Guarantees Over Hope: A Smarter Way to Plan Retirement | Insurance 360 Ep. 38

In this episode of Insurance 360, Bob & Rob dive deep into the world of annuities, exploring the ins and outs of selling them throughout the year. Joined by guest expert Jake Quagliaroli, a Wealth Management Consultant from Saybrus, they discuss the fixed annuities market, address common misconceptions, and share valuable tips on how insurance agents can cross-sell annuities to their Medicare clients. Tune in to learn how to leverage existing client relationships, ask the right questions, and provide valuable retirement income solutions. Don't miss out on this insightful conversation aimed at helping insurance agents grow their business and better serve their clients.

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Transcript

Bob: Hey, everybody. Another episode, Insurance 360, Rob, February. February, and it's four degrees today. 

Rob: Uh, yeah, 

so, so 

our snow just, it's so cold that it can't melt, so it just evaporates a little bit every day, but it still looks like it did two weeks ago. 

Bob: I was talking to somebody in Florida, they said it was cold.

They didn't, they couldn't wear flip flops for a couple of days. They, the 

Rob: Miami boys, 

Bob: I'm sure it was, it was really chilly for them that put socks on, it was tough, but, what are you gonna do, man? That's, that's what we enjoy here. Getting all the [00:01:00] seasons. 

Rob: The problem is, is we get.

The worst of the winter and the worst of the summer. There's no middle ground with our weather here. 

Bob: Yeah, yeah. 

Rob: You know, just gimme seventies all year round. That's what I need. 

Bob: Yeah. Speaking of seasons, we, we have all kinds of selling seasons and we talk about them all the time. So we got through AEP, all our Medicare agents banging it out, and now we're in the OEP.

Rob: Don't, don't, don't talk too much. 

Bob: Remember we can't tell anybody about OEP. You know, don't, don't, don't mention that. But, one season, which starts January 1st and runs all the way to December 31st. That's the season where you can actually sell annuities. Does everybody know that season? It's called the whole year, and actually you can actually sell them.

So. Obviously rules with AEP, can't do some things. Scope of appointment. Yeah, we, we get all that, but there's a lot of time out of the year where there's other opportunities to sell other stuff to [00:02:00] help your clients in other ways. 

Rob: I'll be the first person to tell you I'm not as versed in annuity, so this is gonna be fun for me too because, I've been kicking myself.

I knew just enough. I actually take an annuity course for my CES every year, 

Bob: right? 

Rob: Uh, I might not do it the full weight. I'm not reading like a thousand pages when I do it. I'm not gonna lie to you, but, look, we talked about it. During our last podcast, there's gonna be times this year where you need to pull the tricks out of the bag.

And I think this is, this is the rabbit. Could be the rabbit, 

Bob: yeah. Yeah. So we figured we'd get somebody in who really knew this stuff. So we're really excited to have Jake Quagliaroli the only individual that I know, and I've known Jake a long time, that has a name that's as hard to say as mine when you look at it, right.

So, Jake, you and I going back 20, 25 years at this point in another life working together, but you're now at, uh, Saybrus, right? You're wealth consultant there? 

Jake: Yeah. It's, uh, it's, it's hard to [00:03:00] believe you think back the, track record that we've had and, and the history we've had together. Yeah. 24, 25 years.

Um, I'm now over at, at Saybrus as a wealth management consultant and, marketing wholesale in the Nassau Life and Annuity product portfolio. So excited to share some insights in this. I love how you say that January one through December 31, right. There's always time to sell an annuity.

Bob: Exactly, exactly. We gotta compartmentalize our brains around it a little bit. But some of the stuff we want to talk about today, when we talk about annuities, I mean, everybody knows. The market's out there. And a lot of the people that are retiring, they got their money in the market and they're worried about making a mistake when they're talking to their client.

They don't wanna, you know, there's a fear out there for sure. So a couple of things. First off, we're talking about fixed annuities today, right? And when people think of indexed annuities, when they think of. How it's tied the gains to the markets. I mean, a little [00:04:00] clarification on that. It's still an insurance product.

