We look forward to the Van Mueller newsletter every month. It's chock-full of sound bites, sales tips, and eye-opening statistics. Here are our favorite parts of the november 2016 edition. We're sharing his introduction and 2 of the 7 monthly sales ideas. If you like what you read, we encourage you to click here and become a subscriber.
Reprinted with the author's permission.
November, 2016 – 7 Ideas and Views Newsletter by Van Mueller
Now, let's finish what we started with the August newsletter. The first two websites that I felt would provide dependable and accurate information that was easily acceptable by our prospects and clients was www.irs.gov and www.usdebtclock.org. I implore you to become familiar and comfortable using these two websites. They will immediately change your career for the better.
They are a powerful starting point for building a reliable and accurate base for information we literally use daily.
Now I would like to share a number of additional sources that you can use to inspire prospects and clients to take action. I Do Not want you to overwhelm your prospects and clients with this information. If a prospect is inundated with an overload of information their likely course of action will be to do nothing. That much information would be difficult to process. They do not want to make a mistake, so they won't do anything.
The correct way to use these sites is to build great questions that you can use to ask your prospects and clients how that information will impact them, their families, their businesses and their futures.
Remember that sharing this information Must Always be done in a format based on questions or you will easily overwhelm even your smartest prospects and clients.
Attempt to show your prospects and clients how smart they are. The more invisible in the process you become, the more success you will achieve.
Attempt to show your prospects and clients how smart they are. The more invisible in the process you become, the more success you will achieve.
Don't underestimate your prospects and clients. When you ask questions you are allowing them to consider the consequences of taking action or not taking action. The imagination of our prospects and clients is many times more vivid than anything we could ever describe.
Asking questions allows them to go through their own process of discovery. They arrive at their own answers and they discover their own solutions. It is almost impossible for them to argue with or disagree with themselves.
Asking questions makes the sales process so much less threatening. It is no longer adversarial as you are helping prospects and clients to “buy” something rather than being “sold” something. It becomes so much easier and you will have much more success. Ask questions!
Asking questions makes the sales process so much so much less threatening. It is no longer adversarial.
These three people and their websites are integral to having the information you need for the times we are in. They all provide accurate and important information. Not one of the three is considered an industry insider.
Ed Slott and Tom Hegna are on Public Television regularly. Both expound the benefits of life insurance, annuities and long term care insurance. They have been vetted by Public Television. Their information is important, accurate and timely.
Professor Laurence Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University, a contributor to Forbes magazine and considered to be one of the foremost experts on Social Security and how to make the best use of those benefits. He is considered to be an academic and yet, his information is easy to understand and prospects ad clients not only enjoy his advice, they hold it in high esteem.
1. Professor Laurence Kotlikoff
Website: www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com
Even if you do not wish to pay to use the calculator, you have access to an enormous amount of academic information written about Social Security.
You should also buy and read Professor Kotlikoff's book entitled “Get What’s Yours”. I have 10 copies that I share with prospects and clients who are not just approaching Social Security, but I also give these to people in their late 40's and 50's to encourage them to plan for Social Security and retirement.
He updates the information on the “fiscal gap” annually and he clearly shows that the “fiscal gap” for our country in now well over $200 trillion.
If you “Google” professor Kotlikoff you will also find that he writes a great deal about the unfunded liabilities of all pension plans and an issue he calls the “fiscal gap”. He updates the information on the “fiscal gap” annually and he clearly shows that the “fiscal gap” for our country in now well over $200 trillion. He makes it very clear that there will be a serious price to pay for these reckless economic decisions. That is why he feels it is so important to maximize your Social Security.
Remember to ask, “What's the best age to take your Social Security and should you know the answer before or after you take the benefit?”
2. Ed Slott
Website: www.irahelp.com
Ed Slott is all over public television, I buy many of the sets of CD's and DVD's to share with prospects and clients. What makes them so valuable is that they are developed with the consumer in mind. He takes complex ideas and makes them simple.
Ed Slott is valuable to all of us in so many ways. He is considered the IRA guru by sources like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Kiplinger’s just to name a few. The public had grown to feel the same way about Ed.
Many agents and advisors attend Ed's inexpensive schools to learn about IRA's and 401(k)'s and pension plans. Many go even further and become Ed Slott Master Elite Advisors. They are endorsed on Ed's website as experts on all aspects of IRA's, 401(k)'s and pensions.
Ed's expertise in IRS's would be enough to make him an integral part of every agents' and advisors' informational arsenal.
