“A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
-General George Patton
Planning is less about the plan and more about picking your battles, no pun intended on General Patton’s great quote.
We’ve all heard it: Plan the work, work the plan. If there’s something harder to do in business than this I’d like to hear it. And, it is especially hard for us creative types who are easily distracted… you know who I’m talking about.
I’ve been helping agents over the last few weeks with their plans for 2015. There’s nothing about writing a plan that is easy, but they all start with goals. Some agents have goals to make a specific amount of money. Others want more personal time. And, some want to build teams. All of those are good, but now comes the hard part: will you know “it” when you see it? Said another way: when is it done?
General Patton’s quote focuses on the doing, but no doubt he would tell you there has to be an end game in mind. Without goals there is no plan. Without goals there is no way to know what done looks like. It will be like ships passing in the night if you’re not careful.
Ultimately, goals should be driven by both who you are and what you want. There are a few questions I use with agents that help illuminate their journey:
- What lifestyle do you want for yourself and/or your family?
- How important is your work to your overall happiness?
- What are the characteristics of the people in your lifetime—work or personal—that you respect the most?
- What are the characteristics of your three or four most favorite clients? What are the common characteristics among them?
- How well would you handle making half as much money next year as you did this year? Twice as much money?
If it sounds a little bit like therapy, well… it is. It’s all about making sure what you do is driven by your priorities and not just your pocketbook. Give me a call or email if you’d like to talk more. I love talking about this stuff and making good things happen!
I hope everyone takes time over the next couple of weeks to enjoy time with family and friends. We look forward to a prosperous new year.
Call 866-547-8780 and talk to Drew Gurley, ext. 102.
Product of the Week: AFBA Better Alternative Life
Many insurance agents and financial advisors use a rule of thumb of 5-7 times annual income in order to sufficiently protect a military family after the loss of a primary breadwinner. For military members who leave active duty service, Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI), the replacement for Servicemembers Group Life (SGLI), becomes very expensive. Military members can protect their families and have peace of mind by becoming a member of the AFBA through purchasing a Better Alternative military term life policy.
With Better Alternative military term life insurance you can now provide an affordable option to those who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. AFBA offers life insurance for active duty military, reservists, retirees, and their spouses. Better Alternative military term includes the following:
- Affordable Premiums: $50,000 of protection for military families for as little as $4/month.
- No Restrictions: No restrictions on combat, terrorism, and members are also covered 100% off duty.
- No Medical Exams: Military members can qualify for a $250,000 life insurance policy with no medical exam
- Coverage from $50,000 – $400,000
- Emergency Death Benefit: Up to $15,000 is mailed to the beneficiary within 24 hours of notice.
- Coverage to age 70: Regardless of health or mental issues that may develop in the future, AFBA coverage is guaranteed renewable to age 70. Coverage is also continued regardless of a new career up to age 70.
- Charles C. Blanton AFBA Family Survivor College Scholarship: If an AFBA policy holder is killed as a result of combat actions or as a result of acts of foreign or domestic terrorism, their spouse and children are eligible for $10,000 per year up to a maximum of $40,000 toward a college degree.
- Spouse and child coverage
AFBA Better Alternative military term life insurance is the most competitive life insurance for active, reserve and retired military on the market. If you are working near a military installation or have a natural market within the military community, this is a great product to keep in your bag.
If you’d like to know more about the Better Alternative product contact Drew Gurley, drew@redbirdadvisors.com or call 866-547-8780, ext 102.
Redbird Chirps
- Life: Life Expectancy Going Up, Up, Up. In the last two decades it has increased by six years for men and women according to one of the most comprehensive studies ever, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. No surprise, dramatic advances in health care are at the core of this rise. In richer countries longer lifespans are spurred by a big drop in deaths related to heart disease. The study was conducted by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at The University of Washington.
- Retirement: Three Reasons to Ditch Your IRA. If you’re 40 or older you have grown up being told to put 15% into your investment retirement account or IRA and magically 30 years later you will be kicking back sipping fruity drinks on the beach. Well, changing tax law and an evolving economy are taking this notion to task.
- Investing: Seven Reasons Why You Made Less Than the Market. This is one of those stories where facts get in the way of a good story. Most stock investors were blissfully unaware of the magnitude of the underperformance of their stock portfolio in 2013 based on the Dalbar Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior. It will be interesting to see what the 2014 numbers look like later in 2015.
- Selling: 24 Strategies to Sell More ASAP. We’re not fans of stating the obvious, but this story strings together an excellent and creative set of important reminders to help agents generate leads and make more sales.
- Social Media: Major Updates to Social Platforms. Things change fast, fast, fast in the social media world. Katie Malone gives a good overview of what’s going down.
- Fact Finder: End of year means planning. Get prepared to help your clients get prepared. Our Fact Finder provides an excellent platform to better understand client needs, plans and concerns. Click here to download the Redbird Fact Finder.