You need an insurance license to sell, but you don't have to be securities license, right? 

Jake: You, you're correct. Yeah. You need a, life and health license, right? You don't have to be securities registered. There's, , a lot of individuals out there that are RIA, um, IAR so they can do.

Or, or tie themselves to, to organization that can manage money. But what we're talking about today, right, the index annuity and, and we will steal this tagline, right? When is zero your hero? We know volatility's out there, there, there's no wrong time to be talking about annuities with retirees, with individuals coming up to retirement.

But to your point, we can, we can link 'em to some of the upside of, of say the s and p, the NASDAQ 100, and protect against that market volatility on the downside. 

Bob: And Rob, the one thing we know in our industry in insurance in general, especially in Medicare, is there's always extra trainings and annuities is no different.

So when you said you took that CE [00:05:00] course. Pretty much every state. Jake will probably know the exact number of state, but the most states right now have some type of CE course requirement. Most of them, it's just a onetime thing. Some of them might be a little bit different, but it's typically like a four hour CE you gotta take.

Right, Jake? Before you can start submitting apps, you gotta go and take the CE course. 

Jake: Yeah. Pretty to your point, pretty much every state's got CE requirements typically. Well, some states are, are longer, but to your point, I mean most of 'em are about four hours. And then with the life and health license, right?

I mean, you're gonna need that in order to sell the annuities and typically within the states, right? I mean, every couple years you're gonna have to go in and, and just reeducate or, or retrain, if you will, just to make sure that you're staying up on new trends or, or new topics or all that good stuff.

But you know, to your point. Product's a little bit different than say, you know, if you're selling life insurance or you got underwriting, you got this, you got that, there's suitability, there's licensure. You, you gotta work through that and navigate that to make sure we're working in, in the best interest of the [00:06:00] clients.

Right? Yeah, 

Bob: yeah, exactly. Exactly. And that's, and that's where we're at and, and I think some of, when we work with a lot of Medicare agents and we always tell them, we say individuals that are selling annuities. They actually want to talk to your clients that you're already working with. Your clients, if you ask them, are probably getting a bunch of dinner seminar invites.

They're probably going to some of them, or at least one of them, and they're talking to somebody about guarantees in their retirement, which can include the the lifetime income. Maybe it's guaranteed principle, but it's something to do with guarantee your retirement and your clients just right now just don't know that you can help 'em with it.

Jake: Yeah. You know about, I, I kind of, I take that topic kind of two different ways. Think about this, right? If I think of the, the typical just solely annuity producer or agent advisor in the industry, right? Their, their [00:07:00] number one pushback or challenge that I hear all the time is, how do I get in front of more people?

How do I see more people? If you're selling during AEP season, if you've got Medicare clients. You've kind of already overcome the biggest obstacle or challenge of a lot of agents have, and that's, you know, building relationships, having, having potential clients or prospects to work with. And when you think about, yeah, but I, maybe, you know, I'm not fully familiar with annuities.

They, they scare me a little bit. 'cause it's not my main product line. I, I, this is a, a, a concept I heard years ago and I still use it today. Right? When you think about the average retiree, they spend 20, 30, 40 plus years of their life. Working to accumulate an asset. What I, I don't care about the size of it, working to accumulate something they've never really thought about, how do I take distributions from this?

How do I, how do I make sure that this thing provides income or is there when I need it during my retirement days when I don't have that steady paycheck coming in? That can be your role. You've got the client now, you've got the opportunity [00:08:00] right to, to pose that and position yourself as that person.

Bob: Yeah. No, it makes a ton of sense. We do a lot of of trainings here, and I know you work, um, pretty closely with, with Mark and Greg and our, and our team here. That works more on the annuity side of things. Um, and that's what we always hear. There's always like sort of that trepidation about working these other angles, these other products.

And we, we sort of explained to 'em, Rob, it's the same. I mean, you're looking to help somebody with a pain point that they have. I mean, right. Jake? I mean, at the end of the day. Most people don't have a financial advisor, what is it? 30% might have a financial advisor, so that means 70% of people just are winging it.

They're just money's in the 401k and we just are letting it roll. Right? 

