IPS Home Page    Special Offer's    Newsletter Archive    Product Catalog

Life Sales Tools, Tips & Systems     Annuity Sales Tools, Tips & Systems

A Special Message From Lew Nason... At our Found Money Management™ Financial Advisor Boot Camp a few weeks ago, our attendees had the unique opportunity to meet personally with Jeffrey 'Dr Agon Fly' Reeves, the author of Money For Life, to discuss the 'forgotten' benefits of cash value life insurance.  Mr. Reeves, Jeremy and I are in complete agreement as to how and why to use permanent cash value life insurance as the foundation of your client's financial house.  Here is the second published white paper by Mr. Reeves expounding on the valuable benefits of cash value life insurance and creating your own bank.

At this point, we've already discussed three dazzling reasons why participating cash value life insurance should be at the foundation of your client's financial house: 1) You can get to the money in your "bank" whenever you want or need it, without waiting and no penalties or taxes, 2) The government, your employer, or any other outsiders have nothing to say about how you operate your "bank," and 3) Your "bank" is protected from creditors and lawsuits. Let's move on for more compelling reasons to put cash value life insurance to work for your clients

Reason No. 4

You can borrow against your "bank" for any reason and you don't have to qualify in any way.

Let's say you own some real estate, have a substantial amount of equity in the property and you want or need to borrow against that equity. Does the bank say, "Sure, how much do you want?" Certainly not. The bank wants you to complete an application, pass a credit scoring test, pay a bunch of fees, submit to an appraisal and pay them a significant amount of interest -- frequently up front.

If you own investments or savings and want to borrow the money that's in them, you'll have to jump through a similar set of hoops. If you aren't interested in doing that, you can liquidate those assets and convert them into money. But if you do so, they become non-performing assets.

If you own participating cash value life insurance, you can borrow almost down to the last penny with a phone call or a stroke of your pen -- no qualification required and no income to report. In short, no hassle. Additionally, you can choose your own repayment schedule and, since you are completely in charge, if you want to skip a payment, just pay interest for a while or pay nothing for a period of time, go right ahead. It's your "bank" and you're in charge.

Of course, if you never repay yourself, you will eventually have to close your "bank" and lose all of the benefits you derive from having it.

Here's a real-life example that illustrates the value of this benefit: A dear friend moved to Costa Rica to be with his dying grandmother and decided to stay there and start a real estate career. I didn't have any plans to visit, but as I got deeper into the writing of my book, Money for Life, I discovered that I needed a break. Since I missed my friend and it was a cold January in Denver, my wife and I decided to visit Costa Rica. We borrowed the money we needed for the trip from our "bank" and off we went. It was a great vacation. We've paid this loan back and are thinking about doing it again in February 2008.

Reason No. 5

When you borrow from your "bank," your money keeps growing as if you hadn't borrowed a cent -- essentially, your money does double duty.

If you borrow equity from your home or use investments as collateral for a loan, you pay interest and principal to a lender. The lender improves its earnings and its balance sheet; but you may or may not see such an improvement.

Even if you prudently invest the money you borrow or spend it on appreciating assets, you're faced with the costs of borrowing, the costs of investing and the significant risks that accompany both. When the cost of a loan goes up or the earnings on an investment go down -- or both occur simultaneously -- your plan sinks into the quicksand that is the underpinning of these strategies.

When you borrow from a participating cash value life insurance policy, the policy continues to grow in value and to pay dividends, even with a loan outstanding. As you repay yourself -- just as you would have to repay another lender -- your cash value account restores itself to its original value. If your purchase loses its value, you still recover all of the money you borrowed from your "bank." If your purchase proves a winner, you recover all of your money and realize a gain.

Whether you win or lose on the investment side, you do win on the loan because you are the bank and your money works, doing double duty even when you borrow it. No other reservoir for money can honestly make that claim.

