Million Dollar Round TableI am proud to be a member of the Million Dollar Round Table, the leading association of life insurance and financial services professionals – and one to which only about 6 percent of life insurance professionals in North America qualify. The MDRT Code of Ethics calls for member agents to “always place the interests of their clients above their own interests,” and to “give the best possible advice to clients by seeking to maintain and improve professional knowledge, skills and competence.” MDRT expects of their members exactly what you expect of me – exemplary sales practices…outstanding service…high ethical standards.What does this mean for you and your family? It means that I won’t simply try to push a policy on you. I’ll take the time to review your current coverage with you. I’ll ask questions about your needs, goals and budget. I’ll recommend a plan to help you meet your needs and move toward accomplishing your goals. Most importantly, I’ll answer your questions. I want your purchase to be an informed one. Exemplary sales practices. Whether or not you purchase life insurance coverage through the Order, our relationship won’t end. Things change. Things like needs, goals and budgets. What is an appropriate amount of coverage today may not be appropriate tomorrow. I’ll meet with you annually to make sure you and your family remain adequately protected. Outstanding Service. As a brother Knight, I have the best interests of you and your family at heart. I’ll render that service, which, under the same circumstances, I would apply to myself. High ethical standards.
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New Fraternal YearA new fraternal year is upon us. Congratulations to {Mike Bibbo} our newly elected grand knight, as well as all the other dedicated brother Knights who will serve in either an elected and appointed leadership position in the coming year. I’m sure you have a list of goals and objectives that you intend to accomplish during the coming year. You have my assurance that I’m eager to help.One of these goals is surely the attainment of the Star Council award - the most prestigious award the Order offers at the council level. I’m certainly committed to helping on the insurance side, but I’ll be glad to help on the membership side as well. If you know an eligible Catholic man who might be interested in joining the Order (and who among us doesn’t), he’s probably just waiting to be asked. I can help you, either by approaching him myself, or by “coaching” you – transferring sales skills that you can use to recruit him and other prospects. As always, I’m at your service. Let’s get an early start on attaining those goals and objectives that are so critical to the growth of any council.
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Product DescriptionsFor this month’s column, I thought a little “Life Insurance 101” might be beneficial.The most basic plan of permanent life insurance protection - whole life insurance - calls for premiums to be paid for your entire life, or to age 100. You may also consider another permanent life insurance product – one with guaranteed cash values – that offers a limited period of premium payments. The Knights of Columbus offers three permanent life insurance products for which premiums do not have to be paid for all of life. “Twenty Pay Life” is exactly as the name suggests – a permanent plan with premiums payable for 20 years. After the premiums are paid for the 20 years, the plan is “paid up” and no more premiums are due. Unlike its term counterpart, however, the plan stays in force, the death benefit remains intact and the guaranteed cash value continues to grow. Another such plan is our “Life Paid Up at 65.” With this permanent product you pay premiums until you reach age 65. Then, premiums stop (just in time for retirement), but the plan remains very much in force. Finally, the ultimate in limited pay is our Single Premium Life product. Imagine buying life insurance – permanent life insurance – and only paying one single premium? It’s possible. I have detailed information on all of these products. At your convenience, I’ll meet with you and your wife to perform a free, custom-tailored needs analysis, to help determine which of our many life insurance products is right for you and your family.
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Provider PathwaySince its addition to the Order’s product portfolio in 2000, long-term care insurance has provided the Order with an excellent opportunity to further serve Knights and their families. And – since 2005 - every Knights of Columbus long-term care policy comes with an added value.That added value is in the form of a service called “Provider Pathway,” a program offering access to a network of long-term care providers at discounted rates. The network covers: home health care, personal emergency response systems, adult day care, assisted living, skilled nursing facilities and durable medical equipment. Eligibility for participation in this program is open to Knights of Columbus long-term care insurance policyholders, their spouses, dependent children, parents and parents-in-law. All providers are fully credentialed and meet state licensing requirements. If you are not currently an LTC policyholder, I suggest that you and I get together so that I can provide additional information on how you can avail yourself of this valuable, value-added benefit.
