AALU Annual Meeting

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Categories: Community Involvement

The Association of Advanced Life Underwriters – AALU – Annual Meeting was back in town this past week and all three partners, Scott Greenberg, David Wexler, and Keith Eig, were in attendance along with many other life insurance professionals from the M Financial Group community, including president, Fred Jonske.

This year’s agenda was filled with top keynote speakers, including Futurist Dr. Peter Diamandis kicking off on Sunday. Other speakers included Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; Barbara Corcoran of television’s Shark Tank; Jason Dorsey, The Gen Y Guy; Governor Mitt Romney, former Presidential Candidate and Massachusetts Governor, and comedian/television actor Bill Engvall. There were also many informative Professional Development workshops and numerous opportunities to connect and network with other AALU members and meeting attendees.

AALU was founded in 1957 and has flourished into a lobbying, education, and networking resource for the nation’s top life insurance producers. Their mission is to promote, preserve, and protect advanced life insurance planning for members, their clients, the industry, and the general public. With over 2,200 insurance professionals as members, the annual meeting is seen as the premiere learning, networking, and advocacy event in the life insurance community.

Welcome, Jackson Lunman Rogers!

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Categories: Office News

We would like to welcome our newest and youngest member of the GWE family, Jackson Lunman Rogers!

On April 26, at 8:53pm Carolyn Rogers gave birth to her second son, Jackson. Everyone at GWE is overjoyed for Carolyn and cannot wait to meet the little guy.

The Magic of Montmartre

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Categories: Community Involvement

Our own Keith Eig is a member of the Board of Directors for The Washington Home & Community Hospice, an organization that has cared for the elderly, chronically, and terminally ill residence of DC, since 1888. On April 11, they held their annual fundraising benefit at the Embassy of France raising not only necessary funds but also awareness for the cause. The theme of the night was The Magic of Montmartre, transforming the embassy into the artistic French neighborhood complete with mimes, caricaturists, can-can girls, a violinist, wine tasting, and of course elegant French cuisine. With over 350 guests, the night was filled with pure entertainment which was made possible with the help of generous partners and guests. Events like this are what help The Washington Home & Community Hospice continue to provide support and aid to those unable to care for themselves.

For more information about The Washington Home & Community Hospice, visit their website here.

PPLI

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Categories: Industry Insights

Private placement insurance products occupy a unique place in the spectrum of financial tools. While having the same tax benefits as traditional insurance products, private placement insurance products offer unique policy structures and investment alternatives not found in retail variable universal life (VUL) and variable annuity (VA) contracts. Because they are unregistered securities products and are not subject to the same regulatory requirements as registered variable products, they can only be offered to individuals who are qualified purchasers and accredited investors, as described by the Securities Act of 1933. Private placement variable universal life (PPVUL) and variable annuities (PPVA) offer high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients access to both investment alternatives and customized product designs that are simply not available in traditional retail or registered products. While some of these investment alternatives and products can have specific risks because of their sophisticated investment techniques, wealthy individuals and families interested in tax-efficient investing are increasingly drawn to PPVUL and PPVA investment accounts, particularly in a rising tax environment.

If you’re interested in learning more about Private Placement Life Insurance and/or it could be an option for your client, please give Scott Greenberg, David Wexler or Keith Eig a call.

A Disconnect in Views on Retirement

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Categories: Industry Insights

There’s a disconnect in views on retirement. TIAA-CREF recently conducted a survey* and found that:

  • If you are like most Americans (84%), you want a guaranteed income in retirement.
  • If you are like most Americans (72%), you have a less than favorable impression about annuities.
  • Also, nearly half of Americans (46%) fear exhausting their savings in retirement but 65% of Americans are not familiar with annuities.

Other surveys show that Americans are not prepared for retirement but for those of you who have been saving and planning, it may be wise to familiarize yourself with the benefits an annuity may offer.

To learn more about annuities and if it’s a good option for you, give us a call.

*Source: Retirement Preparedness Survey conducted by TIAA-Cref, April 2014

Passion-based Marketing

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Categories: Media Commentary

The Wealth Channel Magazine recently published an article by Scott Greenberg titled Passion-based Marketing. In the article, Scott explains how you can turn your passion for something into a lucrative business opportunity. For example, Scott used his love for wine and hockey to connect with people on a personal level, building long lasting friendships with these individuals. With time, these well-established personal relationships grew into successful trusting business relationships, and vice versa.

In a business where your success is based on your clients, Scott realized he needed to find a better way to grow his clientele. That’s when he decided to drop the old school way of cold calling and try something more innovative and enjoyable – sharing his interests with others and finding that common ground to foster a relationship. Scott emphasizes that when you possess a passion for something, sharing that love and knowledge for it makes the marketing side of business relatively fun and effortless. Marketing becomes more of an engaging conversation rather than a pushy sales call. He credits the majority of his success to using this technique, stating that for him it has become a profession of turning friends into clients, clients into friends, and helping those friends solve problems. In the end it’s a win-win.

To get a deeper understanding of Scott’s “cutting edge” passion-based marketing technique, click here to read the full article.