Here's an example scenario: A client (we'll call her Mary) built up a $50,000 cash value in her participating cash value insurance policy -- her "bank." A small house in her neighborhood, which had been occupied by a widow for more than 60 years, became available when the widow died. Mary had been a kind neighbor and had befriended the older woman, so the children, who wanted to settle the estate quickly, offered to sell the house to Mary at well below market value.

Mary didn't wish to borrow the money from a commercial bank, so she negotiated to buy the house with a $25,000 down payment if the children of the widow would carry the balance until she could update and sell it. They agreed. Mary borrowed the $25,000 from her "bank" and used the other $25,000 in her "bank" to bring the house up to snuff. She sold it three months later and made a nifty $50,000 profit after repaying the $50,000 she had borrowed from her "bank."

Reason No. 6

Your "bank" allows you to recover the money you pay to purchase cars, household furnishings, vacations and other big-ticket items, or to fund education, business start-ups or any other costly expense, and deposit both principal and interest recovered right back into your "bank."

When you borrow money from a conventional lender you are giving your money away. The money you derived from the sweat, blood and tears of your work becomes the property of another in an unfair exchange.

Here's what I mean. Let's say you want to buy a new refrigerator. You go to the big-box store and find just what you want on sale for $3,000. Better yet, you can buy it today and pay no interest for a year. It sounds like a great deal. The year goes passes and you pay the $3,000 and avoid paying the interest. The big-box store makes a profit. The lender makes a profit. (You didn't really think it was interest free, did you?) You feel good with a bad decision and everyone wins. Right?

Wrong. You gave your money away and in return got a depreciated asset that was immediately worth less than what you paid for it. You've helped make the store and its finance company richer and yourself poorer.

Alternatively, if you build $3,000 of available cash value in a participating cash value life insurance policy, you can borrow the money from yourself and repay yourself just the same as you would the big-box store finance company. You would have the refrigerator and the money, too. In fact, you'd have more money because you also would have been contributing premiums to your policy during the repayment period so you could finance the 60´´ flat-screen TV with money from your "bank" once the money you spent on the refrigerator was returned to your "bank."

Repeat this cycle for 20, 30 or 40 years in a row and you will own everything you need and anything you want without incurring a single debt to others.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this white-paper series for more dazzling reasons why you should place participating cash value life insurance at the foundation of your client's financial house.

You have a great opportunity to succeed in this business during these tough economic times... But, only if you decide to take action starting today!

Advisors Sharpen Their Skills With Jeffery Reeves...

 at the Found Money Management™ Boot Camp... Seen here are six leading financial advisors in our industry, with two of our guest speakers.  Each is a long time advocate of the Insurance Pro Shop...  Terry Bialek, Roy Sargent, Ron Mathews, Peter Lampert, Jeffery Reeves, Wally Cato, Paul Belcher & Tim Hamm.
 

An IPS Exclusive

Cato Conclusion®

 Financial Planners That Can Not Plan!

 By Forrest Wallace Cato, RFMA, RFC

A decade ago our national educational system became alerted to the fact that a lot of young persons had very inadequate reading skills.  Many were gradating from high school as functional illiterates!  They had attended 12 or 13 years of school, but never learned to read.  Others could read a little – but not enough to hold a responsible job.  It wasn’t the students’ fault -- there was a failure in the educational system.  

Unfortunately, a similar situation has developed in the financial planning world.  There are now many people with financial planning certifications who have never prepared a comprehensive written financial plan.  Many have no idea how to communicate with clients and explain the need for a plan.  Fortunately, there is one group within the financial planning profession that is taking steps to remedy this horrifying situation.

How these illiterates had escaped detection – was a real black eye for school administrators.  It was also an embarrassment for the various city and state educational systems that kept advancing the unskilled students.  Many competent teachers focused on just a few students, those most eager to learn – and neglected those who needed to learn, but were not interested or were embarrassed.

Eventually schools and states developed required and standardized testing to identify and measure the problem.  Unfortunately, there are millions of Americans who went through school and are now trying to hold jobs, or compete for new positions, for which they are not qualified.

