Fly Like an Eagle – Soar to Greatness!
NAIFA - Do you believe?
NAIFA - The “ASSOCIATION OF CHOICE” for Today’s Professional Agent/Advisor
NAIFA – The well from which we all drink, we’ve all taken water.
We’ve all been quenched with its water.
Fly like an Eagle-soar to greatness
Individual – If it is to be, it is up to
me.
Eagles don’t flock together.
When we came into this business we were told to be like eagles and soar above all others. An interesting thing that is often said about these birds: Eagles soar on their own. They don’t flock together.
Eagles don’t flock together? Well, pictures don’t lie, do they? National Geographic picture and the photo caption tells us that eagles flock together for their protection, proving there is safety in numbers.
You might be thinking, what does NAIFA do for me? Well, I want to walk you through an exercise that might help you understand what NAIFA can do for you. First, write your three biggest clients names on a sheet of paper. Next, write the needs you solved for those clients. Finally I want you to write the products you sold to take care of those needs.
- Write down the Names of your 3 biggest
Clients
- Write the problem you solved or the
Financial Goal Achieved
- Write down the Product Solution you
recommended
Now I want you to look at your list, and imagine if there was no tax advantages
to our products.
Question: Were there any Tax Advantages/Benefits
associated with the Product Solution???
What if Life Insurance and Annuities didn’t come with all
their tax deferrals, or if the business plan didn’t allow the owner to make the
deductions. Would it have been easier or
harder to make that sale? This is what
we do for the industry. NAIFA is
out there protecting all of our clients and advisors.
What if … Those Tax Advantages/Benefits
were eliminated or severely reduced – would the Client take action?
NAIFA created the Tax Advantages/Benefits our products enjoy – since the Income Tax Code was made law in 1913.
TODAY - NAIFA continues to defend and protect those Tax Advantages/Benefits. What would be the loss of Revenue to your Business without them?
NAIFA consists of a:
• National
• State
• Local
The national organization is in
We have a group of lobbyists in the nation’s capital who
lobby on your behalf everyday, especially with congress.
Why is this important? For the past 60-plus
years Congress has tried to tax the death benefit of life insurance. If it were able to get that done, it would
generate trillions of dollars in taxes.
That’s why it is always on the table.
So the past 60-plus consecutive years we have lobbied in Washington,
D. C. against that tax. We use the
same story you use when talking to people about what life insurance does for
widows and for children and for widowers.
So far, 60-plus years we have
lobbied against the taxation of death benefit on life insurance, back in
What about the state? In North Dakota NAIFA-North Dakota played a key roll in the passage of the STOLI (Stranger Originated Life Insurance) bill during the 2007 – 2008 legislative session.
Our Local organizations meet on a monthly basis and provide valuable speakers and training. They also provide support of LUTC (Life Underwriter Training Council) and CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) and other professional designations. This is where you the member will have your most involvement in NAIFA.
I’ve heard it all: Well, I can’t make the monthly luncheon because that’s the day my company meets. Well, guess what: We are not a lunch club. It doesn’t matter. It would be great if you could make it to all the luncheons. The reality is, that’s not what NAIFA’s about.
We’ve Got It Covered!
What I would like to do now is share with you why you should
be proud of your industry. Just after
September 11, 2001 there were a lot of newspaper articles and media articles
wondering what would happen to the insurance industry with all the losses in
The property damage losses to the is approximately $5.5 billion (We’ve got it covered”)… General liability losses range from $2 billion to $6 billion (we’ve got it covered)… Insurance on automobiles either damaged or destroyed in lower the Pentagon approximately $90 million (we’ve got it covered)… Personal property damaged or destroyed in is estimated between $2 billion and $3 billion (We’ve got it covered”)…
The ACLI estimates total life insurance claims in the range of $2 billion to $5 billion (We’ve got it
covered”)… Business interruption and extra expense ranges from $5 billion to $8.8 billion (We’ve got it covered”)…
The president of the N.A.I.C., Kathleen Sebelius, was quoted in the media as saying, “Let me put it in perspective:
The insurance industry in the year 2000 collected $1 trillion in premiums. $30 billion represents 3 percent of that.”
“We’ve got it covered.”
I was proud to be part of this industry that said we don’t need a government handout. That’s what we are here for.
“We’ve got it covered.”
Life Insurance Industry Provides:
- Major source of Long-Term Savings and Capital Formation
- $3.9 Trillion In The Economy - $300 Billion Invested in 2005
- Largest Source of Bond Financing - $2 Trillion invested in 2005
- Held over $560 Billion in Government Bonds (2005)
- Held over $700 Billion in Commercial and Residential Mortgages (2005)
Here’s my questions: Are you grateful? Are you grateful for what you have? For what you have in this industry? In this country? For what you have with your family? Here we’re drinking from a well we did not dig.
Are you more or less grateful than your grandparents were? Most surveys say less grateful. They didn’t have a lot, but they were thankful for what they had. Are you grateful? Most people would say less grateful. We have more today than we’ve ever had. The average house today is 2,265 square feet. Fifty years ago it was a 1,000 square feet. Are families larger or smaller than they were 50 years ago? Smaller, your house is 2½ times bigger. Why? So we can store all the stuff. You know Target, Wal-Mart and Coscos bring stuff from all over the world cheaper than ever before. We’ve got to have a bigger house to store all the stuff we are buying. Are you grateful?
