About Phillip Cannella

Phil Cannella brings 40+ years of experience working exclusively with retired Americans as a Retirement Phase Expert. He is the Founder of Crash Proof Retirement, LLC and developed the Crash Proof Retirement® System to protect retirees from losing their hard-earned retirement savings to the fees, volatility and corruption of Wall Street that has been making retirement an unnecessary struggle in America for decades. 

As a noted author, media trailblazer, Master IRA advisor, and 5-star Wealth Manager, Mr. Cannella is a leading consumer advocate for the American retiree. As founder and CEO of Retirement Media, Inc., and founder and principle of Crash Proof Retirement, LLC, Mr. Cannella presents “Truth for the American Retiree” on his top-rated CBS Philadelphia radio program, The Crash Proof Retirement Show® on WPHT 1210 Talk Radio Saturdays at 11 AM and Sundays at 1pm (immediately following Sundays with Sinatra). The radio show can also be heard in South Florida on Legends 100.3 FM in the Palm Beaches on Sundays at 8am.  

As a media personality, Phil Cannella has made special appearances on Fox Television, and was a featured expert on NBC 10 Philadelphia as part of a retirement advice segment. According to producers at The 10! Show, Mr. Cannella’s appearances were the highest rated segment on the program.

He also appeared on the cover of Senior Market Advisor, a leading national publication for insurance industry professionals. In it, he describes how to successfully educate those in or near retirement with a “tell me; don’t sell me” approach.

Within the article, Phillip Cannella also explained his desire to have more advisors help retired Americans by leveraging true and accurate information. Mr. Cannella is a big believer in being a retirement phase specialist, rather than than a general practitioner, financially speaking, who deals with all age groups.

One of his favorite sayings is “you wouldn’t go to your primary care doctor if you had a heart attack.” 

As part of his mission as a Senior Advocate, Mr. Cannella has also developed Crash Proof strategies that have protected millions in retirees’ assets from the risk and fees associated with investing with Wall Street. The esteemed Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania concluded in a two-year comprehensive study that many of these Crash Proof accounts have outperformed the S&P 500 every year since their inception in 1995.

He has since successfully protected thousands of retirees and ensured they have a safe, secure and comfortable retirement. 

Mr. Cannella also conducts weekly educational events in and around the Delaware Valley area as well as South Florida to inform retirees about the safe alternatives outside the securities industry. Mr. Cannella has made “shielding your future with truth” his mantra, always striving to continue his education to better serve retirees.  

This process includes keeping up with ongoing law changes that affect people in retired years, as well as IRS laws concerning retirees and their financial accounts, ensuring people working towards retirement and current retirees are positioned to leave a legacy to their heirs – not a stack of bills.

Background

Phil Cannella began his formal education in 1974 at Cheyney University after receiving a scholarship for placing first out of hundreds of thousands of High School Seniors in the Marines Youth Physical Fitness Program, an initiative started by President Kennedy to recognize the importance of physical fitness for young people all over America.

During this time, the Cannella family, along with his grandparents, lived together in a row home in suburban Philadelphia; working together to make ends meet. After a long career working to provide for the family, Phil Cannella’s grandfather was finally able to retire, but suffered a debilitating stroke shortly after. 

The years that followed were supposed to be blissful and relaxing but turned out to be a financial nightmare for the Cannellas. Mr. Cannella had to make sacrifices to achieve his goal. 

When his grandfather suffered his stroke, Phil was forced to drop out of college and take a job to help pay for medical and nursing home bills. 

The problem they were facing was that Medicare didn’t cover something called custodial care, which is non-medical care that helps individuals with their daily basic care, such as eating and bathing. This was exactly the type of care that his grandfather needed.

Motivated by his grandfather’s financial struggles, Mr. Cannella went to Harrisburg and began intense study of the insurance industry. He combed through books on insurance law as well as existing policies looking for ways to save and protect America’s families from his own financially burdened experience.