Why Can’t Peter Plan!

There are also over one hundred thousand persons holding professional designations that say to the public, this professional has been trained to prepare a financial plan for you.  But, the majority of those holding professional designations can’t prepare a comprehensive written financial plan, despite holding a designation conferred by an academic institution and despite having passed complex certifying examinations.

How Did This Happen!

In order to understand why most of these professionals can't prepare a comprehensive written financial plan today, you have to go back a long way - to the early 1970s when Loren Dunton and Jim Johnson developed the first curriculum for the College for Financial Planning.  Initially, financial planning was designed to focus on the five critical areas of people's finances.  The mission was to... "help average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for the future, to achieve financial independence."

Who were the intended students?  Largely the early students fit into one of three categories: 

1. They were successful life insurance agents who were accustomed to preparing plans of some sort – estate plans, business continuation plans and survivorship income needs analysis.  For them, preparing a comprehensive financial plan meant adding the investment, taxation and retirement components, as needed.  What those early agents needed was the knowledge to add those elements.
    

2. Another group of enrollees were mutual fund salespersons and stockbrokers.  They were accustomed to illustrating investment and retirement income issues.  What the investment professionals needed was more knowledge of insurance, employee benefits and estate taxation to complete a more topical comprehensive plan. 
    

3. A third group of early students were bank trust officers who routinely prepared comprehensive estate planning documents and flow charts.  They were very capable and well-staffed to present comprehensive plans, once they acquired the required additional knowledge about the other subjects, such as insurance and employee benefits.

There were four common denominators of the initial students who enrolled in the early financial planning curriculum: 

1. They were already experienced at preparing written documentation of financial analyses and recommendations - some form of written financial plan.
    

2. What they lacked were certain areas of knowledge - those not in their area of specialization.
    

3. They were successful marketers - they had already learned how to prospect, close the initial relationship to secure a new client engagement, and get referrals to maintain a flow of clients.
    

4. They were successful business persons.  They had offices, staff assistants, computers and the structure for operating a professional practice.

What Happened Educationally?

The original course developed by the College of Financial Planning was therefore a knowledge-based system.  Textbook preparation followed by rigorous examinations to assure mastery of the material.  A subject-oriented college course that provided an academic treatment of a variety of topics that were likely to be encountered by financial planners.

There are now over one hundred college and universities offering a financial services curriculum, modeled after the original CFP course.  But, with very few exceptions there are no requirements for a completed comprehensive plan, no emphasis on marketing techniques for the critical requirement of securing the new clients, no sales skills training to convert prospects to clients, nor is practice management a covered topic.

How Did Plans Get Produced?

Many of those early planning course graduates used the additional knowledge from the College’s curriculum to advance their career.  While each took a slightly different path, in general here is what they did: 

• They produced excellent financial plans, considering the technology available.  Usually they bought planning software and became self-educated in its use.
   

• They used those plans, along with their sales skills, to motivate clients to purchase insurance and make investments.

   

• Generally they had legal and trust implementation services provided for their clients through third parties.
   

• They helped their clients assemble billions of dollars of investments – a substantial portion of which is now fee-based Assets Under Management (AUM).

Unfortunately, as their practices matured, many of these early entrants into the financial planning profession stopped going after new clients and completing comprehensive financial plans.  Instead they focused their efforts on growing their Assets Under Management (AUM), with their existing clients, as that was were the majority of their income was coming from. 

What About the Professional Associations?

The professional associations serving the community of financial advisors, like the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) www.mdrt.org,  Association of Advanced Life Underwriters (AALU) www.aalu.org,  National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) www.napfa.org,  National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), www.naifa.org and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) www.fpanet.org, all have acknowledged the financial planning process, and the need for a comprehensive financial plan.  But, each has shifted their focus into their own areas of comfort and expertise.  None of these associations currently trains financial advisors on how to prepare a comprehensive financial plan that address all five of the critical financial areas - spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for the future. 

