Helping Clients Launch Their Grown Children With Annuities
Seeing children grow up is one of the biggest joys and challenges of any parent. While it may seem like only yesterday that they were knee-high and figuring out what everything tasted like, they’re not graduating high school and starting in on college degrees, careers, and families of their own. While a few young adults manage to make their own way after leaving home, most still rely heavily on their parents for guidance and financial support after they’ve graduated college and begun making real money in their careers. Parents know it’s their job to let go, only help when asked, and allow children to build their own lives even if this includes a ‘rough patch’ where money is tight. Stepping in and taking care of everything will keep them from growing into strong, responsible adults but most parents can’t help but worry about their child’s quality of life and whether or not their beginner jobs pay enough for loan payments and rent and weekly groceries. As an annuities seller, you have the opportunity to help these parents provide for their children without taking away their new-found emotional and financial independence. Setting Up a Safe Passive Income Annuity Most people acknowledge that simply dropping a big pile of money on a young adult is bad for them. They’re not prepared to section it up, keep it in savings, and avoid temptations to spend too much but parents still want to provide for their children. Rather than simply gifting them with a lump-sum, that same amount of money can be put into an annuity and given to their young-adult children in bite-sized pieces for the lifetime of the child, just enough to be helpful without actually removing the need to carefully manage a budget and learn how to balance their own finances. With your help, parents can set up an annuity that will pay their children a modest amount monthly or annually. Helping with Rent, Bills, and Groceries When parents worry about their grown children’s financial situation, the worries are (almost)never about how nice a car they drive or whether they’re eating out at nice restaurants. They just want to make sure the kids can afford rent in a safe apartment and weekly groceries. With an annuity in their child’s name, parents can make sure that no matter how hectic an early career might be, their children will always at least have enough money to live off of. A modest amount sent each week or month can still serve to teach the young adults how to budget and manage their limited personal finances while still allowing mom and dad to help out a little. Helping with Student Loans Another very common concern parents have is that their children will not be able to put their new adult lives together under the crushing burden of modern student loans. Even if the folks took on a good portion of each year’s tuition and expenses, they may want to give their child the best possible chance to make it on their own steam without the extra weight of the loans to pay. An annuity can also be built that will be specifically applied to loans rather than going into the children’s bank accounts. This allows parents to take responsibility for expensive decisions they made with their children and give the kids a powerful head-start compared to their peers who have to worry about the student debt problem. Privacy, Boundaries, and a Back-Up Plan When pitching annuities to parents of high-school or college-age children, the best point you can make is what an annuity arrangement gives to the family. When the parents are already providing for their kids through a fixed regular income, they can also refuse additional requests for money in good conscience, knowing that they’re doing their part already. This encourages kids to become more independent and better at managing the resources they have. The annuity plan also gives something to the kids, privacy. Rather than using their parents’ credit cards and having their purchases scrutinized, they can spend the money as they choose and as long as they’re happy, healthy, and financially successful, their parents don’t need to worry about their vegetarian kick or gifts bought for a new romantic partner. Finally, an annuity in the child’s name allows parents to worry a little less about what will happen if they pass away early. Their children will still be taken care of for as long as the annuity lasts, plenty of time to get their adult feet under them and start a real career.
Selling Life Insurance: Are We Modeling How to Treat Our Minds?
A recent study showed that more young people in the U.S. are experiencing anxiety, stress, and depression than they did in previous generations. What’s more, since the Great Recession, more adults (including young people) live untreated with serious psychological distress, which affects their ability to manage their daily lives. Some adults that walk into your insurance agency may be seeking annuities or life insurance, but what they need most is to spend their hard-earned money on treating their mental health concerns. I got to thinking how we are in a unique position as insurance sellers to model to people how they should treat their minds. If our clients and prospects aren’t managing their mental health as part of a holistic lifestyle, they are neglecting something that could shorten their longevity. Here Comes the Kicker That being said, we want to be sure that we are meeting our life insurance clients where they are right now. They come to us and ask questions, for example, about how life insurance can ease their anxiety about providing for their minor children, disabled siblings, elderly parents, or other loved ones if they should die before reaching old age. If you’re like me, in your head you are always thinking about the different life insurance products that you sell that could potentially fit their budget. You want each new client to recoup the maximum benefits payout in the event that they die young. For people with few savings or investments, life insurance is the only option that will support their loved ones upon their death. What Are the Causes? We could look to many causes within our society that contribute to higher anxiety, stress, and depression. On the one hand, there was the Great Recession, which forever changed the economic fortunes of many adults. On the other hand, there are more recent causes associated with technology, especially anxieties that people feel related to digital and mobile communications. Because we communicate differently than we did even ten years ago, we aren’t equipped to handle the stresses that have accompanied technology. A perfect example is when you sit in front of your iPhone or your messaging app and you watch those familiar bubbles float across the screen. It seems like the person on the other end of the connection is encoding a message to send back to you, but there’s no apparent reply. You wonder why you were left hanging. Instead, you feel more uncertain than before you asked the question. You doubt yourself and your relationship status with that person, all because of a technology tool. What to Do As salespeople, we can change up how we conduct life insurance sales consultations. We can be better listeners. We can hear out a client’s fears, acknowledge them, and then recommend the appropriate product. If we feel that someone sitting in our office is trying to purchase life insurance as a reaction to a stressful life event, we can suggest that they get some help and then return to us at a better time. It’s not because we don’t want to help them. It’s because we value their well-being and know that they should make financial decisions when they are in the right state of mind. Another idea is that we can encourage people to address some common health concerns, such as being a smoker or having untreated high blood pressure, before they purchase a policy. That’s because we know that they can get a lower premium if they practice a healthier lifestyle. Your Efforts May Not Pay Off If you try to be more supportive of clients by listening to their concerns, your efforts may not pay off. However, they will remember your honesty and straightforwardness. They may not thank you personally, but they might refer someone to your agency. We can encourage life insurance clients to manage their lives differently and to get help with anxiety, stress, or depression when needed. Otherwise, we aren’t modeling how to effectively manage common social pressures and self-regulate in a digital society.