Where There’s a Problem – We Have a Solution

Presented by Deb Strong Do you have clients that are concerned with how they are going to pay for Long Term Care coverage?  If you do, you need to call your Sales Manager at Financial Brokerage at 800-397-9999.  We have many products that are protected by the Pension Protection Act, which means that structured properly, the long term care payments made to the client for their care are tax free!  One option is an annuity that also provides long-term care coverage, giving the client not only protection from the stock market, but also a leveraged pool of funds to use for care.  Nearly everyone buys insurance to cover their car and their home, as they should; own an asset and protect it.  So, think about this: A truly great financial plan can be put in place to grow assets with proper diversification, taxable and tax-free accounts, etc., but forgetting to put in place protection for those assets can be disastrous.  When one year of nursing home care can cost as much as $90,000, then how many years would it take to wipe out that well-crafted planning?  Don’t forget to discuss this fact with your clients and let us help you find the perfect product that transfers the risk of long-term care expenses where they belong . . . to the insurance carrier.

Be “that guy” at the party

Presented by David Corwin I should say “that financial professional” to cover the women who work in this wonderful profession too. What do I mean by being that guy or professional is to know your stuff, or at least enough to impress; not gloat or brag, but just know a few things to catch their attention. What will happen is that you’ll be able to secure an appointment with them and that will of course lead to a sale. Let’s start with a few key items that I would know: IRA’s – Know that contribution limit of $5,500 and over 50 years old they can put in $6,500. Also, know that they are generally speaking deductible against your taxes; albeit they aren’t really that popular though, but they don’t necessarily need to know that at this present moment. They just need to know that you know your stuff. Roth IRA’s – Same as above, but the main difference is “tax free” at retirement. I would repeat that a few times to drive the point home. SEP IRA’s – Getting a little more advanced here. That would be a card that I’d throw out when you’re among business owners and professionals. Know that the contribution limit is 25% of one’s income or $53,000, whichever is less. Still deductible and pretty popular amongst your smaller employers out there. A lot of dentists, real estate agents, chiropractors and the like have these. 401k – Even though you may lack the ability of writing these (I will tell you that you most certainly can); you want to know about them. Know that they have a contribution limit of $18,000 and that they are deductible to the employee. In summary, I will tell you that this wasn’t intended to be a really detailed blog, but rather just give you some talking points to be engaging enough to make someone want to see what you can do for them.

We are a better option for insurance and financial…

Presented by David Corwin As long as we remember that clients can now go online for insurance services, we will need to solidify long term relationships, get more qualified referrals, and keep our industry, that we all love, in good standing with the public at large. What do I mean by that? I have worked with literally hundreds, if not thousands of agents for over 18 years in the business, and there is always a constant; we all want to know for what the client is looking. I don’t mean that we should be experts in every facet of the insurance industry, since that’s a very tall task; however, insurance and financial professionals need to further their education so they are more knowledgeable when it comes to advanced cases. I know from personal experience that it takes a while to earn a CLU or ChFC, so in the meantime, you may want to learn a few key things to, dare I say, be dangerous. Let me give you a few items that could help: 50-80 year olds Due to the experiences they’ve had thus far, there is a good chance they have dealt with many challenges in their lives. Some keywords you want to use with this age group would be: probate, estate planning, taxes, lifetime income, wills, trusts, their children and grandchildren. 30-50 year olds With this age group you need to concentrate on these keywords: death, their children (especially guardianship options), tax-free income, estate planning, trusts, retirement planning and college funding. As I said, you don’t have to be an expert, but remember that more than likely, you may know way more (even with Google) than your client knows and they will be far better off than what they’d be on their own.

Are you selling the right product?

Presented by David Corwin We are all financial professionals and our role is to fit the proper product and planning to the problem the client is trying to solve. When positioning an annuity, sometimes we think the product with the most options available is the proper tool, when often it’s not the best approach. Nothing is free and riders typically have a cost that can impact the ultimate solution that we’re trying to provide. With improper planning we can end up with the “never gonna use” riders (I call them NGU’s). In many situations, the simple, “vanilla” indexed annuity can benefit your clients and avoid the cost of the NGU riders. With all the moving parts in annuities today, we can narrow down our carrier and product choices by simply finding out the end goal for the asset. Are they simply trying to protect retirement funds from market losses, trying to provide lifetime income today or in the future or just re-positioning CD/money market funds for a short period looking for a better return? Finding out the answer to those questions certainly narrows down the choices, provides a better product fit and gives you more credibility today and in the future. I can help you navigate the wide-array of product choices and find the solution that makes the most sense for each client-specific situation. Give me a call today at 800-397-9999!