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December 2003

• The 10-Percent Principle
  If your clients live on 90 percent of their income, they will accumulate substantial assets.
  
  
• Making Marketing and Sales Work
  Keep your company on the right track with these strategies.
  
  
• Megatrends
  Speed, flexibility, security and privacy will change they way you do business. Are you ready for the challenge?
  
  
• Stop Cold Calling, Start Networking
  Joining a professional organization can provide access to qualified prospects.
  
  
• Pursuing Passions
  Hobbies are a great source of laughter during retirement.
  
  
• Reignite Your Staff
  Here are tips that will help your staff avoid burnout.
  
  
• New Year’s Resolutions
  Follow these tried-and-true steps to achieve success in the coming year.
  
  
• Six Tips to Make Email Easier
  If email has become a chore for you instead of a timesaver, read on ...
  
  
• Collateral Assignment Split Dollar
  IRS rules change how premiums paid by the employer for employees are treated.
  
  
• The Voluntary Benefits Market
  Has your prospecting been stymied by the do-not-call registry? Try worksite marketing.
  
  

November 2003

• Advice Heeded
  A friendly suggestion by an employer gave comfort to a woman who lost her family.
  
  
• Cruel to Be Kind
  Avoiding an employee’s behavior problem is not in your—or his—best interest.
  
  
• The Danger Signs of Short-Term Thinking
  When it comes to building a successful business, you need to take a long-term view. Here are some indicators that you’re not thinking enough about the future.
  
  
• Fears Conquered
  Your dreams may be another person’s nightmares.
  
  
• Get Online: Building and Marketing Your Website
  Do it yourself, use a template or hire a designer?here are three options to getting your business on the web.
  
  
• Lost in a Sea of Cards
  Are your contacts in disarray? Here’s how to organize all your business cards into one file.
  
  
• The One-Card System
  Learn how to use this sales tool to help your clients secure a rosy financial future.
  
  
• Getting Unstuck
  This time-management approach may be ideal for the big-picture personality.
  
  
• Top 10 Traits of User-Friendly Leaders
  Do your employees love you or fear you? Here are 10 ways to get them on your side.
  
  

October 2003

• The ABCs of Managing Money
  Find out what share is most appropriate for your client’s investment needs.
  
  
• Anatomy of a DI Claim
  A veteran agent learns something about human nature and discovers a service tip while filing a routine DI claim.
  
  
• Capture Your Listeners
  These audience hooks will help you kick off your next speech.
  
  
• Keeping the Dream Alive
  With planning, you can help foreign nationals pass on their wealth to the next generation.
  
  
• Lifetime Income for Seniors
  A reversionary annuity may be the answer to the burdensome problems faced by some seniors.
  
  
• Midcareer Crisis
  In a slump? Here are six steps to get you back on track.
  
  
• New Developments, New Ethical Concerns
  The public sees advisors as highly skilled professionals. How does this affect your sales presentation?
  
  
• Sailing Into Retirement
  Insurance products are making a retirement-planning comeback, and may be the lifeboat your clients need in unsure financial waters.
  
  
• Stop Asking for Referrals!
  Instead of referrals, start asking for—and working toward—client recommendations.
  
  

September 2003

• Education Planning
  It makes a big difference who owns the college nest egg—the parents or the student.
  
  
• Eliminate Your Stress
  Stressed out? Here are some quick ways to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.
  
  
• From Factfinding to Discovery
  Helping clients discover what they want for their financial future is the first step to a profitable relationship.
  
  
• Gapping for Growth
  This unique system will help you grow your business using existing clients.
  
  
• Master Class
  Helping people secure their futures is a noble goal, but the engine behind it is still good old-fashioned sales. Learn from your leaders what it takes to stay in the business and succeed at selling.
  
  
• Finding Your Niche
  Targeting women business owners will open a door to the affluent market.
  
  
• The Referral Lucky 13
  Learn 13 common-sense methods to gather the best referrals.
  
  
• Staying Power
  Learn how four leaders, including NAIFA CEO David F. Woods, kept their sales careers on course.
  
  

August 2003

• Critical Retirement Decisions
  With your help, clients don’t have to work during retirement.
  
  
• The Death of Cold-Calling
  Mastering referrals is more important than ever.
  
  
• It’s All in the Details
  Being a long-term care specialist takes education, solid systems and the ability to be there for clients when the time comes.
  
  
• Expanding Your Practice
  Taking your business beyond city limits requires specialized interest, strategic alliances and a willingness to follow the customers.
  
  
• Inflation Protection for Long-Term Care
  Your client needs protection from the rising cost of long-term care.
  
  
• Make Up or Break Up
  Your partnership with your broker-dealer can be contentious. Is a “divorce” in your future?
  
  
• The Many Uses of Life Insurance
  Life insurance is primarily a way of providing a death benefit, but it can be so much more.
  
  
• Maximize the Return on Your Website Investment
  Learn low-cost, practical ideas to market your company website.
  
  
• The Next Untapped Market
  You can boost your productivity by becoming a financial gerontologist.
  
  
• Playing for Keeps
  Here’s one expert's take on the many challenges facing advisors today.
  
  

July 2003

• Breaking In
  Find out how this agent got his start and was able to found his own agency within two years
  
  
• The DNA of Successful Multiline Agencies
  Learn common characteristics of successful multiline agents.
  
  
• Getting Started
  Here is what you need to do to move to a comprehensive financial planning process.
  
  
• Do You Have Influence Skill?
  What can Barbara Walters teach you? Influence skill—it will get clients to listen to you and heed your advice.
  
  
• Ingredients for Growing Your Business
  Helping clients manage their liabilities gives you an opportunity to build your practice.
  
