The Financial Procast: Recent Episodes
brantley_whitley@salusagency.com (Brandon Roberts & Brantley Whitley)
With the economic landscape changing dramatically and a “new normal” taking shape in the fixed-interest marketplace, bonds are testing a long-held–but poorly vetted–theory about safety. Ask anyone with a minor interest/proficiency in personal finance about safe assets, and you'll likely hear something about bonds. They are the asset the investment industry offers up as a ...
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The post Bond Inflows Highlight Annuity Strengths and Speak to Inept Investors appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In today's fast-paced and unpredictable financial landscape, managing risk and achieving consistent returns is more important than ever. Life insurance companies have emerged as experts in this field, utilizing their vast resources and expertise to create well-diversified investment portfolios that deliver long-term value to policyholders. In this article, we will explore the factors that contribute ...
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The post How Life Insurance Companies Master Diversification in Asset Management appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Life Insurance used to generate retirement income is a slightly more advanced subject within the world of life insurance and financial planning. The stock jockeys hate it, and the life insurance agents love it. No surprise there. But is there something that life insurance brings to the table that is truly special? Or are you ...
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The post Why Life Insurance Works so well for Retirement Income appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
When you read or hear the words tax shelter it probably doesn’t conjure images of using whole life insurance. But whether or not whole life is actually a tax shelter depends on how you define it more than anything. It’s not a tax shelter in any sort of the more shady ways that people discuss ...
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The post Is Whole Life Insurance a Tax Shelter? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, this is the end of the line. You have come to the very end of the Financial Procast. After a little over three years and 188 episodes we've decided to call it quits. Turns out the C-suite goons have decided to “go a different direction”. The irony is that we're the goons and…we think it's […]
The post 188 We Are Tootally Done appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” Margaret Thatcher Not much that needs to be added to that quote. We are seeing what happens when the government devises plans that use flawed logic and a lack of mathematical fact. Is it really a big surprise that the health […]
The post 187 What Should We Do When We Run Out of Other People’s Money? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Newsflash: someone has finally exposed the real problem with student loan defaults. Turns out that half a degree doesn't get you a decent return on investment for money you borrowed. And we all know why Vanguard can provide really low expenses for their mutual funds. You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out […]
The post 186 It’s Tough To Get A Job With Half An Associates Degree appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, today may be the shortest full-length podcast we've ever recorded. You're welcome for that little gift. Here's what we discussed in episode 185: New research shows that 401k's haven't hurt retirement benefits A well-known market pontificator sounds an alarm The tax code gets “Trumped” (pdf download) As always, we appreciate your comments and suggestions for […]
The post 185 Amazing, Simple, Easy, Fair appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
We're back after taking a week off and wouldn't you know it…Gen Y still doesn't like being forced to talk to insurance agents at their kitchen tables? (sarcasm light on) This is a story that never gets old to us. It seems like financial services industry just discovered that the internet is here to stay. […]
The post 184 Hey…Have You Heard About the “internet”? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we're back to your regular format. A veritable hodge-podge of news from the world of finance. Yes, we could've spent another whole episode discussing the volatility of the markets, but we figured there are plenty of other places you can go to hear all about that. And no one really has any answers when […]
The post 183 Reduce Your Retirement Income or Pay Up appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, we take a week off from recording/producing the financial procast and the market decides it's going to fall apart. I wasn't aware that our podcast was the glue that holds it all together? In light of that, and the fact that today marks the 3rd anniversary of our show, we decided to take a […]
The post 182 A Discussion of Risk: Percentages Be Damned, I Need Income appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In episode 181 of the Financial Procast, here's what we discuss: Money Flees U.S. stock funds SEC commissioners push for greater pricing transparency for bonds Variable Annuity surrender charges aren't what some would have you think Rents rise to “crazy” levels An as a reminder, there will not be a new episode of the financial […]
