I have been reading, as I am sure you have as well, articles that speak to the future of business and the different ways that we will operate due to COVID-19.  I read, with interest, an “Incapital Survey” where they asked financial professionals how they are operating today, and how they feel they will operate through the balance of this year… and possibly next.  Here are a couple of nuggets that I found.

• 41% are doing their sales, service and prospecting via the phone:
• 36% are doing their business virtually. Of that group, 48% use ZOOM and 28% use Webex:
• 23% are doing their business… “face to face”

My big “takeaway” is that they have clients and prospects that feel comfortable with this approach.  I believe that there are too many agents/advisors that are on the sideline waiting for things to get back to the way they were.  I think we are now the “new” way we were.  So, what is my point?  Please read on…

Don’t miss this opportunity.  This is one of the biggest shifts in the way consumers and businesses will interact.  You need the tools and the attitude and aptitude to succeed in this new wave. Bottom line:  we have the tool , the assistance and the products to help you achieve great levels of success.  Give us a call and let one of the marketing consultants assist you.

Jeremy is a native North Carolinian and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in Finance.  He also holds the Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC) designation from InFRE and is passionate about helping his advisors and their clients retire the way they want to, and not have to.  Jeremy opens a new opportunity to The Ohlson Group, as a good percentage of his business has been working with broker-dealers and banks.
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Jeremy is married to the love of his life, Kerry. They have four beautiful, time-consuming children, Ryan, Matthew, Reid, and Makayla.  

Give Jeremy a call- he can be reached via the Ohlson Group’s main number 877-844-0900. Jeremy is another reason why agents coast to coast continue to refer to the Ohlson Group as …a different experience. 

Okay, enough is enough. We can predict, opine and lament about the COVID-19 challenge.  Yes, I refer to it as a challenge. It is here, we don’t know when it will go away and we have to deal with it in our personal and professional lives.  I feel very optimistic about vaccines and drugs that can make the survival rate much higher.  But, it really doesn’t matter what I think.  It is what you think.  

If you are ready to “deal” with this and get back on the marketing and sales caravan… then we are with you. It’s time to do something about this.  Thanks to all that are producing with us as sales are great.  We have paid out hundreds of thousands of agent bonuses over the last few quarters, and we are looking forward to writing a check to you.  So, for any of you not yet “in the game,” check out our team and let’s start scoring again.  So, what about the consumer?  Read on…

As I stated previously, it doesn’t matter what I think… it is what you think.  Well, it is the same for the consumer. What they think is reality, and time to align your message with the consumer’s mind-set.  If their thoughts are real to them… it is real and let’s deal with their concerns.  It is time for good frank conversations with our clients and prospects.  So, how do we have these conversations? 

In some areas of the country, face to face meetings are going on in screened porches, decks and long kitchen tables with plenty of social distancing.  But, more than 50% of our sales are being done remotely.  Especially the first couple of meetings.  Yes, I agree that remote sales require a different skill set than face to face.  But, the foundations of the initial meeting/fact finding, the presentation of the solution and the close really remains the same.  You just need a platform to run on, questions to ask and a comfortable feeling using ZOOM or another similar platform.  

​Listen, I am not going to go through all of the steps with you in this writing.  Give us a shot, move contracts to us and let us help you get back on the road to great success.  As I  said.. time to hit this virus head on before it knocks you over. The time is now. 

This just might be the perfect storm.  Most people know of someone who is in an assisted living, long term care or nursing home facility.  If it happens to be a family member, they are keenly aware of the cost. 

​First off, they feel very badly about a loved one that is shut in and can’t have visitors.  Unlike the Italian side of my family, other family members might not live close by, can’t go to offer assistance and in many cases have moved away.  Boomers are seeing this happen.  I, for one, take calls from my 91 year old mother who is in lockdown in a facility. The good news is, my mother is being taken care of.  She also has enough money to get her through her life expectancy.  But, in most cases, that is not the situation. Family members will either have to kick in financially or hope that they can get a bed in a nursing home facility.  So, what should the financial professional do today?

It's time to have a conversation with your clients about the potential of a chronic illness that might have them in future need of financial help.  Analyze their cash resources, and see how long it will last.  Sure, if they don’t have a product that offers long term care like benefits, they can ask all their kids to kick in a few bucks. They won’t like that.  Yes, they can investigate a reverse mortgage.  That, in many cases, is a great option.  Or, they can purchase a long term care policy.  Or a hybrid… an asset based policy like an annuity with long term care type benefits, or a life policy with those benefits.  Where can they find the cash for such protection?  They might just have cash in a money market account or even an annuity that could be exchanged for an annuity with accelerated benefits… or a life policy that can do the same thing.

Now, I am not advocating a wholesale replacement of your book of business.  I am advocating a conversation with your clients.  It is what we should do and it is the right thing to do.  The COVID-19 situation has brought this topic to the top of the table.  Get on the phone or set up a virtual presentation with your clients.  It is perfect for a review.  Need help? Give us a call.  We have the tools and products.

I don’t think that I need to say that these are not ordinary times.  This pandemic is (I hope) a once in a lifetime occurrence.  I, like you, have witnessed many events that we could not avoid. One only has to remember 9/11, the dot com crash in 2000, and the financial meltdown in 2008/2009.  But, this COVID-19 experience may top the charts.  While I am confident that we will get through this pandemic, there will still be carnage.  

Today, I am speaking about retirement income nest eggs for current, or soon to be, retirees.  I would also like to remind you that I am not giving investment advice . I do believe in the equity markets, I do understand that long term markets have always come back.  But, for many of us, there might not be time to build those accounts to the numbers we had imagined. That is why I am speaking of a retirement income vaccine.

Okay, let’s get the genie out of the bottle.  I am speaking about annuities that can provide a steady stream of guaranteed retirement income.  I am not here to argue about whether equities or annuities are best.  I am also not here to suggest that you empty your “equity bucket” and place all your money in an annuity.  But, I am suggesting that you empty some of your “worry buckets.”  If you are like me, you look forward to a steady stream of retirement income that is guaranteed and one that you can’t outlive. So, I have some suggestions.

First, identify what is keeping you up at night.   Next, look at a timeline and identify the date that you will need the retirement income.  Separate essential from discretionary income needs.  Then, ask yourself if you have the appropriate amount of money at risk.  Then, make a decision.  Is it time to place some of your nest egg in a product that will guarantee principal and all previous gains?  Yes, in some products there are penalties for early withdrawals, but as long as you play by the rules… all will be safe.  Some of these products will allow you to take income immediately, and some you can defer payments. Yes, these are annuities.  I suggest that it could just be the vaccine that your retirement income account needs.  

​Stay safe, do your homework… but do investigate an annuity.  No, I am not giving investment advice.  I’m just giving you an additional tool to help you sleep at night.