Jake: Yeah. Yeah. And, and look, there's, there's so much, you know, good information, so much bad information out there on the internet that you can, you can scratch the surface to be dangerous enough. But to your point, nobody is really working with people for that [00:09:00] distribution plan and, and.

Again, when you sit down and, and you got somebody that's got a 401k, they got an IRA. Right? You don't have to talk about repositioning the whole thing. I mean, these are bigger assets 'cause somebody's been accumulating it for years, right? So it, it's a larger asset and I think that's what at times often makes the non annuity focused, producer a little nervous about this thing.

But your boy, there's a pain point there that that needs to be addressed. Be the individual that addresses it. And, and help solve that solution. It's, it's gonna, it's gonna increase your business, your relationship tenfold if you're able to have those conversations. 

Bob: Yeah, exactly. 

Rob: I think, I think it's a trust thing too, right?

I mean, you know, you are deal, we're dealing with seniors. Seniors tend to not trust people. And, uh, then when you factor in money, you know, uh, and like a large sum of money, it, I think adds to that trust factor. So what better person to chat with? Other than someone that you've been dealing with, if you've sold them Medicare, if you've sold them a life policy, I think it's [00:10:00] like a perfect segue because they already trust you.

You got your foot in the door. I think it makes it a little bit easier to at least have the conversation, whether it goes the, the way you want it to go, that's gonna be up to you. But I do think it, it helps open the door, uh, a little bit for you to have that conversation. 

Jake: I, I, I, I completely agree with you, Robin.

I, and I think it opens up the door a lot, a bit, right? A, a again, I'll go back to that point I made. Having that initial sort of relationship with a different product or something else that you're talking about, um, is, is massive. I mean, you're over, you're, you're already building that trust, which is key when you're talking about sort of that sum, that lump sum of money that needs to sort of.

Tag along with social security that needs to be there for as long as they live. Otherwise, I'm sitting there saying, okay, now what do I do? So 100% lever, leverage that relationship that so few people don't have with that client. And, and I can guarantee you 90% of of the people that are working with financial advisors, they don't have that relationship with that individual.

And, [00:11:00] and, and I can, you know, we, we all know the statistics, we hear the stories, right? I mean. Those guys are gonna reach out to you. Those individuals are gonna reach out when things are going well, but they're just sort of hiding behind the, the phone, if you will, when, when the markets are volatile, when times are a little bit more challenging and uncertain, which is, is what we have now and, and we've got the products and the solutions to, uh, to address every single one of those concerns.

Bob: That makes sense. So, Rob, what do we hear all the time? You know, when we talked about annuities, everybody's our Medicare agents for the most part. We'll say something like. They're just too complicated. Mm-hmm. I don't understand them. A lot of numbers. We're trying to remind them about Medicare a little bit.

Yeah. So go into a little bit about the complexities of Medicare and what our agents deal with on a day-to-day basis. 

Rob: Yeah, I mean, just, just look at our, our enrollment periods and all the different, and, and look, I'm an agent myself, so I have to try to explain to my clients. I know you saw a lot of stuff on tv.

I know you get a lot of mail. Let me actually tell you what A, [00:12:00] B, D, E, C, F, g, H, what all of this entails and what it means, right? And I think that when you have all these acronyms and all these other, like, yes, I think annuities has the same thing, but I, I don't think it's as convoluted, nearly. As Medicare, you know, look, maybe it's done on purpose to, to, you know, deter some things we don't know.

We're not conspiracy theorists here, insurance 360, but, um, you know, I, I just think that there's so many things that they throw at you and, and they don't make it easy. And, uh, the letters for starters, that's always a good 30 minute conversation, you 

Bob: know? Well, it's a government program, so you know. You know, what they always say about a government program is they try and make it as easy to understand as possible.

Right? It's always seamless. Oh, definitely seamless. Everything makes sense. 

Rob: Timely, timely 

Bob: things go through quickly. It's, it's usually perfect. So that's what we try and say. Our, our agents, Jake, I mean we, we talk to 'em about like, listen, you're already dealing with the most complex. Product and system that [00:13:00] anybody selling anything to anyone could be dealing with.

