My "Bersonal" View

Tax laws keep changing, and for anyone who has been in the business for a while you understand that change means opportunity. Opportunity to educate and an opportunity to provide service. Right now there is a great opportunity for IRA rollovers. EGTRRA (and now PPA 2006) allow IRA rollovers into qualified plans. This is an opportunity to roll over ANY IRA funds into a qualified plan. This could be a huge opportunity for your clients. Why?

Rolling IRA Funds Into a Qualified Plan Means:

1. The funds are available for loans– For the first time ever, this also includes sole-proprietors, partners and Sub-Chapter S shareholders
2. Funds withdrawn from a qualified plan are not subject to a 10% penalty if withdrawn after age 55 if there is a separation from employment – There is not the need to wait until age 59 1/2 to avoid the penalty like there is in an IRA or tax sheltered annuity.
3. Qualified funds are protected from bankruptcy – this may be reason enough for a rollover in a state where IRA funds are not protected from creditors.
4. In a qualified plan, there is often more investment opportunities than exist in the IRA – More options mean more chances to give your client what he wants.

Ben Ward is one of our original Synergy Partners. He writes a wonderful newsletter for his group – After reading this article I had to share it with my bloggers. Thanks Ben! Enjoy

THE AUTHOR IS NOT KNOWN. IT WAS FOUND IN THE BILLFOLD OF COACH PAUL BEAR BRYANT, ALABAMA, AFTER HE DIED IN 1982 

 The Magic Bank Account  Imagine that you had won the following *PRIZE* in a contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use. However, this prize has rules:  The set of rules:  1. Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you.  2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.  3. You may only spend it.  4. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400 for that day.  5. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say,“Game Over!”. It can close the account and you will not receive a new one. 

What would you personally do? 

  You would buy anything and everything you wanted right? Not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for. Even for people you don’t know, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right?  You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning, right? 

 ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL … 

 Shocked ??? YES!  Each of us is already a winner of this *PRIZE*. We just can’t seem to see it.  The PRIZE is *TIME* 

1. Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life.  

2. And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is Not credited to us.  3. What we haven’t used up that day is forever lost.  4. Yesterday is forever gone.  5. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time WITHOUT WARNING…  SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds? 

Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.

Think about it and remember to enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think. 

So take care of yourself, be happy, love deeply and enjoy life!  Here’s wishing you a wonderful and beautiful day. Start “spending”…. 

“DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT GROWING OLD…!” 

SOME PEOPLE DON’T GET THE PRIVILEGE! 

With volatility back in the headlines, now is a good time to show your clients the need to protect their retirement income. That’s because sequence of returns matters for clients approaching retirement. And as you know, there is no way to predict how much the market will be up or down when clients start their retirement.

An UNFAVORABLE sequence of returns during retirement:

• Can reduce the income received.
• Can deplete assets sooner than expected.
• Market losses can’t be recovered once income is withdrawn.

With all due respect to my dad the Dodger fan, I never thought I would start a blog article with the title -“The Giants Win.” Berson family legend has it that my dad and his brother were listening on the radio when Bobby Thompson hit his legendary home run to send the Giants over the Dodgers into the World Series.  When Russ Hodges screamed “The Giants Win the Pennant, The Giants Win the Pennant” my dad, 16 at the time, was chasing his brother down the street because he had jinxed the Dodgers by writing a sign that said the Dodgers win. Oh how times have changed.

I have known Roger Gainer for over 10 years. We have worked on cases together and I have always had the utmost respect for his views and ideas. However, the one thing we never agreed upon was his love for the San Francisco Giants. Especially when the Padres manager Bruce Bochy took over the Giants and lead them to a World Series victory. Now, three championships later, Roger has written an article that speaks to his love for finance and his love for the Giants. Congrats Roger…on another World Series for your team and a great article.

A Guest Article by Roger Gainer

How about those San Francisco Giants? Their season and playoff success has been one of the great sports stories of recent memory. I have been a baseball fan my entire life, and this year’s Giants team is one of the least likely champions that I have ever seen. When I watch them play, I am struck by how unusually “normal” they are. There are no real obvious “all-stars”. Nobody is going to hit 50 home runs for this team and they only have one pitcher who even comes close to being an all-star. Most championship teams these days have at least 2 or 3 of those guys on their pitching staff and 2 or 3 in their everyday lineup. While talking with a friend of mine the other day, and trying to figure out their key to success, it occurred to me that the same things that make them successful work for my clients and their success as well.