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Retirement-OuchThis month’s column is for the baby boomers. Do you know what that is sneaking up on you? Retirement!Ouch. I know. It’s hard to believe isn’t it? Seems like just yesterday… But it’s coming - and coming fast. And that’s actually the good news. Let me share with you some tidbits that may be of interest: “The trend by companies to freeze or end their employee pension plans may have a big impact on baby boomers now on the cusp of retirement. Boomers with pension plans have counted on monthly retirement checks at the end of their career, but increasing numbers of employers are ending their plans or halting future benefit accruals. Those at greatest risk include boomers in their late 40s and early 50s who are still at least a decade from retirement but too old to save enough to make up the difference in their pension benefits. An August, 2005 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that nearly half of companies that expected to change their pension plans in the next year were considering freezing benefits for all employees. More than a third that offered pensions have already pared back these benefits over the last three years. “This will definitely be a problem for baby boomers,” says Karen Friedman at the Pension Rights Center. “You’ve been at a company under the plan and worked for years with that expectation, and then it’s taken away.”
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Retirement Part 11In a previous column I wrote specifically to baby boomers regarding the “r” word: retirement. I presented some dire facts regarding the current state of employer-provided pension plans. That was the bad news. The good news - you can do something about it.Think of retirement as a three legged stool. In order to maintain balance, you need all three legs…or there is a real possibility of a crash! One leg consists of the benefits the government offers you. Debate rages about the viability of future benefits, and my best advice is to stay tuned to the discussion and make sure you are aware of what is planned for those benefits. Any change in future promises should be accounted for when we get to the third leg. The second leg is your company’s pension plan, either defined benefit (such as a traditional pension: you work so many years and the company provides you with so much monthly benefit) or defined contribution (such as the popular 401K plans). Again, some of these plans, particularly traditional, are under stress. Learn how yours works; read the plan description; stay on top of the news coming from the company. On the 401K side, become a good investor. Teach yourself the fundamentals of good diversification and know how much you have and when you will need it. Finally - the third leg - the one that you can exercise the most control over. The saving you do yourself. Everyone – everyone – needs this third leg. It consists of the money you yourself set aside on a disciplined basis to help in retirement. You don’t directly control government benefits and you don’t directly manage your company’s pension plan. But you do manage your own life. Establish a retirement plan of your own. Here at the Knights of Columbus, you can open a retirement annuity for as little as $300. Consistent and disciplined savings placed into that annuity over time can guarantee you an income that you cannot outlive at retirement. That’s right – guarantee you an income you cannot outlive. That really will provide you with piece of mind. As you ponder all the things that may not work out as you proceed toward retirement, think about the one thing you can do to help yourself. It’s reasonably priced ($300 to start), guaranteed, and controlled by someone you trust: you!
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Right To BuyThe laws and rules of our Order, as well as state (provincial) laws, specify that the Knights of Columbus may accept insurance applications only from Knights of Columbus members. As a member, you may apply for insurance on yourself, your wife and your dependent, minor children.The Order’s Board of Directors has taken action, though, to assure that a brother Knight’s widow maintains the right to purchase additional insurance for a limited time. This can be of great benefit and comfort to those we leave behind. This “right to apply” is available only to the widows of insured members. If a member has not availed himself of our top-rated life insurance program, or purchased an annuity or long-term care policy, this benefit is not available to his widow. But if the member was an insured member, his widow has the right to apply for additional insurance on her life and on the lives of the member’s minor children. This right can be exercised for up to one year following the Order’s receipt of proof of the insured’s death. Know two things. First, I’ll assist your widow and children in any way possible if you should die, both with your Knights of Columbus insurance and any other life insurance you may have. Second, I’ll provide them my best professional advice and service, to assure that they continue to have adequate insurance protection. As a professional agent and a brother Knight, I have no greater responsibility.
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Simple ThingsSometimes it is easy to overlook the simplest of things.Take the beneficiaries on your life insurance policies. If your policy was applied for and issued several years ago, it could very well be that the person you originally selected as the beneficiary is no longer the person you would want to receive the policy proceeds. If you bought the policy when you were single, for example, you may have named your parents as beneficiaries. If you have since been married, that could be updated to reflect your spouse or your children. Most people list a primary beneficiary – that person is specifically designated as the first in priority to receive policy proceeds. We also encourage the naming of a contingent beneficiary – an alternate person designated to receive policy proceeds, usually in the event that the original beneficiary pre-deceases the insured. I routinely call all of our policyholders for annual review appointments, usually near the anniversary date of your policy – the date it was originally issued. One of the matters that I’ll discuss during this review is the status of your beneficiary designations. If they need updating, and they often do, I can complete the paperwork during that appointment.