So when we talk about annuities, a lot of the hurdles we have is, alright, what's the process that the agent needs to add to what they're already doing to talk to individuals about their finances? Right? And we would probably say to them, don't just say, Hey, would you like to buy an annuity? Right? That's probably not the best way to go about it.

Would you agree? That's 

Jake: A-I-I-I-I would tend to agree. Yeah. You know, it's, uh, probably just asking him about that is, is you gotta do a little bit more, even though you got the relationship. I, again, I, I mean, I'll go back to the, the tried and true, right open-ended questions seem to, to be the way to really get somebody talking about it.

And, and again, I'm gonna harp on this, I'm gonna say it multiple times. Advisor sell and Medicare product or or other products with clients, you already have that relationship. You shouldn't feel nervous about asking, Hey, do you have a 401k? Do you have an [00:14:00] IRA? Do you have, you know, some supplemental income running alongside social security to fill any income gaps that you have and, and, and just stop there.

Right? And if they say, you know, if you ask the 4 0 1 K-I-I-I-R-A question, which 95% of people are gonna have, right? How's it doing for you? Or what's your objective, you know, with that asset. Really get people talk and get communicating about sort of those financial sides of it, because again, you're doing these fact finds.

You, we, and, and one of the things I'll highlight here, you know, Nassau has a great, what we call plan the life you want in retirement. And it's a, a non-invasive way for maybe a Medicare producer to start transitioning into that annuity conversation, right? It talks about. You know, some of the goals of retirement planning, it talks about some of the risks that a, that a client's gonna have to address in their retirement days.

And then it goes into breaking down those risks and concerns that the client has, um, in a little bit more detail. So it's a great sort of way to maybe [00:15:00] introduce that conversation or introduce the topic. But it, but as I always say, it's, it's don't feel when you're thinking about annuities. You know, I think, Rob, to your point, you know.

I'm not the smartest guy in the world. I've been doing annuities for 25 years in, in my life. I don't even scratch meds up because I look at it and I'm like, it, it's, it's, it's hieroglyphics running through my head on the annuity side. Right. It's. You've, you've got a solution that you're helping somebody that they need with that distribution plan.

So get them to open up and, and let you know that, that that's, that's a solution that you offer. I, I will tell you this, I I, I love these products. There's no other product in the marketplace that can provide a guaranteed lifetime income for as long as a client lives there. There's vehicles out there, you know, that protect against market, market volatility, market downside.

You've got solutions. And I guess where I was going with this is. Don't feel like when you get a client talking about this or you've asked those questions and they start talking about it, you don't have to have a solution right then and there. [00:16:00] You've got a team behind you that you, you can lean on.

You've got, you know, resources out there that, that you can lean on, gather some of that data, get them to open up about that pain point, and then let's start putting the solution together until you feel more comfortable with it after you get a couple under your belt. If that, if that makes sense. 

Rob: Yeah, yeah, 

Bob: absolutely.

Rob: I mean, it all, it also boils down to something that Medicare agents are used to. Right? And that's the fact finding process. I think it's just a different fact finding process, right? You're not asking them necessarily about, you know, are what drugs or medications you're on to a certain degree. It's more along the lines of their financial health, right?

So it's the same concept. It's just a different way to, to take it. And I think for us it's, you know, the challenge is trying to, to mend them together, to make agency. What you're doing already is super complex, but you're already kind of doing the same process. It's just a little bit different. 

Bob: Yeah. Yeah.

Jake, we, we have, uh, we, we like to give them some tips and tricks. Tricks may probably not [00:17:00] the best word, but just some what we used to call back in the day, you know, buying questions. And then one of the ones we, we like to tell our agents to, to, to use is something to the effect of how much of your money do you think you'd want to guarantee?

And the answer to that is pretty universal. 'cause most individuals are like, well, I want all of my money guaranteed. What? What, what do you mean? Right. So it's just a conversation starter and that those then you can get into the solution based on their, their desires. So that, that's what we try and work into to the education process.