The post 181 Cars, Houses and Yard Sale Knick Knacks appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Ever been around someone who tried too hard? It's painfully obvious. The financial services industry is guilty of this kind of behavior. Need proof? Just google the term “society of grownups” and you will need no further evidence that we're telling you the truth. I could link to them here but we make it a […]
The post 180 Follow Us on Facebook and Like Us on the Tweeter appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Don't let the title fool you. We're not actually starting our own sorority. But we do think that it's a shame that the CFP board recently compared itself to one in a recent court case where they were being sued. We thought it was an organization dedicated to upholding a professional standard in the financial planning […]
The post 179 Welcome to Chi Phi Pi appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
We're back after a two week unplanned hiatus. Sometimes life happens, not much we can do about that. Thankfully, we still remember how to record and produce a podcast. Here's what we're discussing in episode 178: A $15/hr. minimum wage? Obamacare rates set to skyrocket The housing market is irrational As always, if you’d like […]
The post 178 Oh Kevin, I’d Like to Buy Some Health Insurance appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Are you tired of new ideas? Why is that people (us included) spend so much time trying to come up with new ideas when the old ones aren't bad? Let me clear, lest you think I'm a luddite. I'm not saying that things shouldn't improve over time and that new choices aren't a good thing. […]
The post 177 URSA: The Other Retirement Plan appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
We tried not to talk about the Department of Labor's proposed rule change regarding retirement accounts. I promise. We had a conversation where we specifically decided we weren't going to do it. But then we did. There are times that no matter how much we'd like to talk about something else we can't. This story […]
The post 176 I Don’t Think That Word Means What You Think It Means appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Every now and then something comes along that we just have to spend a bit more time on than usual. Today in the second half of the show, we get into proposed legislation from the Department of Labor. Now, this isn't the first time we've discussed the issue. But we now have congressional testimony to […]
The post 175 The Plural of Anecdote is Not Data appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we're tackling the topic of getting your financial house in order. That also means that we're discussing the lack of solid financial educational information that is available. And yes, we are talking about pensions…again. We (Brandon and Brantley) are very concerned that people are fed a fair amount of misinformation regarding personal finance. And […]
The post 174 Predictions with Exactitude appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
One of the most common phrases you'll see tossed around on the internet (at least as it relates to the topic of personal finance) is that “cash is king”. In fact, we recorded a podcast on that very topic a couple years back. But today we're not talking about cash per se. No, today we're […]
The post 173 It’s All About Cashflow appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, back from the beach and with much better wifi than what I had last week. I don't think there are any long moments of silence in this episode. Here's what's on tap for episode 172: Data Shows that Congress Doesn't Care What You Think Jack Bogle Likes Active Investment Management? Dividend Stocks Are Better […]
The post 172 Congress Doesn’t Give a #*?@! What You Think appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In this week's “live from the coast of Georgia” episode, we're talking about: Why Elite Colleges Don't Guarantee Success How the Rich Got Rich Is the 401k to Blame? Your financial advisor has vanished Not much else to add this week…somebody's gotta get some sand between their toes. As always, if you have questions please […]
The post 171 If We All Got an Inheritance, We’d All Be Rich appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
It seems like episode 170 is all about psychology and how people think about things related to money. Well, at least that's what we were shooting for…I think. Of course we'd all like to think that we're 100% logical when it comes to planning our finances but as you'll learn by listening, that's just not […]
The post 170 Spend More, Save Less appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In episode 169 of the Financial Procast we re-visit the Bondex. For those of you that have no idea what that means, you could go all the way back here and listen to the original episode. Be warned, it was one of the first recordings we made…sound quality is not great. The first half of today's show […]
The post 169 Remember the Bondex? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In the 168th episode of the Financial Procast there is a common theme. Being overconfident about money, how much you REALLY have, and what it takes is dangerous. Confidence is generally a good thing. But when it comes to money, being too confident can lead to apathy and apathy leads to carelessness. Being careless with your […]
The post 168 “O” is for Overconfidence appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we're talking about Robo Advisors again. Don't worry, that's not the only thing we're discussing but we do spend quite a bit of time on that topic. What they're doing almost feels dirty. Taking a “process” that the investment industry has been doing on paper for 20 years and putting on the web almost […]