Phil’s persistence paid off, as he discovered a nursing home benefit rider available within the insurance industry that would cover custodial care. Mr. Cannella was devastated that his family wasn’t educated on this particular rider before his grandfather’s estate was diminished, however, that devastation is what led Phil to protect others before they suffered the same fate. This was the point in time that Phil dedicated himself to educating the public on the safety and protection available within the insurance industry.

After passing his insurance licensing exam, Phil Cannella completed numerous courses and studied the crucial concerns that Americans in and near retirement face every day. He researched new ways to provide protection for those entering retirement and even pioneered consumer-driven long-term care insurance contracts that are still used today.

Since then, he has dedicated himself to keeping current on IRS laws that affect retired people, especially those regulations regarding retirement accounts. Through his studies, Mr. Cannella earned the title of Master IRA Advisor under the tutelage of IRA expert Ed Slott, whose PBS program is seen by millions of viewers nationwide.

Focused on Solutions

In addition to IRA law, Mr. Cannella is thoroughly steeped in his knowledge and strong belief in long-term care.

Baby Boomers are living longer than ever before and are placing a priority on being happy and healthy. Unfortunately, many lack the vital part of health care planning – long term care.  Sobering statistics from the government show that close to 70 percent of all Baby boomers will use a long-term care facility for an average of 3 years at a cost of over $300,000.  

Mr. Cannella believes not planning for long-term care is denying yourself a comfortable transition in the final stages of your life and expenses that will impoverish most estates.

Fortunately, in recent years programs have become available where long-term care coverage can be obtained without ever paying annual premiums. It’s called asset-based long-term care.

Phil Cannella educates consumers on leveraging an existing asset, such as a savings account, or an investment account, so that when long-term care is needed, the asset chosen to be leveraged will balloon to more than three times the original asset value.  

For example: husband and wife at 65 years of age, transfers $100,000 from one of their investment accounts into an asset based long-term Care contract.  Upon receipt of the transfer that $100,000 immediately becomes, from day one, $460,000 dollars of long-term care benefit for both husband and wife when needed. For Individuals the $100,000 would balloon to $550,000. 

According to Mr. Cannella, the most attractive part of asset-based care is what experts call “aging in place,” staying in the comfort of your own home and assuring yourself a comfortable transition in the final stages of your life.

Another benefit, Phillip Cannella explains, is that if a need for long-term care doesn’t arise, the policy holder’s beneficiaries would receive the remaining contract value.

Mr. Cannella urges consumers to be proactive about educating themselves on asset based long-term care. Although these policies are more liberal with accepting health conditions, age is still an important factor. By taking steps now, coverage will be less expensive, and you will be able to protect your surviving spouse and the estate that took you a lifetime to accrue as well.

The Crash Proof Retirement System® 

When the 2001 market crash hit, Phil Cannella identified a need for a new type of investment, especially for people in or near retirement, who didn’t have the time to go back to work and rebuild their nest eggs. That year’s crash robbed so many people of the money they had worked for decades to accumulate. 

Given Phil’s experience in the senior market, he began looking for a solution, which he finally found in guaranteed financial investment vehicles based in the life insurance industry that could provide steady growth while protecting from losses during market crashes. 

This was the beginning of the Crash Proof Retirement® System.

Over the next four years, Mr. Cannella perfected the Crash Proof Retirement® System, adding important consumer protections using his philosophies of truth, logic and protection. Financial literacy is the company’s most important core value. It is first and foremost a consumer advocacy firm.

Phil Cannella knew that many advisors were pushing financial vehicles that would land them the biggest commissions, rather than the ones that would work the best for their clients. 

That’s why he instituted a salaried design team to select the Crash Proof vehicles in his clients’ portfolios. 

With no vested interest in selecting the investments, the design team was free to design income solutions that truly worked for the consumer. Phil Cannella founded Crash Proof Retirement® as a firm that would utilize this consumer-oriented approach and help consumers get on the path to a Crash Proof Retirement® future.

Crash Proof Retirement® stands alone because they have licensed insurance professionals who only work with those in or near retirement. These licensed retirement educators’ primary focus is on developing clients’ financial education and building their confidence to make informed decisions regarding income, tax and estate planning.