It's not you wanna buy it. Annuity is how much of your money do you want? It's a guarantee For you today, you wanna make sure that you don't have money that's at risk markets. What are, what are they? You're always gonna have objections, right? What's the objection? When the market's doing well, you're gonna, market's doing well.

I'm gonna keep all my money in there. What about if it's doing bad? [00:18:00] Well then you got a different objection, which is, well, I've gotta wait for my money to get back before I do anything with it. So you're always gonna get an objection, right? 

Jake: Yeah. Yeah. And it, and it's to your point, when the market's doing well, I think a lot of people look at it and say, Hey, this isn't the time to be talking about fixed index annuities.

Right? Where you know, let, let's ride the wave. I completely disagree, right? You talk about tips and tricks. It's like, what are you doing to protect some of the upside? Again, you got a hundred thousand dollars in the market, it's up 20%. I'm not asking you to take all a hundred, a hundred thousand out, but let's protect some of that, you know, with an index annuity.

So when the market does flip, which eventually it will. Now you've still got the link to the industry, but you've got that downside protection and, and you know, you throw out sort of tips and tricks. You know, I think sequence of returns is, is one of the items that we hear all the time. Right? And, and you know, the way you position that with a client is you never wanna be withdrawing income off of an asset that's losing value.

Think about that, Bob. I mean, I mean, if I got a hundred thousand dollars [00:19:00] right and I'm drawing 5%, I'm getting $5,000. If I do that directly after. 20% market correction, right? So now my a hundred thousand is sitting at 80,000 to get that same $5,000 I need to supplement social security to fill that income gap that I have.

Right now I'm taking what, seven, 8%. So my asset is depleting faster and faster. And again, the great thing about an annuity is we can, on a guaranteed basis, provide a very strong competitive lifetime income. The client can never outlive. So, you know, one other tip I, I guess I would say. If you're thinking about, Hey, how do I introduce these, these topics?

How do I introduce these products? You know, ask the client if, if they've done an, an income analysis in retirement, you know, to fill income gaps. What do you mean, Bob? What? Income gap, right. Well, I'm sure you're, you're you, you're planning to turn on social security at 62, 65, whatever it may be. Have you thought about when you're going to do that and what deferring can, can, can mean to you?

Have you also looked to see if that [00:20:00] social security payment is gonna cover all your fixed expenses in retirement, right? Medical, housing, food expenses that we know are going to be there day in and day out. Well, what if I could just come in and sit down with you and ask those questions? Let's, let's do a financial road gap, a roadmap.

To see if you've got any income holes that maybe we can help address, uh, by putting together an annuity as part of your solution. So again, it's, it's your point not saying, Hey, you, you wanna buy an annuity? Have you heard great things about annuities? No. It's, it's how do we introduce sort of those pain points that, that a client, every client pretty much is going to have.

Bob: Yeah, no, that's a great point. It reminds me of a quote, Rob, throw, throw a quote out there for you, Steve. Jake heard this one since we're, we're throwing them out there. Mark Twain. More concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money. So everybody's got a little bit different perspective and little bit different risk tolerance, you know, and then that's where you're having [00:21:00] those conversations with the individual.

But the end of the day, safe retirement is part of what most people are looking for as they're, as they're retiring. 

Jake: Yeah. Yeah. Let me, let me give you one more. Let me, uh. Let me ask you this, gentlemen. When you hear, when you hear sort of the acronym, ROI, what do you, what, what comes to mind? 

Rob: My money back.

Bob: Return on 

Rob: investment 

Jake: Return. Return on investment, right? Yeah, 100%. That's what you're gonna, that's what everybody's gonna say. But to that Mark Twain quote, what if we start thinking about it as, as, as I get to retirement, let's start thinking about it as reliability of income. What are you doing for that ROI in retirement?

And again, I don't mean return on investment. We need to make sure that you've got income there for as long as you live. 'cause there's gonna be expenses that are there day in and day out. Just a different sort of spin on that, on that quote that you had. I, 

Bob: I like that. What minute are we at? Reliability of income.

I 

Rob: like that. 

Bob: I'm gonna steal it. That was my quote [00:22:00] wasn't from Jake. 