The post 167 I Paid .25% and All I Got Was An ETF? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, you lucked out again. We got so wrapped up in one of our discussions that we only got to complain about 3 topics today instead of four. In this episode of the Financial Procast we discuss the spending habits of the rich, poor and everyone in between. You may be surprised that the differences are […]
The post 166 Is That Latin 102? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
To those in our audience who have reached out to us and let us know more of what you’d like for us to discuss on the Finanical Procast, we thank you. And for those of you that have not let us know what you’d like to hear us discuss, please don’t hesitate to do so, […]
The post 165 We’ll Watch Your Money appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Here is the lineup for today's show: Hate Your Boss? You're Not Alone. (02:49) Investment Firms Advertise Like Fiduciaries (16:50) Financial Services Companies Late to the Social Media Party (35:06) Index Fund Investors More Intelligent? (49:40) As you can probably tell by now, we are more than capable of talking about things that WE are […]
The post 164 More Convicted Than An Index Fund Investor appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
We're back after taking a little break last week but not to worry…we've made up for it with this week's episode. Here's what we're discussing about today: Elite Credit Card Holders Are a Fraud Target (03:06) Foreclosures Stalled by Pesky Laws (14:00) Investment Advisory Fees on the Rise (31:18) The Quiet Company™ Makes a Purchase (46:25) As you can […]
The post 163 We Hear Y’all Are Pretty Good on the Computer? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
You're probably wondering, “what's with the crazy title?” Well, one of us getting married in a few months and is getting quite the education on weddings and I say “miscellaneous” costs that tag along for the ride. But don't fret, if that's of little interest to you, we've got plenty more to discuss Here's the […]
The post 162 I do, I do, I do, I do appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Sometimes after we record the Financial Procast I realize that though we've discussed three or four separate topics with no apparent connection, a common thread emerges that ties them all together. Today's episode is one of those moments. What is the obsession with “objective” financial advice? What does that even mean? And…more importantly, just because […]
The post 161 You Can Be Objective and Still Be Wrong appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Despite it being a bit of a slow week in the world of financial news, we managed to find a few nuggets that hopefully you'll find interesting. Today we are talking about President Obama's proposed budget for 2016…well not really. But we are discussing some of his proposed changes to how IRA's are taxed–both in […]
The post 160 Are You Ducking Crazy? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
No today's episode of the Financial Procast is not really sponsored by Apple, but if you listen closely you'll get the joke. All I can say is thank goodness for the amazing battery life of my Macbook Pro Retina. We were able to record this hour long podcast with me only having about 25% of the […]
The post 159 This Episode Brought to You By Apple appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In episode 158 we were truly given the gift of awesome topics to discuss and we even get to reference some commentary from one of our favorite economists/financial commentators, Robert Shiller. Today we're discussing what Dr. Shiller thinks investors can expect in regard to asset returns moving forward, the rise of “roboadvisers” (and their insane […]
The post 158 You Are NOT Diversified! appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, we're back after I was gone on a little vacation last week. I know that many of regular listeners were shocked that we didn't release an episode last week as it is customary for us to do so even when one of us is away. Alas, life happened and we weren't able to record […]
The post 157 What It Takes to Become a 401k Millionaire appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, today's episode takes us back to our normal format where we scoured the interwebs looking for stories that we think would interest our community and that we could pontificate on for more than a minute or two. Oddly enough we ended up with two stories that illustrate what we think is vast governmental overreach […]
The post 156 Newsflash: Rich People Save More Money appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today's episode is all about taxes. Now, we normally talk about taxes as the April 15th deadline approaches, however, with all the buzz concerning the President's latest proposed changes that could ultimately change tax law, we felt obliged to talk about taxes today. So, we don't have a neatly organized show for you today. Instead, […]
The post 155 Taxes: Because I Don’t Want To appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
A new variable universal life insurance lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court back in October of 2014 alleging Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Fraud, Professional Negligence, and Unjust Enrichment. Defendants listed in the lawsuit include Larson Financial Group, Larson Financial Securities, John Hancock Life, and Nationwide Life and Annuity. The complaint tells an interesting story […]