Each educator meets with initial prospective clients as many times as needed – even on weekends, before any decisions about financial allocations are made. This way, no stone is left unturned and everyone is on the same page – giving retirees absolute control over their financial decisions

Another important feature of Crash Proof Retirement’s® core values is its Annual Review program, where clients meet with Retirement Educators to make sure their plan’s strategies match up with retirement goals, such as long-term care, travel or a new home purchase.

The Crash Proof Retirement Show® 

Now that he had established himself as a consumer advocate and developed a way to protect retirement savings without market risk, Phil Cannella wondered why more people didn’t know about these Crash Proof investments. 

As he discovered, the reason was that mainstream media were not reporting on these vehicles. Instead of reporting on Crash Proof investments that are capable of protecting savings in a market crash, the media chose to hype risky investments that claimed the biggest returns. 

These investments largely favored the mainstream media outlets, all of which are owned by corporations that thrive off of stock market investors. 

That’s why, in 2008, Phil Cannella used his own money to start the Crash Proof Retirement Show®, a weekly radio show on 1210 AM, WPHT where he sought to expose the truth about the financial industry, a truth that others were reluctant to reveal. He also began using his status as a consumer advocate to promote his Crash Proof Retirement® events, held at restaurants around the country to educate consumers about retirement planning and the Crash Proof Retirement® System.

After years of speaking to the 2.3 million listeners across the CBS Radio Network, Mr. Cannella gained a reputation for asking the tough questions and demanding the truth. It was with this reputation that he marched to Washington D.C., to the doors of the Securities and Exchange Commission, armed with questions that the American people deserve answers to.

Phil Cannella sat with H. David Kotz, the then Inspector General of the nation’s top regulating agency over Wall Street and asked why our tax dollars were going to waste on a Federal regulatory agency that was failing to police Wall Street and defend the people.

For well over an hour, Cannella sat with Kotz and continued to ask the questions that needed to be answered in a groundbreaking interview that drew attention on a national level.

Cannella returned home to Philadelphia with a new-found passion for investigative reporting and within a few months received a letter from SEC executives requesting that the interview not be shared with the public. Knowing that no worthy achievement is accomplished without dedication to the cause, Phil Cannella responded with a six-page letter, as a voice of the people, to tell the SEC that he would not stand down. Phil Cannella made it clear that it is the SEC that needs to start making changes. (Both letters are available at https://crashproofretirement.com/meet-phil-cannella/).

Retirement Media, Inc.®

Immediately following the groundbreaking interview with H. David Kotz, Phil Cannella established Retirement Media, Inc. to serve as a source of truth and shed light on an industry that prefers to operate in the dark.

Since its official launch in 2012, RMI has gathered an archive of hard-hitting interviews and eye-opening research all focused on one thing, bringing truth to the American Retiree. The exclusive interviews include, but are not limited to, The Comptroller General of the United States – David Walker, The Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College – Alicia Munnell, Former Presidential Advisor and Best-Selling Author – Dick Morris, and Economic Forecaster – Harry Dent.

He has also appeared as an expert panelist on Larry Kane’s Voice of Reason to provide his perspective on retirement in America and the new challenges faced by retirees as they make the transition into their golden years.

He continues his ongoing investigation into the financial industry and seeks out powerful and revealing interviews.  In addition to that, he mentors other advisors who work with the senior demographic, teaching them how to be consumer advocates that can help their clients achieve a safe retirement.

In recognition of all his accomplishments, numerous media outlets have sought out Phil as a financial expert for appearances on their shows. 

The Unvarnished Truth

Pursuing the truth and fighting to change an industry that has been built over decades to work against the everyday investor does not come without resistance. When he shook up the financial industry, many people came forward to claim Phil Cannella is a scam, or to make unfounded Phil Cannella complaints. 

Although Phil has been met with his share of obstacles as he confronted Wall Street and its regulators alike, taking them head on and forcing them to face their demons, he has fought hard to best these challenges and stay focused on his mission to protect retirement accounts all over America. 