Jake: I'm gonna cut that. That conversation never happened, 

Bob: right? Yeah, it never, never happened. No. This is this on. 

Rob: Next week we're gonna see, you know, you miss a hundred percent of the shots. You don't take Bob Brisky there. You 

Jake: Nice, 

Rob: nice. Oh well.

Whatcha gonna do? 

Bob: Yeah. 

Rob: Um, yeah, but we, we love the idea of 

Bob: talking to the agents about conceptual selling. We love to talk to 'em about. How to approach the subject, how to be confident with having those conversations. Um, you know, another little trick, you know, I love the, the rule of 100 easy way. If you, if you are not sure, they start bringing out what piles of statements.

Here's my bank account, here's my retirement, here's my mutual fund, here's my, this, that, and the other thing. And now the agents thinking to themselves, what do I do with all of this? Right. You know? And. We start, how about you start with the rule of 100, right? You take the age of the [00:23:00] individual, subtract it from a hundred, and that's the most amount of money they should have at risk.

Again, risk tolerant varies, but that's at least a conversation that you now are equipped to have pretty quickly, right? 

Jake: Yeah. Yeah. And, and again, right? You're not necessarily, you know, a lot of times people think you're not necessarily moving that money to a CD or some fixed rate vehicle, right? You can still offer an index annuity that has, you know, less of an income focus and more of a growth focus.

And so you still have that sort of tie to the index to get some higher potential. But again, taking that volatility off the table, and if you wanna talk about a great time to be talking about those growth-based products, you know, now now's the time. You know, you, you think about. Everything that the current administration is talking about, trying to, you know, the new Fed appointment, uh, trying to sort of bring interest rates down a little bit, what kind of impact is that gonna have on the rate environment?

Well, we are in the midst of one of the stronger. Accumulation based rate environment that we've seen [00:24:00] in the, in the last decade plus. 

Rob: Right. 

Jake: And so, you know, you can reposition, do use that rule of 100, let's reposition into an index annuity, right? So we, we, number one, we get that principle protection that guarantee when is zero, you're hero.

But then we also have, you know, caps of 10% participation rates north of 50% strong, strong upside crediting opportunities within the, within the contracts. 

Bob: Yeah, exactly. And Rob, you know. Our team will help them put all this quotes together and everything. So I like what you're saying, Jake, makes, makes sense.

But I think that's part of the stuff we want to tell the agents. Well, you don't necessarily want to describe and try to explain. Participation rate, 

Rob: right? Yeah. 

Bob: We don't wanna, right, but we want, we do wanna know what we're presenting is a good solution for the individual and those are conversations that our team, I know internally and I know Jake, you probably do the same thing you talk to.

Advisors and agents all the time about what's [00:25:00] the best product based on, is it an income that they're looking for? Is it more they want to have a little bit of more potential of upside, but they, they do, they're, they're willing to forego a little bit more of the market, you know, just so they don't have any kind of pitfall in retirement.

So these are the things, and you've run 'em all the time. You've had those solutions, whatever the client really is looking at the end of the day. 

Jake: It's, to your point, it, the conversation with the client is really less, to your point, participation rate, what product I'm selling you this, that, the other, it's more, and I, I've stolen your line here multiple times, right?

It's, it's more finding that pain point and then I can come back to the team that I've got behind me to build the solution or put together a co couple recommendations and I can figure out the best way to do it. And, and again, to that point, you know. Uh, think of, think of sort of the, the flashing red light words, you know, right.

Reliability of income, income that you can never outlive. Principle protected, [00:26:00] accumulation, growth, no risk of loss. Like those are the points that we really wanna be addressing when you're having the conversations. Um, when you're thinking about building that successful retirement plan, or, or as I like to call it, you know, you, the advisor, your goal is to ensure the lifestyle they want throughout their retirement days.

I need you, the client, to tell me what that lifestyle looks like so that I can build a plan that really meets your needs and, and why, why you wanna be talking about me. Again, I'm not here to just talk about annuities. I sold you your MedSup policy. I'm sure you've got some concerns about your retirement plan.

