HOWARD WIGHT S Financial Concepts Ideas That Will Help You Make A Difference Number 295 April 2008 Here s a quick overview of each page in this month s newsletter: No One Has a Lease on Life or on Good Health. Randy Pausch, who has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, is the subject of this essay. (File: Technique Book; Insurance Planning/ MDRT Index; 4400.00) What is Your Philosophy Regarding Life Insurance? These questions can serve as a guide for a discussion about life insurance. (File: Technique Book; Insurance Planning/MDRT Index; 4400.00) Looking Back. This graph compares term insurance and cash value insurance over the long haul. If you were now age 85, which option would you prefer to have chosen at age 35? (File: Technique Book; Insurance Planning/MDRT Index; 4400.00) Jack Falvey s Sales Tip. China eggs will waste your time and break your heart. Don t try to teach pigs to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. (File: Technique Book; Insurance Planning/ MDRT Index; 4400.00) Top Producers Ruthlessly Eliminate Poor Prospects. Here s some food for thought regarding poor prospects. (File: Technique Book; Insurance Planning/ MDRT Index; 4400.00) There s No Need to Exaggerate the Benefits of Life Insurance. Life insurance is a commonsense cash cushion for your family to fall back on. Cash is always king. The best investment is the one that provides you and your family with the most money when you need it most. (File: Technique Book; Insurance Planning/ MDRT Index; 4400.00) New Living Will Form. From time to time, a few chuckles are good for your system. This is from the pen of the noted writer Anonymous. Thanks for all of your good work over the years. (File: Technique Book; Estate Planning/MDRT Index; 2500.00) 2008 Howard Wight Random Thoughts on Life. This page presents a collection of thoughts about life in general. (File: Technique Book; Miscellaneous/MDRT Index; 5000.00) What s Inside the April 2008 Issue? No One Has a Lease on Life or on Good Health What is Your Philosophy Regarding Life Insurance? Looking Back Jack Falvey s Sales Tip Top Producers Ruthlessly Eliminate Poor Prospects There s No Need to Exaggerate the Benefits of Life Insurance New Living Will Form Random Thoughts on Life
No One Has a Lease on Life or on Good Health If you knew with virtual certainty that you had only six months to live, what changes would you make in your life and in your plans? Few people ever receive that message. Randy Pausch, Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, learned in September 2006 that he has pancreatic cancer. In August 2007, he was told the cancer had metastasized to his liver and spleen, and that doctors estimated he would be healthy for another three to six months. On September 18, 2007, he delivered at Carnegie Mellon what has come to be called The Last Lecture. This was part of an ongoing series of lectures where the speakers were asked what wisdom they would impart about what mattered most to them if they knew it would be their final opportunity. The Last Lecture has now been published as a book. Randy has appeared on Oprah and was interviewed recently by Diane Sawyer on ABC. Toward the end of his lecture, Randy said, It s not about how to achieve your dreams. It s about how to lead your life. Randy s time may be running out. He is now 47 and is married with three young children. As a result of the book, his family will quite probably be financially secure. What I hope others learn from this is that they need to plan for their family s financial future before it s too late. Let the message that Randy received serve as a wake-up call for others. The only real security is that which you create for yourself and your family. The best investment is the one that provides you and your family with the most money when you need it most. The best life insurance policy is the one in force when you die. Note: The Last Lecture can be viewed by going to www.thelastlecture.com
For our purposes, your beliefs about a specific subject are your philosophy. Your philosophy regarding life insurance will ultimately guide your actions in terms of how much and what type of life insurance you purchase. Maximum Amount What are your beliefs regarding life insurance? What do you know about life insurance? What do you know about how life insurance works? What do you know about the tax ramifications of life insurance? Do you want your life insurance to be in force when you die? What are your thoughts regarding how much life insurance you should have? What Is Your Philosophy Regarding Life Insurance? Minimum Premium What formula did you use to determine how much life insurance you have? Why did you purchase life insurance in the past? How did you select the agent and the company? Should you buy life insurance purely for the protection or should you purchase it as a way to accumulate wealth on a tax-favored basis? Do you see life insurance as being an expense or an investment? Minimum Amount What do you like most about life insurance? What do you like least about life insurance? Do you think you should buy term insurance or cash value insurance? What are your thoughts about buying term insurance and investing the difference? How do you feel about having life insurance on your spouse? How do you feel about having life insurance on your children? Maximum Premium If you knew with virtual certainty that you were going to die within the next six months, how much life insurance would you buy today? If life insurance were free, how much would you want? If you had been killed in a car accident, and someone else were responsible for your death, how much would your family sue the responsible party for? How much are your tomorrows worth? What is your potential earning power? How much life insurance do you now have on your life? On your spouse? On your children?