Ed does something bigger for all of us and our industry does a very poor job of using the information Ed provides to the public.
Ed Slott says in every meeting, in every public television appearance at every industry event that we are fortunate enough to hear him in, one of the most important ideas we can share with the American People.
When asked what the number one benefit available to the American people in the tax code is he declares unwaveringly time and time again, CASH VALUE LIFE INSURANCE!
When asked what the number one benefit available to the American people in the tax code is he declares unwaveringly time and time again, CASH VALUE LIFE INSURANCE!
He asks all of his audiences if taxes will be higher in the future, why not pay your taxes now and put the resulting money into vehicles which will never require income tax liability again. Does it make sense to build a large amount of money that the Internal Revenue Service can tax at higher or even much higher rates in the future? Why would anyone do that?
Go to Ed's website and sign up for his monthly newsletter. “Google” his name and access all the amazing information about how and why Ed Slott believes the number one benefit in our income tax code is cash value life insurance.
The leverage that life insurance provides will become more and more important as our economy deteriorates.
3. Tom Hegna
Website: www.tomhegna.com
Tom is the third person who is extremely valuable to all of us as insurance and financial advisors.
You must have, and use, all three. Each of these men specializes in areas that we must help our prospects and clients to understand and navigate.
Tom is also all over public television. I have many of his sets of information that is sold to the public during and after his presentations. I also send these CD's and DVD's to many prospects and clients to watch before I go to see them. These media programs are developed for the public. They are easy to understand and they are provided by a third person, Tom Hegna on public television. Tom has been a sales person and has trained an entire sales force to sell annuities and life insurance. He brings a different aspect to the information we use and yet, he is perceived as an outsider, not an insider by the public.
His greatest gift to the industry is helping us all to understand that building wealth in our current economic circumstances is not anywhere near as important as building guaranteed income. He makes sure we understand that we don't make people rich; we prevent them from ever being poor.
His greatest gift to the industry is helping us all to understand that building wealth in our current economic circumstances is not anywhere near as important as building guaranteed income.
He taught us how to use mortality credits, which are now more attractively called longevity credits, to provide more guaranteed income that could never be achieved in our current zero percent interest rate environment.
Using annuities and life insurance we can provide more guaranteed income while preserving our prospects' and clients' estates for their families. Understanding how to effectively use our products helps us to provide benefits that those prospects and clients do not understand are available.
I cannot stress this enough; these three must be in your information arsenal. You can use their teachings and their information to inspire action when our salespersonship would not be enough. You must incorporate these three into your practice.
4. John Mauldin
Website: www.mauldineconomics.com
John Mauldin is a regular contributor to Forbes and many other publications of a similar vein. John has a FREE weekly newsletter called “Thoughts From The Frontline.” You can go to his website and sign up. I have learned many, many things about economics from John. What makes him so amazing is that he takes complex issues and makes them simple to understand. That is very important because simplification rather than complication leads to the largest sales. When people fully understand how you are trying to help them; that is when they will give you ALL their money.
John taught me this information. By the year 2019, our government will only collect enough revenue to pay for entitlements, defense and interest on the debt. By 2023 our government will only collect enough tax revenue to pay for entitlements and interest on the debt. We will even have to borrow or print money to pay for defense.
By the year 2019, our government will only collect enough revenue to pay for entitlements, defense and interest on the debt.
The next question to any taxpayer with money is this: When the government needs more revenue in the future, will they go after Americans who don't have any money or will they go after Americans who do have money? Why would you let them come after you if you know they are coming? What if we could keep you in control of YOUR money for as long as you live, wouldn't that be valuable to you?
Please go and sign up for John Mauldin's newsletter. It's FREE!
5. Martin Weiss
Website: www.weissinc.com
Martin Weiss is almost like an actuary when it comes to information about government, banks, insurance companies and Wall Street. The only thing that matters to him and his organization is MATH. He is not influenced by politics or money. I have been a subscriber for almost 40 years. He has several free regular newsletters. No matter who it offends, the Weiss Research organization will tell you how government, banks, insurance companies and Wall Street's decisions affect your money, taxes, retirement, etc.
What is remarkable is how accurate the information has been all these years. Check it out. It will help your practice.
6. Institute For Truth in Accounting
Website: www.truthinaccounting.org
This website is very important for several reasons. It focuses in on state economies and their pensions. This is valuable because from it you can formulate several important questions.
