When I used to date in school, I would get some crazy breakup lines that I knew had nothing to do with reality. “The maybe it’s fate we won’t be together” or “you’d make a great husband” lines are something that were just excuses to disguise another reason and when you get fired by a plan sponsor as a plan provider, you may get a line that is as inauthentic.

You may get fired by a client who may claim that you were inattentive or you were too expensive and the reasons don’t jibe. Maybe you got fired only because you were hired by the previous corporate administration and you’re perceived as someone else’s guy. Sometimes you get fired because they want to give the work to a relative because cousin Johnny needs more assets under management. I had a broker who was quickly fired, then re-hired as the broker of record. It turned out that the new CEO had fired him so a new broker of record could give a kickback to the CEO. When the skim was discovered, the CEO was fired and the broker was rehired.

Sometimes you will get fired for the wrong reason and as long as you did your job, there is nothing you can do about it. If you lose your job because of nepotism or some illegal kickback scheme, there is nothing you can do and just chalk it up to the crazy business you’re in. Plus you’ll have a wonderful story to tell for many years.