  
• LTCI: What You Need to Know Now
  The market is ripe for all advisors to succeed with LTCI, but this means learning how to sell this complex product and who to sell it to.
  
  
• Double Your Income with Multilife LTCI
  The government has given you all you need to make every day the Fourth of July.
  
  
• Handling Highly Appreciated Property
  This advice can help your clients sell their real estate with trusts.
  
  
• Technology: How Well Do You Manage It?
  Take this short quiz to see if you are taking full advantage of your office technology.
  
  
• Words of Influence
  Mandy Bass believes salespeople who customize their messages for each client and prospect are more successful. Is she on to something?
  
  

June 2003

• Beyond the Box
  We play off a hackneyed phrase to ruminate on the importance of boxes and old-fashioned creativity.
  
  
• Doing Great Things
  Volunteering can give you a sense of satisfaction and, if handled properly, help your bottom line.
  
  
• Education Foundations
  Your wealthy clients can fund a 529 without identifying a beneficiary.
  
  
• The Five Ps of Empowerment
  Empower your employees to make their own decisions and add value to your business.
  
  
• Follow the Money
  The road to success is in retirement plan asset rollovers.
  
  
• Holistic Wealth Management
  These 10 features are what you should look for when selecting a comprehensive wealth-planning system.
  
  
• Preserving Inherited IRAs
  The Uniform Distribution Table can help you streamline the inheritance process.
  
  
• The Magic of Marketing
  Four successful advisors and a marketing expert give you their take on credibility, centers of influence, seminars and high-tech marketing.
  
  
• Planning for Divorce
  Here are a few estate-planning issues engaged couples should address.
  
  
• Success Calendars
  If you have trouble organizing, this simple color-coded calendar system can help you keep track of personal and business time.
  
  
• Three Characteristics of Top Producers
  What sets the best producers apart from the average ones?
  
  

May 2003

• A Road Map to Investment Success
  Keep your clients on track with their investments by using some old-fashioned techniques combined with innovative tools and technology
  
  
• Reverse Mortgages
  A reverse mortgage can increase retirement income for seniors if combined with an annuity.
  
  
• Self-Financed Universal Life
  This approach lets your client pay minimum premiums into a guaranteed life policy.
  
  
• Selling Stability
  Emphasizing your current and future longevity is the key to closing the sale.
  
  
• The 'Six and Two' Model
  By selling a comprehensive plan, you can decrease stress and increase revenue.
  
  
• Tough Times Call for Drastic Action
  Emphasizing your current and future longevity is the key to closing the sale.
  
  
• Transitioning to a Fee-Based Financial Planning Practice
  This MDRT presentation offers tips for telling potential clients about your new fee-based practice.
  
  

April 2003

• From Commission to Fees
  Learn how this advisor successfull converted his clients to fee-based accounts.
  
  
• The Five-Question Interview
  With five questions you can get the stories that will turn prospects into clients.
  
  
• The Five Secrets of Seminar Success
  If you're new to seminars, or a savvy veteran, these tips will sharpen your game.
  
  
• Targeting Seniors
  Today's seniors are active and living longer. That means yesterday's products and approaches may not be a good fit. Here?s what you can do to keep these clients financially healthy as they retire.
  
  
• Unlicensed Sharing
  No matter how you couch it, sharing your commission with an unlicensed advisor can spell trouble.
  
  
• Finding Your Niche in the Women's Market
  You shouldn't be selling to all women, just some women. Find out why some advisors are taking this tack, and why you should as well.
  
  

March 2003

• Enhancing Your Image
  Looks do matter! This column will help you and your staff present the right image to your clients.
  
  
• Manage Your Time or Others Will
  We get the same 24 hours—the trick is to fill it with what’s important first, then work to include less critical details.
  
  
• Learning the Lesson of Persistence
  The death of a close family friend is made more painful by the ill-timed lapse of a life insurance policy.
  
  
• Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Top of the Table Producer
  MDRT presentations are back on the Web! Here are seven steps to reaching Top of the Table.
  
  

February 2003

• The Advisor As Coach
  Learn the basics to coaching employees and some compelling reasons to view yourself as more than just an employer. By Dick Zalack
  
  
• Tips for Conquering the Boomer Market
  Gain insight into Boomers, and turn them from prospects into clients.
  
  
• Charitable Remainder Trusts
  Here's a detailed look at one of the most common approaches to charitable giving.
  
  
• Get Cases Rated Better—and Closed Faster
  Get clients with less-than-perfect medical histories the coverage they need in a shorter time.
  
  
• Relationship Is Key
  Middle America wants sound advice from someone it trusts.
  
  
• Time Savers
  Gaining an extra hour a day can help you grow your business. Here's how.
  
  

January 2003

• How to Manage the Big Ego
  Big-headed employees are usually problematic, but you can harness their boundless energy if you manage them correctly.
  
  
• Choosing an Effective Estate-Planning Attorney
  A values-based, client-centered attorney will help your clients succeed.
  
  
• 13 Great Ways to Kill Your Company's Marketing
  Good marketing doesn't come naturally. Here are 13 warning signs your marketing plan is off track.
  
  
• LTCI in Easy Terms
  Not all LTCI policies are alike. It’s your job to make your clients understand the differences.
  
  
• Warning Signs
  Know what to look for in a failing employee and the steps to avoid failure.
  
  
• Who’s Next?
  Running through your list of friends and relatives doesn’t mean you’ve reached the end of the line.
  
  
• Working in Tandem
  Tax attorneys and CPAs tell advisors how they can better hold up their corner of the estate-planning triangle.