They play as a team. These guys really get along and complement each other. A lot of them are good at one or two things, but together their individual talents make them able to adapt in many different situations. They have no holes that can do significant damage to their long term success. Financially, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each component of your plan allows you to put each decision in the best position to win. No one or two investments can lead to financial success unless you get very lucky.

Consistency is what wins. The Giants have hit few extra base hits this postseason and even fewer home runs. They score by putting together a lot of good at bats that result in base runners. Walks, hits, sacrifice bunt and fly outs are their preferred method of scoring runs. You don’t see them swinging for the fences or trying to do too much. It’s all about making contact. If you are always swinging for the big returns on your money, you will strike out a lot more than connect. Investment home runs can be exhilarating, but strikeouts can be devastating!

“Pitching and defense win games.” This is an old baseball saying that the Giants really take to heart. Hitting can take days off, but if defense and pitching show up every day, you will win a lot more than you lose. If you are bad in those areas, you might find yourself trying to catch up from a few runs down. With building a portfolio, it is more important not to lose money (defense). When markets are good, making money is easy, you don’t want to waste those times digging out of a hole or making up for a deficit.

Attention to detail makes all the difference. There was a great story during the St. Louis series about Joe Panik, their rookie second baseman. He spent extra time before game 5 studying how Bill Mueller, who was then playing for Boston, was able to hit a home run off Mariano Rivera, the longtime Yankee closer. Panik was going to be facing Adam Wainwright that night. The previous time he faced Wainwright, he was unable to hit his “cutter”, a very effective type of pitch for those who can control it. Rivera had what many considered the best cutter of all time and that is the pitch Mueller hit for the home run. Panik studied that hit over and over, looking at little things like how Mueller moved his hips and where he held his hands. Later that night, Panik hit a big home run; only the second of his major league career, off a cutter and the Giants went on to win. “The devil is in the details” particularly applies to your money. Disclosure documents like prospectus’ are filled with important little details that can be the difference between success and failure. The tax code is filled with little details that can save or cost you big dollars and overlooking details in beneficiary designations can keep your money from going where you intended. The list of small things that can have big consequences is very long. Ignore them at your own peril.

Finally, they have a great manager, Bruce Bochy. The players, owners, and front office all point to his ability to get the most out of every player, put them in positions to succeed and plan for the unexpected, as key factors in their success. The owners recognize that despite having a great ballpark, lots of resources and a desire to win, they needed someone who understands how all the pieces fit together day-to-day, in the most effective way for them to win. Studies show, it is the same with your financial team. It is important that you put things together in a way that gives you the best chance to succeed. If you think it is time to see if hiring a manager can help you win, get in touch with us. Let’s get your team working at a championship level!

 This article originally appeared on Roger Gainer’s blog on October 28, 2014

“Reduce My Overhead Costs, and I’ll Listen.” Agents and IMO’s have been looking for that one technology – that one solution that can bring the life insurance application process into some semblance of uniformity and actually be appealing to the producer.  The numbers of agents that balk at these technologies are shrinking as even some of the “old school” veterans see the benefits of using Quick Ticket submissions – which shave off the ridiculous amount of paperwork and shorten underwriting timelines. Agents want those higher ticket cases, and are now seeking out technologies that shorten the time they spend on the smaller cases.

Imagine sitting with a client, getting the decision to move forward…then completing an on-line application that is simple (one page or less) and submitted while you are still with the client? In fact, we even have a carrier now that can give you an underwriting decision within minutes. So that means while your client is still in the office you can have an approved policy? A fantasy? No…it is real and it is now.

Call ISN Network to find out how you can access this technology for your producers or how to launch this technology in your website environment.

There has never been a better time to be in the Small Business Retirement market. Congress has made the tax laws to encourage the establishment of small business retirement plans. The laws and the enhancements make the qualified plan much more appealing to the small business owner and their employees.

In the small business market, it is no secret the appeal of a retirement plan is directly related to the benefits provided to the owner. With some of the newer plan designs qualified plans to a large degree benefit the owners yet they still create a meaningful plan for the employees.

Our reps have been getting a lot of traction going down this path. Revisiting clients and asking questions is a great way to open the door. And believe me, the Pension plan is a great “Door Opener.”