Are you more or less grateful than your parents? Most surveys say less grateful than your parents. They remember they had it tougher. Our grandparents had it tougher than that.
Today, one out of every five Americans that buy a mattress will spend more than $1,000 – on just the mattress. Are you grateful?
So that’s my question: Are you grateful? Are you grateful for what you have? We should be. I think you are. The reason I think you are is because there is a chasm between grateful and ungrateful. You are either one or the other. Either you are grateful or ungrateful. Let me show you why I think you are grateful.
Because the definition of ungrateful is careless, demanding, dissatisfied, grumbling, self centered, selfish, thankless, disagreeable, miserable, unpleasant, unprofitable, (I don’t think so), useless, vain and my favorite wretched. Sounds like someone threw up right on the table. I don’t think anyone that attended the Partnership Training falls in that definition. I don’t think you are ungrateful. That means that you are grateful. But guess what? Grateful people give back. My grandparents gave back to their community and their church. It wasn’t necessarily money because they didn’t have any; they gave their time and talents.
UNGRATEFUL? Careless, demanding, dissatisfied, grumbling, oblivious, self-centered, selfish, thankless, unappreciative, disagreeable, miserable, unpleasant, unprofitable, useless, vain, wretched
This could be a real headline: “The cost of war on terrorism doubles, Congress votes to tax life insurance to pay for the war.” Is that realistic? Possibly, that’s why we have to have an organization that not only takes care of us but our clients. This tax would devastate our client, so it is vitally important that we have a voice.
When I warned them about antagonizing the nation’s
hundreds of thousands of insurance brokers, they were unmoved by the advice. “They are the best field force in politics”
There is a book called “Rewriting History,” by Dick
Morris. Dick Morris was the chief
pollster for President Clinton, even before
“But they are the problem,” “It’s the money they take out of the system that is
driving up costs so much.”
This was her response. She said “but they are the problem, Hillary scolded me and said it is the money they take out of the system that is driving up the cost so much.”
Now, I am not picking on Hillary. She is not the only one who thinks this. I just happen to have a quote from her, and
Dick Morris starts out his book saying you need to understand something; she is
electable in “08” or “12” as president.
I am just telling you who you are electing. Based on this quote, she believes you are the
problem. I disagree with that. I think you are part of the solution. If she feels that way about health insurance,
she feels that way about life insurance, investments, disability insurance, all
products we represent. That is a
problem. Others in
What is the cost of doing nothing? Ten years from now people will be sitting around a table having coffee saying “you know I used to be able to buy insurance from a person. Can’t do that anymore. Whatever happened to that person. I don’t know what happened; they disappeared.” That is the cost of doing nothing.
This could be a headline because agents have been devastated
in other parts of the world.
What do people want?
50 million Americans say they need more
life insurance in the next 12-18 months.
In 2005 – the Industry only wrote 10
Million
Life Policies.
Limra (Life Insurance Marketing &
Research Association) says 50 million American say they need more life
insurance. Here is the kicker.
Three out of four people want to buy their insurance from
a professional Agent/Advisor
So who is right? 37
million people or a few individuals from
Comment: A few determining the law for many – the rest of us.
What can you do? Put water back in the well we all drink from. So the next generation has the same opportunities that we have.
What can NAIFA do for you?
This all might sound great, but I am sure you are asking what can NAIFA do for me in my practice. Well we have quite a few ways we help advisors. First, we have a cutting edge leadership class which helps our advisors not only be better leaders in the profession, but also in their lives. We have a group specifically designed to work with young and new advisors through the start of this profession. We also have a monthly magazine with sales ideas, important industry information, and prospecting tips. There are so many benefits we have an entire brochure dedicated to helping you find all of the resources.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
BELONG TO NAIFA -
“Ask Not How NAIFA Can Serve You, But Ask How You Can Serve NAIFA”
The Only Professional Association Dedicated 24/7/365 to being the Advocate for the Agent/Advisor and the Clients they serve
It is the only organization that lobbies on behalf of the
producer. Now, this is the point where
some agents I speak to say “I give to my company
p NAIFA Members make an average of $27,000 per year more than Non-Members.
“IT’S
SMART TO BELONG”
NAIFA offers a “Pathway to Success” by making available every resource, tool, and opportunity for our Members to build successful Businesses.
“NAIFA’s Core Business is
Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy – to improve the Business Environment for
all Financial Professionals engaged in planning the Financial Security for the
American Public at Death, Disability, Illness, and Retirement -- and to Protect and Defend the Tax
Advantages/Benefits of the Products we offer to our Clients”
Thank you for your
consideration of membership.
It is time to put some water back in the well. You can do that for about a dollar a day.
Eagles flock together for their protection, proving
there is safety in numbers.
We hope that you will flock together with other NAIFA members to Protect and Defend the Tax Advantages/Benefits of the Products we offer to our Clients.
To signup now, go to: http://www.naifa.org/membership/naifa_membership.htm and click on the “NAIFA Membership” link.
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P.S. Don’t put off to tomorrow what you should do today! JOIN TODAY!
Fly like an Eagle-Soar to Greatness!