The post 154 Variable Universal Life Insurance Lawsuit – Larson financial appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
We had a couple of thin topics to start off today's episode but not to worry…the last two topics carried us and we had plenty to say about those things. It seems talking about 401k's and picking on government officials is always good fodder. Be sure you tune in to the bit on Roth IRA […]
The post 153 That Two-Faced Sonnova… appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, here's the first episode of the Financial Procast for 2015. The show has now managed to span three calendar years and we are grateful that you choose to spend some time with us each week. It's been a while since we've done a “Q&A” type show and we would love to do a couple […]
The post 152 Grandma’s Gold Bunions appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, it looks like we've survived another year…both literally and figuratively. This is our last episode of the Financial Procast for 2014 and we would like to sincerely thank all of your who listen regularly, occasionally or even just for a few minutes here and there. No doubt we are humbled that anyone listens to […]
The post 151 Lawsky, Lew, & the Law appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we're sharing our Christmas cheer with all of our listeners–you should all be excited. Along with our healthy dose of holiday spirit there's also a somewhat harsh reality check coming for all those who love to spend, spend, spend during this time of year. But it's not all about admonishing you not to […]
The post 150 Fa-la-la-la-la You’re Broke appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
As you've probably already guessed, at least one of things up for discussion today has to do with the renewed vigor of the mortgage lending market. But not to worry, it's not all about poking fun at so-called “responsible borrowing”. No…we have a few other topics of interest as well. Here's a full list […]
The post 149 This Is What Responsible Borrowing Looks Like appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
I guess we should've called this our “Thanksgiving Special” since we've decided to take the week off from producing an episode of the Financial Procast. So, here you go, it's our Thanksgiving Special–filled with joy of course (sarcasm light is blinking). Today's episode may not be filled with all the joy of a Thanksgiving […]
The post 148 This Is How I Say I Love You–Now Get Out! appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Every now and then when we're compiling things that we'd like to discuss in an episode of the Financial Procast, we find 3 or 4 topics for discussion that have absolutely no relation at all to one another. If you've never experienced this phenomenon, you're in luck today! Listen closely, comment freely and let us […]
The post 147 The World’s Wealthiest Manicurist appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, you'll find it a big relief to know that my office was clear of dead rodents this week so our sound quality should be back to an acceptable quality. Here's what we are talking about today: Seems Some Millennials Can't Save Enough for Retirement (04:27) Is the 4% Rule Finally Dead? (16:15) LIMRA: […]
The post 146 I Went to College And All I Got Was This Stupid Loan appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, today we're back to our format of discussing a few different topics that we found interesting from the past week in the world of finance. I guess I should also mention that I had some technical difficulties today so the quality of our recording is a bit off of our high standard but hopefully […]
The post 145 And the 8th Thing The Middle Class Can’t Afford is… appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In today's episode of the Financial Procast, we take a deep dive into why it is that universal life insurance is such a hated product by so many in our industry. This is a single topic episode as we had to record this episode a bit early due to travel. We'll be back soon with […]
The post 144 Talking About Life Insurance on a Sunday appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Here's what we're talking about today: Accredited investor gets redefined (05:30) Congressman says “Not so fast FINRA” (15:30) Swiss banker arrested for helping Americans hide money (34:39) Auto finance industry the next bubble? and New study says most can't afford a used car (47:17) As you can probably tell by now, we are more than […]
The post 143 No Questions Asked appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
To those in our audience who have reached out to us and let us know more of what you'd like for us to discuss on the Finanical Procast, we thank you. And for those of you that have not let us know what you'd like to hear us discuss, please don't hesitate to do so, […]
The post 142 How It Should Be Interpretated appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, it's been a few weeks now since we've switched back to our original show format. For those who are new, that means we're recording a weekly episode that runs about an hour. This was requested by some in our audience and we aim to please. However, we would like to hear from more of […]
The post 141 It’s Not You, It’s Me appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