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Tax DayApril 15 - tax day - is right around the corner. It’s become popular this time of year to encourage the opening of an IRA or similar retirement annuity, or the depositing of additional funds into an existing account, as a tax savings vehicle. A secondary approach is to tout the rate of interest that money in one of these accounts can earn. Let me join the chorus of folks encouraging you to open or add funds to an annuity, but for a different reason.Certainly, contributing money to a Knights of Columbus annuity will allow you to save some money on your income tax return. And our annuities do pay a very competitive interest rate, consistent with our primary goal of absolute safety of principal. Opening or adding to an annuity for these reasons, however, strikes me as taking a short-term view of a product that is designed to provide long-term security. How much security? How does a retirement income that you cannot outlive – guaranteed – sound to you? Here at the Knights of Columbus, you can open a retirement annuity for as little as $300. Consistent and disciplined savings placed into that annuity over time can guarantee you an income at retirement that you cannot outlive. That guarantee – along with the fact that no one has ever lost money left in a Knights of Columbus annuity (remember – absolute safety of principal), really will provide you with peace of mind. I am happy to meet with you – at your convenience and in your home – to explain in detail the benefits of opening a Knights of Columbus annuity, along with the benefits of our top-rated life insurance and long term care insurance plans. As you ponder all the things that may not work out as you proceed toward retirement, think about one thing you can do to help yourself – opening a Knights of Columbus annuity. It’s reasonably priced ($300 to start), guaranteed, and controlled by someone you trust – you!
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Tempus FugitTempus fugit. Time flies. The older we get, the more that statement seems to ring true. Especially as we prepare to ring in another new year. I hope that 2008 was a healthy, prosperous year for you and your family.If you’re like most people, you’ve made some resolutions for the new year. If I may, I’d like to add to your list of resolutions by two. First, write them down. A resolution is really a goal for the year and, until you commit a goal to writing, it’s nothing more than a wish. So write your resolutions down. Whether they be to lose weight, contribute more time and money to charity, read more or watch less television, you’re more likely to stick to them if you write them down. Second, schedule some time to visit with me, your professional Knights of Columbus insurance agent. The “insurance check-up” that I’ll provide (free of charge, by the way!) will quickly identify any gaps in your family’s life insurance program. And you’ll want to fill those gaps now, not later. Because unlike many other products, you need more than money to obtain life insurance. You also need good health, and no one will ring a bell warning you when your health is about to change. Knights of Columbus life insurance offers something precious few other financial products can – guarantees. As long as you pay your premiums, the policy proceeds will be there for your beneficiaries should something happen to you. We call that peace of mind, and that’s – as they say in the credit card commercial – priceless.
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Time FliesA wise man once told me that time surely flies in the life insurance business. Without a doubt, time flies in the “membership business” as well. Even though our fraternal year is not yet half over, June 30 will be here before we know it. Since we all have our sights set on the Star Council Award, now is the time to work towards that goal. The purpose of my column in this issue is to remind you of the wonderful opportunity we have to help our council grow, and to offer a couple of suggestions on how we can best do that.The month of October brought the Orderwide membership “blitz” recruitment campaign. Now is the time to follow through with all the interested prospective members we spoke with during October. Let’s make them members during November. I can help, not only in explaining to prospects our outstanding insurance products, but also on the many other benefits of joining the Order. Even better, I can help you feel more comfortable in making the membership “sale” yourselves. In an earlier column, I asked you to “give me a seat at the table” when laying out the council agenda for the fraternal year. I reiterate that plea here. I’ll help in any way that he can.
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VANTAGEConcerned about a comfortable and worry-free retirement? Now, in addition to our traditional Flexible Premium Annuity, the Knights of Columbus has introduced the VANTAGE Single Premium Deferred Annuity, and it may be part of the answer for you.With a single deposit of $25,000 or more, the VANTAGE allows you to lock-in a guaranteed interest rate for 5 years. In addition, there are several attractive renewal options once the 5-year period has expired, including keeping the funds in another VANTAGE Annuity, placing them in a more traditional flexible premium annuity where the interest rate can be changed on a quarterly or more frequent basis or – in the 30-day period prior to the fifth and tenth policy anniversaries – withdrawing the funds without a surrender charge. The VANTAGE Annuity, along with our Flexible Premium Annuity, both provide the guarantees that Knights of Columbus members have come to expect – guaranteed interest rates along with absolute safety of principal. In addition, we can easily accommodate rollovers and transfers free of charge. I will be happy to meet with you at your convenience – in your home – to discuss with you in detail how the Knights of Columbus can help you to secure the comfortable, worry-free retirement you want and deserve.
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Million Dollar Round Table
Field Agent-Byron"Todd"Walker