One of Mr. Cannella’s most notable battles included his pursuit of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a strong condemnation of a scandalous story in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In October 2016, Phil Cannella was approached by writers from the Philadelphia Inquirer who claimed to be working on a story about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new fiduciary rule for brokers and investment advisors. This ruling would make it unlawful for brokers to put their financial interests ahead of what’s best for the client.

Mr. Cannella was clear that he would only participate if it wasn’t about attacking him, the company or his industry.

To be as helpful as possible, Crash Proof Retirement® opened its doors with an atmosphere of complete transparency. Mr. Cannella went out of his way to educate them about the insurance industry and its state-approved financial products.

As time passed though, he realized that the article wasn’t just about the proposed DOL rule. It became more evident that this was meant to discredit an entire industry, featuring Crash Proof Retirement®.

The Philadelphia Inquirer published an appallingly one-sided article in March of 2017 about the insurance industry and used Cash Proof Retirement® as its primary scapegoat.

The content about Crash Proof Retirement® was shallow and misleading, full of reckless innuendo, cherry picked facts and downright lies.

The article is borderline propaganda or, in today’s vernacular, “fake news” that sought to defame Mr. Cannella, and to blacken an entire industry.

Only five of the 48 paragraphs mentioned the DOL Rule, while 34 were about Cannella and his firm. The reporters, who are not held to a fiduciary standard of their own, clearly misled Cannella to get him to agree and to participate in what turned out to be a witch hunt toward both him and the insurance industry.

Also, the article’s page one photo pictures him with his hands up and gives the impression there may be a police officer off-camera ready to arrest him. The subtle message of supposed guilt sets the tone for the entire story and illustrates a very intentional bias in the Inquirer’s report.

More than 5,000 clients at Crash Proof Retirement® know what the “real” Phil looks like and who he actually is – a man of high-integrity. To call this photo unflattering is an understatement.

Retirement Media, Inc was told that the Inquirer took nearly 100 photos. It certainly seems that the Inquirer hand-picked photos presenting Mr. Cannella as just another bad guy from a shady financial industry, which makes the paper’s bias even more egregious.

Phil Cannella Reviews

Ever since Phil Cannella began his crusade to protect American retirees from losing their nest eggs, he’s had his detractors. Some have come forward with Phil Cannella complaints; others have given Phil Cannella reviews that were not complimentary. Some have even made the claim that Phil Cannella is a scam. 

These allegations, of course, are unfounded. Every person in history who has tried to make a positive change in the world has been met with resistance, and so has Cannella. With Phil Cannella working tirelessly to make life better for people in retirement, it’s only natural that some detractors have come forward to make outrageous claims.

Phil has also received death threats and has been attacked physically for his views on Wall Street. He believes if the financial industry were a fair system, people would be protected from stock market losses, short-selling, and volatility.

If you don’t believe that Phil Cannella’s only mission is to help protect those in or near retirement, we encourage you to take a look at the hundreds of positive Phil Cannella reviews, many of which you can find at https://crashproofretirement.com/testimonials/.

Don’t take our word for it; hear Phil Cannella reviews right from the mouths of actual retirees who have been helped by the Crash Proof Retirement® System. Once you see these real retirees giving their Phil Cannella reviews, you’ll see that any Phil Cannella complaints or claims that Phil Cannella is a scam are totally unfounded.

Phil Cannella’s Philanthropy

Finally, Mr. Cannella has also Crash Proofed the lives of children by donating to the CBS WOGL 98.1 “Loves our Children” Radiothon on behalf of Crash Proof Retirement, proving you don’t have to be a big company to make a big difference.

In five years, Crash Proof Retirement® donated over $325,000, making it the largest single donor in the history of the Radiothon, which benefits the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Phil Cannella also has spent time and donated money to charities focused on helping our country’s veterans. In 2018, Mr. Cannella had his production team design and fund a complete vehicle wrap for a parade trailer used by The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 1068 in Southern New Jersey.

Other notable charities Phil Cannella has donated to include:

• National Liberty Museum
• University of Pennsylvania
• Shopping for Soldiers
• Tiferet Bet Israel
• Northampton Township Lions Foundation
• Semper Fi Fund
• Liberty United Service Organization