Well, let's, let's uncover those pain points and let me put together the best solution that I have within, within the resources that, that I've got behind me. 

Bob: Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, Rob. One trait I feel like is really strong with agents has to continue when you're talking about this, is you never want to do what?

Assume. Because, because assuming can't, you can't [00:27:00] assume, Hey, my client's got a me advantage. They don't live in a fluent area. It it must mean they don't have $400,000 of a retirement plan. You know, it is not just the med sub clients in a certain area that you wanna be talking to. I mean, the reality of it is that if they do have a wealth manager, it's probably because they have a couple million dollars.

But the individuals that have a couple hundred thousand dollars or probably in a blue collar neighborhood, you know, work the regular job, like they don't have anybody helping. They don't assume like they don't have money, don't assume they don't need help. Don't assume that you don't have the opportunity to, to help those individuals with the pain point.

Right. I wanna protect my retirement. 

Rob: I, I, and I think it much goes, I know we talk a lot about ancillary products on the show. Um, you're the ancillary, don't forget. Um, I really think it is just having the conversation with everybody. Um, we [00:28:00] actually had an agent, I had a long conversation with him at one of our events, and, uh, he was on a cruise, ran into a guy that was just lounging around, like you would never tell.

He had, you know, he had money and he didn't assume he had a conversation. And before you know it, this guy had a million dollars that he needed to move out of his old 4 0 1, and he was in a different state. So this agent flew to this guy. Took care of his annuity in person. And I'd say he got a, a pretty hefty paycheck from that.

But also the client got taken care of. But 

Bob: yeah, what 

Rob: they needed. Yeah, I mean, they were on vacation. Like who would assume now us as salespeople. I mean, I have conversations with everybody. So do you, so it's the same concept, it's just. Tell, uh, talking to every single one of your clients, just mention it.

And if they show interest, that's when you, you go into it, right? You go into the sale. If you don't, someone else is, and it's the same concept with all of the products we talked about on the show. Yeah, 

Bob: exactly. 

Jake: Those are, those are some of my, some of my greatest stories is you talk to agents like, yeah, [00:29:00] I pulled up to this farmhouse and in the middle of nowhere, right?

I mean it, no paint on the thing, doors falling off. He is like, why, why am I here? And then they go in there and they uncover. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars sort of sitting in the mattress. But you know, Rob, Bob, to your point, I mean, to me, the cool thing is with these products, right?

99% of people have an an IRA or 401k, and and whether it's $5,000 or $500,000, we've got products that, that, that can meet those needs. So don't, don't make those assumptions. I, I had one too. I'm one of those guys like traveling to a conference last year. And I'm one that immediately put my earphones on, or you know, they ask you a question, what do you do?

I always, I always say, I sell life insurance. Right? Because that typically shuts, uh, that shuts things down. And, and that's not really what we do. But the guy next to me goes, Hey, I'm getting re ready to retire in a year. He's like, you mind if I, if I pick your brain and ask you some questions? And I was like, no, let's, let's go for it.

Like it might as well. And I actually ended up, I don't do a lot of this, but I [00:30:00] sold the guy a $1.2 million income product. He was a doctor who was retiring and. Had I done my typical, just put the earphones on and kept going, would've never, would've, never had that conversation. So yeah, ask the questions.

Don't be afraid to ask the questions. If they say no, hey, move on to the next one. Who cares? Yeah. 

Bob: Yeah. No, it, it, it makes so much sense. Um, you can't assume markets are up, but as far as I know, annuity sales are doing pretty well right now. I mean, it, it doesn't matter that the market's going up. It's still a solution that individuals are looking.

They just might have more money to that, that they're, that they're playing with than they would've if the market was there. 

Jake: Yeah. And, and it's, and it's our job to get them to understand that, right? I mean, and there's a lot, there's a lot of pain points. I think you can, you can point to somebody that's got money in the markets now, right?

I mean, market volatility is crazy. Um, you know, the interest rate conversation, again, I, I think most people think that the interest rate environment is, is gonna decrease. [00:31:00] Well, that's gonna impact the crediting rates that you have. You're gonna see a transition as rates come down. You know, more people focus on lifetime income because they're getting the guarantees that, that the products offer and they provide.