If you've ever been in a position where you were responsible for creating content for a website, blog, newsletter, podcast, radio show or video, then you know how much of a struggle it can be to sometimes to find interesting subject matter to discuss. Particularly when you've been at it for a little over three years […]
The post 140 Hey, We Told You So appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
This is our second week of publishing the Financial Procast after going back to our original format of discussing various issues that have come in the world of finance. We sincerely hope that those in our community are enjoying listening to the episodes as much as we enjoy putting them together for you. Now, onto today's show: […]
The post 139 Financial Pro Cast: You Can’t Sell THOSE Products? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
And so begins the 3rd year of the Financial Procast… Our listeners have told us that they would really like for us to get back to our “roots”. That is to say, we wax poetically about three or four financial related news stories and share our unique brand of commentary. If you've never heard us […]
The post 138 Financial Pro Cast: No One Use the Bathroom After Metlife appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In this episode of the Financial Pro Cast we take a step back and discuss life insurance as it relates to the rest of the financial world. It's not the only option, and it's not always the best option. And anyone who suggests that you either absolutely should or should not own anything is probably […]
The post 137 Financial Pro Cast: Life Insurance is NOT the Ultimate Asset Class appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Remember, information contained within the Financial Pro Cast and these show notes is intended for entertainment purposes only. Before acting on any topics discussed within this episode one should consult the advice of their tax, legal, and/or investment advisor The market has been making a comeback after reaching new highs a few weeks ago and […]
The post 136 Financial Pro Cast: And the Best way to Approach this Market is… appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
There seems to be an eternal debate that persists regarding whole life insurance and universal life insurance. Agents, insurance companies and some consumers that sit on either site of the argument will swear that one is definitely better than the other. In our experience, most whole life insurance hacks will point at poorly designed universal […]
The post 135 Not as Guaranteed as You Might Think appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
I'm sure that the title of today's financial procast will cause some of you to wonder if we've just completely lost it. Well, there's certainly an argument for that, however, we just figured that we would agree with all the people out there that actually believe that statement. It's true…fees are better than commissions. At […]
The post 134 Fees Are Better than Commissions appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Retirement income planning is indeed one of those topics that we've discussed on a few different occasions or probably more than just a few actually. But it's one of those topics that has a great deal of nuance. There are really two main schools of thought when it comes to retirement income planning. One has […]
The post 133 The Two Retirement Income Planning Methods appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we are talking about a very important aspect of insurance underwriting. So as everyone quits listening at that point…no seriously hang in there to the very end and we'll reveal something super secret! No really, there's no big secret but we promise to make this an interesting episode. This is one of those topics […]
The post 132 You’re Standard and That’s a Good Thing appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Didn't we just talk about the Dow broke 17,000 for the first time? Yes we did. Since then the average has fallen and come back just a bit. As of this very moment, its sitting at 16,651. But honestly do we think the market is headed back up and will keep moving up? Or will […]
The post 131 Stock Market Crash Ahead? Who Cares? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
The CFP board is struggling with how it wants to define “Fee Only” financial planning. It's a bit of a quandary–and that is how do we define this term? What is fee only? Who has the right to use that label to describe themselves? Over the last couple of years this debate has been heating […]
The post 130 And the Definition of Fee-Only is… appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
There is a worrying trend that we are seeing in the financial services industry recently. That trend involves selling indexed universal life insurance to people that have previously purchased fixed indexed annuities with some sort of guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (GMWB) or lifetime income rider. Now that isn't necessarily a problem as one could certainly […]
The post 129 Leave the Annuities Alone appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Are millennials making a big mistake by not investing enough of their retirement funds in stocks? Well, someone over at the Motley Fool seems to think so and today we're going to tell you what we think about their (the Motley Fool) opinion. It turns out that Millennials are pretty good at saving money. However, […]