Consequently, most of those advisors who are holding themselves out as financial planners aren’t learning how to prepare comprehensive financial plans in school, or from industry associations?

What Does a Planner Need?

Certainly academic knowledge is required.  But, if there is one element in the provision of financial advisory service where the planner can get by without having everything in advance it is in the area of knowledge.  If a subject is encountered where the planner doesn’t already know everything required, there are many resources to turn to: specific books, reference libraries, the Internet, online search tools, home office specialists, fellow advisors and specialists in practice

But there are several areas where academic knowledge and having passed complex exams just isn’t sufficient.  There are perhaps five vital elements in a successful financial advisor’s practice, in terms of priority ranking: 

1. A flow of qualified new prospects

2. An effective presentation of services

3. Ability to produce complete plans

4. Availability of quality products

5. Academic knowledge

The popular designation courses do not teach marketing, branding, prospecting or how to close the initial client engagement.  Those programs continue to assume that the planner has lots of clients, and just needs the knowledge to complete the comprehensive financial plan.  They are mired in an approach that was oriented for the 1970 market, courses designed for those needing knowledge more than operational effectiveness.

Where are Advisors Coming From?

Recent publications of the Jobs Rated Almanac have awarded very high ranking to the profession of financial planner.  This has helped in attracting thousands of entrants to the profession.  The rate of turnover of jobs and careers is at a very high rate for the United States, and that trend will probably increase.  Those transferring into financial planning from some other branch of personal finance, such as insurance, accounting, banking, stock brokerage or trust services would already have a substantial amount of either technical skills or relevant education.  Even still, many of them have no prospecting, marketing skills or sales skills.  And, they have never completed a comprehensive financial plan.

High Failure Rate

Unfortunately, most of the recent entrants into financial planning have failed.  Less than 10% survive the first 36 months in the new profession.  They cannot produce an adequate amount of business within their first two years to justify the initial salaries paid to them.  Even though they might have completed a traditional financial designation course, they are extremely weak in the acquisition of clients and in the preparation of the written financial plans. 

Since they lack the experience, and the software tools, for producing a comprehensive plan they are also very ineffective in proposing this to prospective clients.  They also lack any form of marketing plan and the Client Relationship Management (CRM) software to drive it.  This is unfortunate, because twice as many Americans need and qualify for financial planning than in 1970 when the movement began.

A New Option

One group that has recognized this regrettable state of affairs is the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants, a non-profit organization established in 1984. The IARFC has moved recently to develop an educational curriculum that counters the trend of academic & exam designations.  Their new Financial Planning Process course includes both written textbooks and ten CD-ROMs with software and planning tools.  The curriculum covers areas not usually covered in certification exam preparation courses.

The students are trained and equipped to produce both modular and comprehensive plans.  They must submit six modular plans plus a comprehensive financial plan.  They receive practice management forms, files and checklists on the CD-ROMS that equip them to deliver high caliber service.  They receive both the training and the tools.  www.IARFC.org

Another group dedicated to turning this unfortunate situation around is the Insurance Pro Shop.  Working closely with the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants, they are providing the marketing and sales skills training and tools advisors and planners must have to acquire new clients.  www.insuranceproshop.com

Time for a Change 

All of the educational institutions offering financial planning courses or designations should be equipping the students to serve the public, in the same way that the medical profession prepares new physicians to serve their patients.  In addition to the subject knowledge, every person calling themselves a designated financial planner should be required to produce written comprehensive plans, addressing each of the five critical financial areas.  And, even more importantly they must be trained on how to market, brand, prospect and how to close the initial client engagement. 

Whether advisor students leave the course with the tools, as with the RFC program, is not the issue.  They must have been trained to complete a comprehensive financial plan.  It is not enough to just acquire book knowledge and be a good test taker.