First, “Is your pension financially secure and should you depend on it?” Second, “If these state, county and city governments need more revenue will they get that revenue from people who don't have money or from people who do?” Ask your prospects and clients if they would prefer to have a positive outcome in both situations.
7. Life Foundation
Website: www.lifehappens.org
This is an amazing website and most of it is free. You have videos about life insurance, disability, long term care, etc. The videos are created from two different viewpoints. One viewpoint shows people who had the necessary insurance and how it not only saved the lives of the survivors, it actually shows that they were able to recover and thrive because they had benefits.
Other videos portray what happened to families and businesses that had no insurance or not enough insurance and how devastating it was to the families and businesses.
Agents who understand that delivering an insurance message repetitiously have the best results.
Life Happens also has a ridiculously low costing platform that allows you to incorporate all of their intellectual property into your website and your business. Agents who understand that delivering an insurance message repetitiously have the best results. These videos are professionally done and are extremely powerful. Use this website to increase your sales. Additionally, they have life insurance calculators at this site. Many times I ask customers to go to the site and use the calculator to verify if we have calculated enough benefit for them. Almost every time they come back with substantially higher face amounts and force (ha, ha) me to sell them more. Amazing! Use this website.
Here are several additional websites you should make yourself aware of. They are of the utmost benefit.
8. Shadow Government Statistics
Website – www.shadowstats.com
9. Congressional Budget Office
Website – www.cbo.gov
10. Social Security
Website – www.ssa.gov
11. Inflation Data
Website - www.inflationdata.com
12. Employee Benefit Research Institute
Website – www.ebri.org
13. Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Website –www.pgpf.org
14. US Census Bureau
Website – www.census.gov
15. Americans for Secure Retirement
Website – www.paycheckforlife.org
We're passing on two of the newsletter's monthly sales ideas - every issue of the newsletter contains 7 ideas. Subscribe to get them all.
Idea #1: Hottest Questions for Getting Appointments
The Government Accountability Office has discovered in an overwhelming number of cases that when you go to your Social Security office it is highly probable that you will receive incorrect or misleading information.
The mistakes being made have cost the Americans thousands and tens of thousands in lost benefits. My friend and hero who is running for President as a write in candidate is Laurence Kotlikoff who is a professor at Boston University and is considered one of the foremost experts on Social Security in our nation. He has written the popular book on Social Security that is called, Get What’s Yours. You have to read it. He also created the website, http://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/. It has prevented many people who have used it from making terrible mistakes when claiming Social Security benefits.
Please read these articles. Get the book written by Professor Kotlikoff and visit the website. You and your prospects and clients will be rewarded greatly. Social Security planning is very important.
Title: The Best Age To Take Social Security
www.fool.com (The Motley Fool, September 25, 2016)
http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/09/25/the-best-age-to-take-social-security.aspx
Title: Social Security: 3 Great Reasons to File for Benefits at 70
www.fool.com (The Motley Fool, October 2, 2016)
http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/02/social-security-3-great-reasons-to-file-for-benefi.aspx
Idea #6: What Will the Average Return Be over the Next Ten Years?
A new study just released by Research Affiliates shared that a 60 percent stock and 40 percent bond portfolio over the last 10 years averaged 6.6 percent before inflation.
You won't believe what I am going to share next. Their information concludes that over the next decade there is a ZERO percent chance that a portfolio of 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds will achieve a 5 percent return.
Why do I want you to have this information? There are several reasons.
First, pension plans all over this country use 7½ to 8 percent returns to provide promised retirement benefits. What if those pension plans didn't come close to that for a decade? Can you say higher taxes and lower benefits?
Second, our industry will have to share leverage and longevity credits with as many Americans as possible so that those retirees will have decent retirement incomes that they cannot outlive.
Finally, please be careful over illustrating life insurance returns. If you are using anything above 5 percent you will have all your clients disappointed with their results. That could harm your career. Remember, you are not selling products. You are building a career.
You don't need to over promise for customers to see that you have the best safe money protection of anyone. Most prospects and clients will be completely satisfied with your GUARANTEES.
Title: The Next 10 Years Will Be Ugly for Your 401(k)
www.yahoo.com (Yahoo Finance, October 26, 2016)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/next-10-years-ugly-401-100026693.html
[NOTE: The original article link above didn't work when we created this post - but we found the same article on Bloomberg, and linked it for you below.]
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-26/the-next-10-years-will-be-ugly-for-your-401-k
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