The post 128 Buy More Stocks! appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we're discussing the other “i” word–illustration. We are diving into how illustrations are manipulated to sell the sizzle and not so much about focusing on the substance. It seems that far too many of the people working in the marketing department feel that they need to really “push the envelope” in terms of illustrating […]
The post 127 Beware of the Illustration Beauty Contest appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
We’ve talked about a lot of scary financial concepts on the Insurance Pro Blog in the past and it seems as though few economic topics strike more fear in the hearts of Americans than unrelenting ‘i’ word. We are, of course, talking about inflation. But what is this seemingly cryptic topic all about and why […]
The post 126 What’s the Real Rate of Inflation? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we are discussing one of our favorite financial products…the 401k. We really wish you could see the red hot glow of the sarcasm light in our studio. If you've been listening to the Financial Procast for any length of time, you will surely be familiar with our disdain for the 401k. It's not necessarily that we […]
The post 125 Yet One More Problem With Your Company’s 401k appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
The Certified Financial Planner designation stands as a testament of one’s dedication to excellence and superiority in the world of financial planning. Or at least that’s what the CFP Board and the designees want you to believe. And they’ve done a good job convincing the world that CFP® holders are the wise wizards of the […]
The post 124 Certified Financial Planners do very little Planning appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well the Dow was at 17,000, but this week certainly hasn’t been very generous to American equities. Ignoring that ugly truth for a minute, we wanted to take a minute to look at last week’s awesome new highs and discuss what it really means for the real return of the stock market. 17,581.9 Who Remembers […]
The post 123 What’s the Real Rate of Return of the Stock Market? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
When it comes to Gen X and Retirement all is not well with the MTV Generation. But this despair doesn’t seem to be rooted in a systemic lack of effort—one of the core flaws often noted by its preceding generation—rather it originates from a demoralizing late-in-life shift in world view coupled with a struggle to […]
The post 122 Gen X Retirement: Gloomy appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
“We want to let everyone know that life insurance is like that guy on the TV selling his little oven thingy…you just set it and forget it!” That was the utterance of a Friday morning sales meeting I once labored through when I was a relatively new agent at one of the big mutuals. The […]
The post 121 Life Insurance is not a Rotisserie Chicken appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Recent announcements have surfaced saying that both Amazon and Google are kicking around the idea to sell life insurance. Are we worried that this going to bring some stiff competition to the life insurance market? Do agents (like us) have to worry? We think not. They both will focus on selling term life insurance policies […]
The post 120 And You Thought the Drones Were Cool? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In this episode of the Financial Procast we're discussing the tendency that some people have to obsess over details of a financial product purchase that don't really matter. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is how much benefit you derive from the product that you purchase. All the stuff that […]
The post 119 Fees, Fees, Fees Everywhere appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
We bet you didn’t know that June is annuity awareness month. In fact, we didn’t realize it until yesterday. And since we did an episode in May to honor Disability Awareness month, we figured we should give equal time to Annuity Awareness month. Of course we assume that you are all aware that annuities exist […]
The post 118 Annuities = Income: Enough Said appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Diversification is everyone's favorite topic in the world of personal finance. Too bad it's so often misunderstood and watered down. Today's episode is all about why you, as an individual, cannot replicate what an institutional money manager does. And this discussion goes far beyond just selecting investments. Why not just go out on your own? […]
The post 117 Diversification: It’s More Complicated Than You Think appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we are here to cast a few stones at the so-called financial experts and financial bloggers that spring up all over ye olde interwebs. if you're wondering we do have a hate mail folder. What stones are we casting? Well, we're going to talk about the dispensing of advice and information as it relates to […]
The post I’m Not a Financial Expert: But I Play One on the Internet appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we've come to talk about two things as it relates to the housing market: 1. The Burgeoning and exciting growth of the housing market after the precipitous fall in 2007-2009 and 2. The envious Americans that can't afford to buy the house they want and feel the need to complain about it. In fact, […]