Looking Back Let s take a walk into the future. If you are now age 85 and looking back, which option would you prefer to have purchased at age 35? Summary at Age 85 $1,000,000 (Age 35) Option A Option B Option A $10,000/Year for 20 Years Total Premiums (Age 35-85) Cash Value $230,000 0 $250,000 1,367,679 P R E M I U M Estate Value 0* 1,696,855 * Option A terminates at age 85. These figures are based on current assumptions and are not guaranteed. Option B $5,000/Year for 50 Years Option A $1,000/Year for 30 Years Note: The insured must be re-examined medically at age 65. This graph assumes the insured can qualify for a preferred rate at age 65, which is rather unlikely. 35 65 AGE Which Option Do You Prefer? 85
Jack Falvey s Sales Tip of the Day China Eggs Never Hatch If it looks like an egg, is the same size and shape of other eggs you have hatched in the past, the hope is that this egg will also hatch. Some prospects end up being china eggs. They are made of porcelain and contain no life within of a potential sale. Everything looks good, but no matter what you do, for no matter how long, nothing is ever going to happen. It takes years of experience to identify a china egg at first glance. You evidently have to sit on a few of em in your business to gain the perspective needed for a quick I.D. Unfortunately, deep within all of us who sell is a feeling that we can do whatever is required if we just get the chance to do our things. China eggs always give us our day in the sun. In fact, they give all the days in the sun we want. All we ever get is sunburn. Do not hope against hope. For the one or two live prospects you might leave behind, you will gain enough time to make hundreds of high-revenue sales. China eggs are the most costly eggs there are. A dozen of em over your entire career is twelve too many. Jack Falvey s Sales Management Strategy Your cold, clear eyes can be of great value to each of your bright-eyed and bushy-tailed sales professionals. We all live on hope, and you must be careful not to dash this fragile commodity on the rocks of reality. That being said, a job has to be done, and getting prospects to become customers is the job. You have to say how best that might be done on a case-by-case basis. Begin by raising the specter of china eggs. Tell a war story or two every now and then so your perspective will gain validity. Plant a seed of doubt about long-term suspects and prospects. Where and when you do this is the art form of sales management. Get answers to the questions: Do they have the cash? Do they have the power to buy? Will they use both? Then explain that all people do not tell all of the truth all of the time, even though you want to believe them for all you are worth when they say yes, yes, yes. China eggs make all those noises. When it comes to selling, most people need to be reminded... not informed. Jack Falvey s daily sales tips are reminders of what works best in selling... and in life. Jack is a nationally recognized authority in sales and marketing outside of the financial services industry. This is an example of one of his daily e-mail sales tips which relate to any business. Here s the good news. They are free...forever. You can sign up by going to Jack s Web site www.makingthenumbers.com. You might also recommend that your clients who have a sales force sign up. You would be doing them a real favor. How does Jack make any money from this? The Sales Management Strategy, an example of which is shown, is not for free, but is available on a subscription basis for a pittance. One of Jack s ideas can change the way you do business. He once said to me, Make more calls, and that changed my life.
Top Producers Ruthlessly Eliminate Poor Prospects Prospects Prospects Prospects Prospects Prospects MAYBE NO Top producers ruthlessly eliminate poor prospects. In professional baseball, if you have a lifetime They don t have time to play games with people batting average of.300, you have a pretty good who are not going to buy within a reasonable period chance of going to the Hall of Fame. Looking at of time. China eggs never hatch. it from another perspective, someone batting.300 Top producers effectively eliminate the maybe s. has failed 70% of the time. Failing isn t failure unless They get the yeses and the no s and move on. you fail to try again. Top producing salespeople fail Life is too short to work with people who don t care or YE$ faster and succeed sooner. They are willing to take the who don t cooperate. no s to get to the yeses. There is no shortage of good prospects. Not to decide is to decide. A maybe is a no in disguise. There is a fine line between persistence and stupidity. Getting to yes is the goal. The only reason for calling people again and again is Most salespeople do not differentiate between a suspect that you do not have enough new people to call. and a prospect. A suspect does not become a prospect until Make more calls to more people who have more money you have pinpointed a problem that the individual cares and ask them to buy more. If you propose more you will about. close more. Successful people make better and faster decisions.
There s No Need to Exaggerate the Benefits of Life Insurance
New Living Will Form I,, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead partisan politicians who couldn t pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it or lawyers/doctors/hospitals interested in simply running up the bills. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following: a Martini a Margarita a Scotch and Soda a Bloody Mary a Gin and Tonic a Glass of Chardonnay a Steak Lobster or Crab Legs the Remote Control a Bowl of Ice Cream the Sports Page Chocolate Sex It should be presumed that I won t ever get any better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, and call it a day. At this point, it is time to call the New Orleans Jazz Funeral Band to come do their thing at my funeral, and ask all of my friends to raise their glasses to toast the good times we have had. Signature: Date: NOTE: I also hear that in Ireland they have a Nursing Home with a Pub. The patients are happier and they have a lot more visitors. Some of them don t even need embalming when their time comes. If anyone knows the name of this happy place, PLEASE pass it on!
Random Thoughts on Life Make it a point to do something every day that you don t want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain. Mark Twain A great tomorrow starts today. You can fight back when others put you down, but you can t fight back when you put yourself down. You are your own biggest obstacle. Most of your limitations are self imposed. Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment. Plan for the future. Focus on now. I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. William Penn Every day is a new day. The best is yet to come. Tomorrow will be better than today. You cannot change the past. Learn from it and move on. Doing what you love makes it easier to love what you do. What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire law. All the rest is commentary. The Talmud If you face a tragedy, and most people do at some time, move on. By the time you know you need life insurance, it is too late to get it. The ultimate master key to life, happiness, and success is to focus on first things first.
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