some people are arguably over-insured, which is why Givens makes these recommendations. These people could certainly benefit from reading their policies carefully and asking the insurance agent some hard questions, but wholesale advice to drop coverage is risky.

A look at International Administrative Services Inc's Website boasts about their founder:

It began with a dream. Charles J. Givens, Jr. was 18 years old and bagging groceries for $0.85 an hour when he wrote down a dreams list identifying 188 dreams he was determined to accomplish. Among his many remarkable achievements, over 180 of those original 188 dreams have been reached.

Charles Jr. was born on February 5, 1941, and grew up in Decatur, Illinois, graduating from MacArthur High School in 1959. On his 16th birthday, his aunt sent him an old guitar and unknowingly launched his musical career. He became a Central Illinois celebrity with his band "Chuck Givens and the Quintones" during the Rock & Roll era of the '50s and '60s.

He attended Milliken University in Decatur and the University of Tennessee before moving to Nashville. A fire destroyed his music studio, equipment and master tapes, and with no insurance to cover the loss, he learned what it meant to lose everything. He realized that in order to control your future effectively, you must first let go of your past. "Where I is, is where I is -- but where I'm going is up to me" became his motto.

They even boast about all of his appearance's:

Charles J. Givens appeared as a featured guest on almost every major national television talk show, including, Oprah, Larry King, Phil Donahue, Joan Rivers, Geraldo Rivera, CNN, the Home Show, the 700 Club and the Today Show.

The Charles J. Givens' Money Strategies newspaper column has been carried in 500 newspapers in 48 states and his radio broadcasts and interviews have been heard throughout the country.

However, they don't tell you about the lawsuits or questionable activities.

He would arrive at lectures in a chauffeur-driven, white limousine trimmed with gold. His mantra was: ``Be all you can be.'' He charged people $400 to $900 to learn his secrets of becoming wealthy.

In the 1990s, his companies were the targets of dozens of lawsuits and investigations, many of them focusing on his alleged misrepresentations and the stringent refund policy covering his instructional materials.

A California jury in 1996 said Givens defrauded 29,000 customers in that state. He was ordered to refund them $14.1 million and was ordered to stop misrepresenting the success of his moneymaking strategies.

``Givens lied about his past,'' said John W. Jeffrey, an attorney for the plaintiffs. ``The way he made his money was not by using the strategies he sold but rather by selling the strategies themselves.''

A month after the verdict in California, Givens' company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. He lost control of the business in 1997.

A judge approved a plan to repay creditors 25 cents on the dollar. To protect himself from creditors, Givens transferred most of his assets to limited partnerships, frustrating lawyers who tried to collect for their clients.
- http://www.newbusinessnews.com/story/07149801.html

Oh and don't forget:

Later that year, he settled a fraud and deceptive trade practices lawsuit filed by Florida's attorney general by agreeing to refund $175,000 to 135 disgruntled customers and paying the state's investigative costs.

So, as with so many of the get rich quick schemers, his money really came from selling the idea rather then putting the ideas in practice. His ideas are some great ideas, but not if you are not ready for them.
For example, his website talks about the insurance, which so many of us remember from the 80's.

Almost any risk can be covered by insurance, but only a few coverages are good values. Always weigh the potential financial risk with the cost of the premium to insure that risk.
For example, if raising a deductible on an automobile collision policy from $500 to $1000 cut the premium by $200 annually, you would save $200 every year by accepting $300 more net risk ($500 minus the $200 yearly premium) -- not a bad risk to take. If you go two years without a collision claim, you are ahead of the game. In this example, paying $200 annually in order to insure $300 (net), is not a cost-effective use of your premium dollar after the second year.

As you can see it is a great idea. However, it isn't if you don't have the savings built up to cover the deductible if you should ever need it. Right now my insurances tend to have a $500 deductible. It will stay there, until I can build my emergency fund to a point where I can raise it to $1000. Which would mean $2000 in reality ($1000 for home and $1000 for auto).