The post 115 But I Deserve My McMansion appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Unfortunately this week we don't have a Tommy Boy clip to weave in to the Financial Procast, so you'll have to be entertained or at least mildly amuse by our “normal” sense of humor. Today instead we figured we talk about pensions. Less so pensions in particular and more so that the AARP recently published […]
The post 114 Your Pension Just Got Better appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
I'm sure there are some of you who will pick up our little easter egg in the title of today's financial procast. For those who remember that great scene from the movie, Tommy Boy, I give you permission to skip down to the bottom of this page to watch a little clip. And for those who […]
The post 113 Life Insurance Guarantees: But It’s Not on the Box! appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
For a number of years Dave Ramsey's 12 percent assumed rate of return has been a mainstay of the radio hosts's case for the average American to invest in the stock market. He believe that this strategy yields the best path to prosperity. Many have taken Dave's suggestion at face value while others–like us–raise an […]
The post 112 Dave Ramsey 12 Percent Magic appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
In our practice, there's often a discussion that develops around the idea of universal versus whole life insurance and we know this sacred battleground for many of our colleagues. Indeed people do have choices which as we all know can be a good thing and a bad thing all at the same time. Something that happens […]
The post 111 Universal Versus Whole Life Insurance: Why Not Both? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Getting the right financial advice is important and the truth is that average financial advice is really for average people.are so many financial media outlets present and they are more than willing to throwout generic financial advice. Additionally, there are countless bloggers that offer up what we might refer to as “boiler plate” financial advice. You […]
The post Financial Advice: Generic is Not Better for You appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
The financial crisis of 2008 was over nearly five years ago but recent research shows us that investors are still having a really hard time finding the balance between performance and safety. Today we have a barrage of statistics showing us that investors are still not quite sure they should be back in the stock market […]
The post 109 The Financial Crisis is Not a Distant Memory appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
There's so much bad advice that gets passed around the life insurance industry that sometimes it's hard to point out the real stinkers. But today, we're zeroing in on the misguided direction that some self-appointed life insurance gurus have been spewing into the world over the last few years. What's the bad advice? Well it actually […]
The post 108 Life Insurance and the Kids appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
There is certainly no shortage of self-appointed financial “experts” making the rounds in the financial media–television, print and on ye olde interwebs. But we think something everyone should consider before relying on the advice of these gurus. Of course the product that which we've chosen to build our practice around is cash value life insurance. In […]
The post 107 Ignorant Advice is Always Bad Advice appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
For all of the joking around we do in this episode, we actually like disability insurance a lot. What we're a bit annoyed with is the fact that there are a great many agents, insurance marketers and insurance companies that love to talk about the underserved disability insurance market. Now, they base that on the […]
The post 106 Why Don’t We Talk More About Disability Insurance? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Since the inception of universal life insurance in the late 1970’s, the whole life world has felt threatened and rightfully so. Universal life insurance boasted a myriad of benefits that improved upon many of the drawbacks that long plagued whole life insurance. And the one argument the whole life insurance champions have long leaned on […]
The post 105 Universal Life Insurance Guarantees: There’s More to this Story appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we're going to talk about regulation. Now, we're never in favor of MORE regulation…let's be clear on that. But, we do think that the life insurance industry needs to do a better job of policing itself. If we don't, regulators will intervene and that won't be pretty for anyone. It's a bit of an […]
The post 104 Suitability? What Suitability? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Holding onto a life insurance policy because you want to recapture the premium you’ve paid into the policy is playing exactly to the insurance company’s hand. The reason they love to have so little cash surrender value in early years, is related to the thin margins they pull from a life insurance policy at this […]
The post 103 It’ll Only Hurt for a Second appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
What's the problem with binoculars? They perform a great duty in that they make things that are off in the distance become very clear to us. The problem is that they isolate your perspective so much that you often miss what's right in front of you. What's that got to do with anything you ask? […]
