May 31st, 2011
BY: Michael Ham
Financial Planning Expert & Personal Budget Coach
My Money Track
Nearly half of all Baby Boomers say they could not cut personal spending by 10% or more without a “dramatic” change in lifestyle. Really? This is sad but highlights where our generation has gotten itself over the past 25 years. By sacrificing our retirement planning to the needs of our children and aging parents, the “chickens” have come home to roost, so to speak. More than 1 in 4 Boomers keep “extra” cash in low interest earning accounts in case a family member may need financial help. This can destroy or at least severely cripple a retirement plan.
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May 23rd, 2011
BY: Michael Ham
Financial Planning Expert & Personal Budget Coach
My Money Track
In the popular Disney movie Cars, the main character Lightening McQueen exclaims, “That makes perfect sense… turn right to go left.” Seems backwards but it’s true. We can use momentum and technique to maneuver a tight situation. We need new ideas to grow our practices. Instead of pitching our senior clients, approach their children: The Baby Boomers.
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May 17th, 2011
BY: Jim Brogan
President
Brogan Financial Retirement and Legacy Planning
The lifeblood of any financial advisor’s business is marketing. Without attracting the right type of prospects into your office, it will be very difficult to grow a successful practice.
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May 12th, 2011
BY: Nolan Baker
Investment Professional
The Retirement Guys
Creating a distinct brand is an important part of any business. Follow these guidelines as you set out to create or enhance your brand identity.
1. Create a memorable brand name. Your brand name should clearly state what you do and how you are unique. A few years ago, we realized we would be much more recognizable as “The Retirement Guys” than “Clair Financial Services” or “Baker Financial Group.” We asked ourselves what we ultimately wanted our target market to do. The answer was: allow us to take over management of their IRAs, 401ks, 403bs, etc.
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May 5th, 2011
BY: Chris Orestis
CEO and Founder
Life Care Funding Group
On February 4th, 2011, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a dire warning in a speech before a gathering of top financial policy reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “The two most important driving forces for the federal budget are the aging of the U.S. population and rapidly rising health-care costs,” said Bernanke. He warned that the costs of caring for the rapidly growing population of seniors in the U.S. will be an unsustainable burden for the U.S. budget and a constant impediment to economic recovery. As 10,000 Baby Boomers a day started turning 65 on January 1, 2011; the big three entitlement programs, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, are all in the red and creating havoc for government budgets at the federal and state levels. This has become the number one concern of the Federal Reserve about the U.S. economy.
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April 25th, 2011
As a lead-in to our 2011 Advisor Survey, we decided to focus on one, randomly selected respondent and get a more personal view of the year ahead. Advisor Bill Spar—who splits his work time (he has 600 clients) between his home in Phoenix and offices in Las Vegas and Los Angeles—faces all the same challenges as other advisors across the nation. But Spar says he believes business will be better in 2011, his 11th year in the industry, provided he adapts to the changing market. Bill will be a speaker at this year’s Senior Market Advisor Expo, presenting The Power of a Tax-Free Retirement…Now That’s Sexy!
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April 20th, 2011
Are you making any of these mistakes?
BY Kerry Johnson
1. They don’t become students of their craft.
They begin strong selling careers, and they really get into it — but then they go to sleep at the switch and forget to do things like read industry publications or new books by sales masters. They don’t go to sales seminars. They don’t listen to recordings or view videos on sales-related topics. In short, they don’t constantly reinvigorate themselves.
I am amazed by salespeople who don’t spend more than $10 a year on their own professional growth. We’re in a profession that’s changing by leaps and bounds, and we’re already into the 21st century. If you’re still selling the way you sold in the last century — you’re in trouble.
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April 4th, 2011
Larry Winget is a five-times New York Times/Wall Street Journal bestselling author translated into over 15 languages. He is a member of the International Speaker Hall Of Fame. He has starred in his own television series and appeared in national television commercials. Larry is also regular contributor on many news shows on the topics of money, personal success, parenting and business. Larry is also the trademarked Pitbull of Personal Development®.
Edgy, cantankerous, sarcastic, opinionated, and hilarious, Winget is a one-of-a kind presenter who audiences demand time and time again. Without ever mincing words—much as in his writing—he delivers the cold, ugly truth in a way that is provocative, interesting, and funny.
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