The economy of America is headed for difficult times.  The mortgage crisis is only the first round.  We must still cope with skyrocketing healthcare, and educational costs.  The nation is spending far more than the taxes collected, and this is weakening the dollar.  We are exporting both our cash and the jobs that once made this country the world’s economic superpower. 

The Cato Conclusion:  The U.S. may avoid a massive depression this time, but serious sacrifices will be required on the part of the citizenry and additional taxes.  The country needs twice as many personal financial planners - but they must be properly trained and equipped, not just certified as excellent test takers.  

Cato Says... "You Can Cut A greater Figure!"
www.catomakesyoufamous.com/

Forrest Wallace Cato is a featured speaker at the Insurance Pro Shop's live events, where he lectures on How To Become Famous.  His list of clients are some of the most recognized names in our industry.  Cato is former Editor-In-Chief of Financial Planning magazine and former Editor-In-Chief of Trusts & Estates: The Journal of Wealth Management.  He wrote the introduction to the newly revised version of the classic book How To Sell Your Way Through Life by Napoleon Hill.  Cato is also International Editor of Advisor magazine in China.  Cato is the legendary 'Image Branding' specialist for financial professionals...

__________________________________

Forrest Wallace Cato, RFMA, RFC, writes a free newsletter providing image-building tips and techniques for financial professionals.  Go to http://www.insuranceproshop.com/newsletter/ for your free subscription to the Cato Conclusion newsletter.  This is provided as a free service for you from the Insurance Pro Shop.

Cato received a Hollywood Walk-of-Fame Star for his speaking skills.  His How To Become Famous platform presentation was delivered at the World Financial Advisors Conference in Singapore.  He is International Editor for Advisors Magazine in China.  He is former Associate Editor of Pension World Magazine, and former Contributing Editor to Oil & Gas Tax Quarterly Magazine.  He’s also former editor of Financial Planning and Trusts & Estates magazines.  He has written on financial planning for the Federal Reserve Bank and for the Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. 

He received the Lifetime Financial Writer’s Award from the Money School of Boston, and the Financial Writer Award from the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP, now FPA).

Cato is a former national headquarters member of The American Legion, is a board member of the Loren Dunton Foundation for Financial Service, and serves on the board of the National Center for Bankruptcy Accountability in Washington, DC.  Cato is a co-founder of the American-British Military Museum in Norwich, England. 

Consumer:   He has written for such consumer publications as Reader’s Digest, The New York Times, Money, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, Income Opportunities, New York, Popular Science, Better Homes & Gardens, Popular Mechanics, Parade, World Executive Digest, Modern Maturity, and others.

Financial:   His financial writings have appeared in such major financial trade and professional publications as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Tax Shelter Digest, Barrons, Asian Investor, Medical Economics, Global Finance, The Journal of Finance, Investment Dealers Digest, Agri-Finance, Investor’s Business Daily, Finance Asia, Wealth And  Retirement Planner, Broker Dealer, Annuity Selling Guide, and more.

Banking:   Cato’s has been published in such banking publications as American Banker, Banking Today, United States Banker, Mid-Western Banker, Oklahoma Banker, Bank Marketing, Texas Bankers Record, Mississippi Banker, Mississippi Banker, Hoosier Banker, Mid-Continent Banker, etc.

Real Estate:   Magazines publishing Cato’s real estate articles include National Real Estate Investor, The Hawaiian Realtor, New England Real Estate Journal, Orange County Apartment News, Real Estate Business, Real Estate Forum, Real Estate News, Real Estate Review, Real Estate Today, Realtor News, Southeast Real Estate Today, Realtor News, Southeast Real Estate News, Tennessee Realtor, Realty, plus others.  

Oil and Gas:  His writings have been featured in such oil and gas magazines as Oil & Gas Investor, Oil & Gas Tax Quarterly, Gulf Coast Oil World, Northeast Oil World, Drill Bit, Western Oil World, and additional publications.

Insurance:  Cato has written for such insurance journals as Life Insurance Selling, Broker World, Mid-America Insurance, New England Insurance Times, Insurance Marketing, New England Insurance Times, California Insurance, National Underwriter, Round The Table, and other magazines.