The post 102 Trust Me…Just Focus on the Future appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Having tax free retirement income eliminates a large degree of risk from your life. We’ve probably all seen the historical tax rate chart that show us the ebbs and flows of income tax rates over time. If you could put yourself in a position where you are not subject to the whims of these tax rate […]
The post 101 The Immeasurable Benefits of a Tax Free Retirement appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
It’s always a bit disturbing when there is a headline that makes such a bold and definitive statement. Just makes me cringe. However, in this case I can honestly say that the title of this procast episode is not done to be sensational in any way. No—it’s spot on. Exactly how we feel about variable […]
The post 100 Why We Hate Variable Universal Life Insurance appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
There are certain aspects of owning a cash value life insurance policy that are pretty similar to the alternatives. Like all savings plans, there is a degree of management that must take place. Part of the responsibility falls upon you, the policy owner and a part of the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of […]
The post 099 Cash Value Life Insurance Requires Policy Management appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Preface: this post and podcast episode is focused mainly toward our fellow agents, however, there are some nuggets in here for everyone. Have you ever been one of those people that spends an agonizingly long amount of time thinking things over, looking for ways to talk yourself out of taking action? Whether it is was an […]
The post 098 You Cannot Fear Failure appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Why don't life insurance companies do a better job of marketing the many benefits of using their cash value life insurance policies? They talk a lot about death benefit, not so much about anything else. The truth is that most advertising and/or marketing that's done by large life insurers is more focused on brand recognition […]
The post 097 Life Insurance Marketing: Does That Even Exist? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Lately we've been asking ourselves if given all the difference in policy features from company to company and policy to policy is it fair to spreadsheet to cash value life insurance? And what is spreadsheeting anyway? We should probably explain what we mean by that. It's the process by which we take all the data […]
The post 096 Should We Stop Spreadsheet Comparisons of Cash Value Life Insurance? appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Why do otherwise intelligent financial advisors and agents do dumb things? Not sure if we really know the answer to that one but we're taking a stab at it today. Contrary to what many in the media will say, we don't really believe that most of the bad things that are done by advisors are […]
The post 095 Why Smart Agents Do Dumb Things appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we are going to get into a bit more detail as to why the proper design of a cash value life insurance policy is so crucial. And we are going to give you some examples that there are numerous ways to design life insurance. If everyone would just listen to us, they'd have more […]
The post 094 Not All Life Insurance is Created Equal appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
There are many times in our experience in the life insurance and financial services industry where people do all or a majority of their planning with this idea that things will be different 10 years from now. More to the point–my financial picture will look much different than it does today. In other words, that […]
The post 093 Sometimes It Doesn’t Get Better appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Well, better late than never I guess. Sunday is the new Thursday anyway…right? It would seem that once again it pays quite well to be in the life insurance industry. Earnings for the industry have been steadily climbing upward for the last two years. The Numbers Now, for those of you who are not yet […]
The post Check These Earnings Out appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today's Financial Pro Cast discusses the logistics of a one stop all knowing advisor who can handle all aspects of your financial lives. Additional Post will go live tomorrow. Today's Financial Pro Cast discusses the logistics of a one stop all knowing advisor who can handle all aspects of your financial lives. Additional Post will […]
The post Why the One Stop Shop Advisor is a Bad Idea appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Today we discuss 2013 annuity sales results. There were a few surprises out of this data, and some interesting observations when compared to last year. Jackson National Life Takes Top Spot Jackson National Life tops the list for 2013 for total annuity sales combining both variable and fixed product lines. They did not top the […]
The post 2013 Annuity Report appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.
Cash value life insurance is not really like a shirt sitting on the rack at Macy’s, but instead a stock piece of clothing at your favorite clothier. Sounds a tad strange, but here’s my point. Life insurance is a very customizable product. I can tweak a lot of aspects to life insurance (any kind really) […]
The post Cash Value Life Insurance: There is a Right Way and a Wrong Way to do it appeared first on The Insurance Pro Blog.