One existing design that is working well and creating curiosity is the New Comparability Profit Sharing Plan. This plan design has two goals:

1. Give the owner the largest possible share of the contribution.
2. Add flexibility to the plan to benefit different employee groups.

This type of flexibility has never been available in any type of plan in the past. If you can provide this design with the flexibility inherent in a profit-sharing plan (flexible contributions) then you can create a plan for the owner that is very appealing and will also get the go-ahead from the CPA.

We can help you get started on this path. All we need is a census to design a plan for you. Or if there is an existing plan, contact us about our Retirement Plan Review process. Pension plans are good business and in the Small Business arena it is a Big Opportunity.

If you are not adding 20 new prospects to your database every month, then prospecting is not your priority. Without question, the most successful reps have a method and a madness to their marketing – but it is not rocket science we are talking about. It is setting a plan and following it. There are many ways to find new prospects, but in the end you need to commit to an idea and set a goal…and 5 new prospects a week is an attainable goal.

Let me give you an idea on how to get there. We all know how much “cold calling” is despised in our world. At the same time it is still a part of our prospecting that must not be overlooked. But instead of “cold calling” in the old-fashioned way, let’s try a twist that has proven successful for many of the reps who use our newsletter system.

The reason we hate to make the cold-calls is because of a phenomenon I call “the push-back.” This is the natural reaction that any person would have when they are being called and asked to do something they are not sure they want to do. Have you ever gone into a clothing store and had the salesman ask you if you need help? If you are like me when they ask you most likely you say “no thanks.” That is the push-back. Our clients have been conditioned over time to say no…and they say no even if they really mean yes or want to say yes.

With our newsletter program we train our reps a different way. We anticipate the push-back by taking away the idea that we are asking them to buy anything. Here is an example:

• You might not be aware that I’m in the Financial Services business.
• I didn’t call because I thought you would be in the market for any of our programs now. I just came back from a meeting in Carlsbad and my company now has a personal and business newsletter.
• Once a month we have mailings on wills, tax shelters, and ways to save and accumulate money on a variety of subjects.
• The newsletter contains information so that in the future when you have a question or concern about your future planning (financial planning), maybe you’ll call me. There is NO CHARGE for the newsletter.

You wouldn’t object to receiving this free newsletter would you?

• Good! In a few months, if something catches your attention, it might be a good reason  for us to grab a coffee of lunch. Would that be ok?

I know you hate to cold call. But this type of call is much easier and does lead to success. If you commit to this idea finding 20 new names a month for your database will be easy to do. Call us if you want to use our newsletter program. While the actual newsletter has a fee (less than $40/month) the training is free of charge.

If you are reading this article, and if you are a frequent reader of this blog…I think it is fair to assume that you consider yourself a “reader.” You like to keep up on current ideas and information. You are interested in learning and in turn can pass on that learning to the clients that you serve. This is a real key to success.

Well, for you readers out there here is a very simple idea that can work for you. As you collect materials for reading, listening and watching, establish a lending library for your clients. When you go out to see them or they come to see you and discuss a particular topic, lend them a reference material on that topic.

Third-party materials that support your ideas can have a great effect on your clients. You will also find that they are surprised that you have such an extensive library and this will reinforce the idea that you are a professional there to serve them.

Be sure that the material you use coincides with the ideas and opinions of your practice. This of course means you have to read it first, but since you are a “reader” this should be easy to do.

This is just one more weapon in your client service arsenal to stimulate referrals.

At ISN we deal with a lot of successful agents. They are all unique but share some very similar characteristics. Perhaps the most overlooked asset that each top rep has is their ability to stick to a task until it is done. Despite setbacks, they keep pushing forward.  I just spent an hour on the phone with one of our top reps. Without a doubt he has this trait. We spent an hour discussing a business plan and the one thing I can say about him…despite every set-back you can imagine…he will not give up.

In many ways he reminds me of a story I heard about Bill Gates. Today, many people see Bill Gates as a globetrotting humanitarian. But in the 1980s, he was a headstrong entrepreneur. In Microsoft’s early years, Paul Allen (the company’s co-founder) often joined Gates to visit key customers. As the story goes, on one of their trips to San Francisco, they met with different clients and then planned to rendezvous at the airport to catch their flight home.