Jeffrey Cohen has led an eclectic life. He came from a small farm town in upstate New York. His family moved to South Florida when he was ten years old. After graduating from high school he skipped his first two years of college and entered Florida Atlantic University as a junior. Two and a half years later, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history. Following graduation, he was accepted to the University of Miami Law School. However, an unusual set of circumstances led to his withdrawal from law school.
Two years prior, he was the youngest person to ever run for political office in the State of Florida when he ran for the Broward County school board. He lost a hard-fought campaign in the primary to the county’s leader of the Republican party. In spite of his loss, he attracted the attention of the party leaders. Two years later, he was drafted by these party leaders to run for the State House of Representatives. However, they requested that he withdraw from law school in order that he would not be considered a student legislator. He agreed since their support almost assured he would win the election.
Unfortunately, he did not fully understand the consequences of their support until it was too late. Several weeks into the campaign, he was invited to a meeting of the party leaders, in a smoke-filled, dimly lit room (no exaggeration). During the meeting, he was questioned as to whether he was prepared to cast his legislative votes based on their sole direction. The idealistic young man did not answer that question correctly and he immediately lost their support, which led to a resounding defeat.
Having already withdrawn from law school, he accepted an offer from a family friend to work in the insurance business. His immediate success led him to continue down that career path, instead of re-applying to law school. At the age of 23, he became the number one producer for a major life insurance company. At 26, he became the youngest lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table.
Over the years, his career expanded to various other aspects of financial services. By the age of 31, he became the president of a life insurance company. Throughout his career, he has been known for creating innovative financial products and strategies. He developed a popular tax strategy that raised billions of dollars for charity. He invented one of the most popular life insurance products that is still sold today. And he created an investment strategy called the SafetyNet Trading System.
His accomplishments are not limited to business. In addition to these books, he also co-wrote the music and lyrics for a Broadway-style musical and was the creator of a television series called Recipe Hunters. In addition, he invented a board game about wine called Karafe, which received rave reviews from Wine Spectator, the industry’s premier publication.