Financial Planning:  His writings have been published in Financial Planning, Financial Services Advisor, Trusts & Estates, Financial Profiles, Pension World, Fraternal Monitor, Probe, Annuity Super Producer, Leaders, Institutional Investor, Journal of Finance, Financial & Estate Planners Quarterly, Investment Dealer’s Digest, Registered Representative, Financial Advisor, Horses Mouth, and many others.

Specialty:   Other published credits include such specialty titles as The American Salesman, Popular Mechanics, Variety, Business Screen, Shooting Times, Hollywood Reporter, Public Relations Quarterly, Florida Today, Parade, Kentucky, and more.

Go to www.CatoMakesYouFamous.com on the Internet,
or phone 707-516-9395,    
or e-mail ForrestCato01@BellSouth.net 

 Happy Holidays

From The Insurance Pro Shop

____________________________________

Sales Tips...

Focus On Why They Should Buy

Focus on why they should buy - not their objections:
The idea here is to sell them on how they and the people they love will benefit from using your products or services. When you build up the benefits associated with using your product or service, you are will also be minimizing their resistance to it.

By focusing on what you know the prospect likes, you are building up the importance of the positive and
reducing the importance of the negatives.

And, the only way for you to find out what the prospect likes is to... ask questions!

Success Tips…

Are You Happy?
 

The first step towards true happiness is deciding
what you truly want out of your life! What's the most
important thing (s) in your life? What is it that you
really want? What is the most important thing you
can accomplish in the coming year?

Did you know that you can have everything you
ever wanted out of life... if you just decide you
really want it!

Yes, it is that simple! The biggest reason why most
people aren't as happy as they could be is they have
never decided what it is that they really want!
 

"Success isn't a matter of chance!
It's a matter of the choices you make!"
 

Prospecting Update…

Are People Talking About You?

Would you like to have all your clients tell all of their co-workers, friends, family and everyone else they know about you?

The reason most agents have trouble getting referrals is that people don't generally talk about sales people!
What is there to talk about? Except maybe negatives?

However, they do talk about people who have made a real, positive difference in their lives! They tell people about the accountant who saved them thousand of dollar on income taxes! They talk about the doctor who helped them finally quit smoking! Or, the attorney who helped  them to avoid a costly lawsuit!

If you want people to talk about you, then find a way to make a real positive difference in your client's life!
 

“Acting on a good idea is better than just having a good idea.” Robert Half

Real Advisor Testimonials
& Success Stories…

If You Invest In Just One Program All Year, This is the One You Want!
 

It's A Mini-University in Insurance Marketing, Prospecting and Sales!

Insurance Marketing and Sales Resource Center

Well, that's it for this weeks Insurance Marketing and Sales Tips Mastery Newsletter. I hope you found the information interesting and helpful in your efforts to grow your business.

Lew and Jeremy Nason
'The 9 Out Of 10 Guys'
Marketing and Sales Coaches

P.S. Do you have a friend or associate who is struggling in this business and needs help? Why not tell them about our Web site or better yet, forward this newsletter to them. They'll thank you!

© 2008, Lew Nason, RTIA, RFC, LUTC Graduate - All rights reserved
Lew Nason, with his sons Jeremy Nason and Will Nason are the founders of the Insurance Pro Shop ^® and the creators of the… Found Money Management™ Advanced Life Insurance Sales System… The most endorsed and successful Life Insurance prospecting and sales system available for today’s insurance professional! Lew has been helping agents and advisors to achieve long-term success in financial services industry for over two decades. His unique perspective, on how to truly help clients, has enabled scores of agents and advisors reach the top levels of their profession. Visit his web site at http://www.insuranceproshop.com/ or call @ 877-297-4608.

Helping Insurance Agents and Financial Advisors create endless
streams of new, repeat and referral business…

www.insuranceproshop.com
Toll Free # 877-297-4608