(I’m going to give you a formula, and a link to a short audio using the script, that guarantees you’ll get tons of referrals… but first let me vent.) Everything you’ve ever read or heard about referrals is B.S. You know this… if any of it actually worked… we’d all be rolling in the dough! Referrals are free. Referrals are easy to sell. So, if we could get referrals coming in regularly, we’d all be doing it. Don’t get me wrong, we all DO get referrals… but it’s only when somebody a … [Read more...]
Reduce Client Taxes and Establish Foundation for Growth
Assisting clients with income or estate tax reduction may seem like a small task in comparison to the vast amount of financial planning work advisors do yearly. However, if you can help your client find extra and unexpected funds in their tax returns, you can use those funds to set the client’s foundation for a lifetime of long-term success. Tax reduction techniques New tax reform laws in 2018 created significant tax liabilities to many consumer’s income and estate taxes. Most individual … [Read more...]
Web Presence Tips for Independent Agents
#1. Whether you value them or not the consumer now considers your website, your Facebook business page and your LinkedIn account like your modern-day office. Take pride in them, make sure they give the first impression worthy of your operation. Tip: At the bare minimum double check your contact information on these pages. You would be surprised how many times I call a phone # I see on a client’s Facebook business page and its wrong. Imagine if I was referred to you, I Googled you, and your … [Read more...]
Lessons Learned from the Loss of a Parent
My wife and I had to deal with the loss of both her parents recently. We were fortunate that her parents had their estate fairly well organized. But after going through all of the issues that needed addressing – proper care for her mother during her final years, selling their home, disposing of property, dealing with the lawyers and CPAs, etc.; I was reminded of some basic tenets we often talk about in the insurance business, basic principles we need to apply to our clients and to our own … [Read more...]
Why You Should Be Offering Long-Term Care Annuities
Discussing a client's long-term health needs can be uncomfortable. Everyone wants to live an active and fulfilling lifestyle in retirement. But your health is unpredictable. Assisted living and home health care are expensive realities of aging. Long-term care is an unavoidable and highly important segment of retirement planning. Take advantage of Long-Term Care Awareness Month, a marketing campaign held annually in November, to get your clients thinking about their long-term care … [Read more...]
Volatility Control Indices – Help or Hinderance for FIA Clients?
Volatility Control Indices have become the new buzzwords in the fixed indexed product world. According to recent data from Wink, Inc.’s AnnuitySpecs tool, there are 78 indexing options that include volatility control. We get overwhelmed on a daily basis with back-casting and other statistics stating how well these various indices would have returned in the past. So, is the concept of volatility control an enhancement to this great product or another confusing variant? First, a quick primer on … [Read more...]
When Annuities Make Sense in Retirement
With life expectancies greater than ever, retirement could very likely be the longest phase of our client's lives. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative for retirees to have a plan in place that; • Provides the ability to spend and enjoy their money in retirement and • Protects them from "living too long" and outliving their income. Since retirement income planning is an extremely important and complicated process, this is something retirees should not attempt to do on their own. In … [Read more...]
Tax Reduction Tools for Producers
Many people are exhausted after tax season. They've been busy tracking down receipts, filing paperwork and meeting deadlines. Many just want a break from numbers for a while. But it’s an agent's job to steer these weary taxpayers in the right direction. Make the aftermath of Tax Day (April 17) an opportunity to help your customers prepare for Uncle Sam's inevitable visit next year. The best way to do that is by touting the tax benefits of annuities and other similar insurance and … [Read more...]
Three Elevator Speech Stories
An elevator speech is your 30 seconds of fame. I have worked in the financial industry for decades. That sentence right there probably sounds mundane, but what if I told you, “I showed people that retiring happily ever after is within their grasp!” A good elevator speech is all about choosing the right words and language to tell your story. Here are three examples of how to turn financial jargon into stories that sell. Whether you're joining a new team or attending a local barbecue, you can … [Read more...]
Helping Clients Teach Their Children About Finances
As trusted financial planners we take good care of our adult clients through holistic long-term financial planning while building strong relationships. In addition, there are many of us delivering added value by taking it a step further to include all family members in the conversation, including children. Doing so opens up the possibility to build a long-term pipeline with our clients’ children who could be our clients of the future. This also provides crucial education and drives awareness of … [Read more...]