So even though the market is, and I, I think I said this right out of the gate, Bob, I, when markets are up, I think it's, it's, it's more of a, a, it's a stronger opportunity to be talking about the values of what these products can provide and, and that peace of mind that, that they can offer to the average, uh, the average consumer who doesn't have.

Hundreds of millions of dollars to, uh, to weather a, a, a market storm or a market correction. 

Bob: Yeah. Yeah. It makes perfect sense. So Rob, don't assume, ask questions, right? Be curious. What show is that from? Be curious. Head lasso. Be curious 

Jake: on 

Bob: Be curious. I like it. Make sure you're paying attention. Two ears, one math.

Listen to twice as much as you speak, right? I'm gonna use, [00:32:00] I'm gonna throw 'em all out today, but at the end of the day, we're helping people. If you continue to ask questions, you're just gonna find more ways to help people. Annuity is a great way to do that. If you're selling Medicare, you're, you're selling something else and you're not offering annuities as a solution, it's a miss if you're working, especially in the senior market.

You would, we all agree that, I mean, it's, it is a pretty important thing that we all wanna make sure that we're helping individuals have that safe retirement. They wanna go golfing, they want go play with their grandkids. They want to go, you know, travel, whatever it is. They don't want have to worry about who the new fed chair's going to be.

Jake: Well, yeah, like, let, let me ask you guys this one, this is a, put this, that conversation another way. There was a study done last year. Um, but off the top of my mind, I, I, I don't remember by what, what company, but, but a retirement company. How much do more do you think the average retiree spends in [00:33:00] retirement if they have a guaranteed lifetime income stream through an annuity versus an individual that does not have a guaranteed income stream?

Bob: Okay. I. Twice as much. I How, how much? Twice as much I'll say. Yeah, I'll go three times. 

Jake: All right. All right. Good guesses. It's, uh, Bob, you got it. It's, it's two x, right? So individuals with guaranteed income streams in retirement. I, I liken it. I, I think it sort of gives you the psychological license to spend the money that you got.

'cause I know, hey, through this insurance product, through this lifetime income, I'm gonna get the same amount next month and the month after that, regardless of what I spend. So, hey. I spent 40 years accumulating this asset. I shouldn't be afraid to spend it. And that's, that's what, that's what we're able to provide with these things.

I love that. Love 'em, love. That's awesome. 

Bob: Yeah. No, that's great. No, I appreciate that, Jake. Really good conversation. I mean, our team here, we're, we're, we're having these conversations every, every day for you and the agents that are out [00:34:00] there. If you need help, we we're here to help. I mean, there's always call, there's always solutions here that we can help you with.

Just remember. It's not too complicated, right? You have the ability to offer these individuals a, a solution that they're looking for at the end of the day. And listen, I got smart, we got smart people like Jake behind the scenes that help us. So if it, if it gets too complicated, um, you know, we can even grab Jake and get him on the phone with us.

So it's all good. We got, we got a ton of support here. At the end of the day. So Jake, man, we really appreciate jumping on here. Um, 20, 25 years of talking with you now, you know, you know, we'll, we'll, maybe another 25. You know, well let, let's just keep going. 

Jake: Let it ride. Maybe put it all on, put it all on red.

Let's go. 

Rob: Well, who knows what technology was like 25 years ago. Right? You guys are walking, walking in the snow. 

Bob: It was, it was a little bit different. It was snowing. It was uphill [00:35:00] both ways. 

Rob: Tennis racket strapped to your shoes. 

Bob: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. No man, we appreciate you jumping on couple minutes with us and I think it was a lot of great content and, uh, you know, listen, we look forward to everybody on the call, um, watching this podcast, listening to it on their next welcome into their next appointment, whether it's Spotify or Apple or whatever it may be, reach out to us.

We'll be glad to help you. So Jake, thanks again for jumping on. Thanks, 

Rob: Jake. 

Bob: Rob, don't assume people don't assume. Don't 

Rob: assume. 

Bob: Be curious. Thanks everybody.