Fact Finding Resources for Agents

The best agents are the best “fact finders.” Fact-Finding requires you to ask great questions. The top producers ask the best questions. Great questions turn into more opportunity to serve clients and write larger cases. TAKE NOTES​. Here are some helpful pieces of language I have seen used to great effect when working with clients:

Starting a fact-finding meeting: ‘Would it be helpful if I explained what it is that I do?’ PAUSE​ - ‘I help busy professionals, families, and corporations protect the things they love most, and accumulate wealth. By using life insurance products, I can ensure that they don’t overspend on taxes and pay Uncle Sam only what’s absolutely necessary, and not a penny more’

• “What’s on your mind for us to discuss today?” (Let them talk). Ask, “What else?”
• “Anything about finances that keeps you up at night or causes you anxiety?”
• “Tell me about your parents relationship with money”
• “If you’re anything like most of my clients, you are probably not putting away as much as you could, and should be, to live the life you want to life later on down the road. Would it be helpful if I showed you roughly how much you need to sustain the lifestyle you want?”

Remember, the average American needs to put away 20-30% per year from 25 into their 60s, to retire comfortably at 65. The average retirement is 20 to 30 years. Lifestyle in retirement will likely require close to ~80% of a client’s take home pay on a monthly basis, to sustain comfortably. For a household bringing in 100k, saving 25% means 25k per year. Most clients have a 401k and employer match at work that helps them put away 6-12%. This is a typical average! Therefore, a shortage of 8-19% remains. Here is where YOU have a great opportunity to serve your clients. Show them tax-free vehicles where they can contribute $8000-$19,000 per year, and generate a return that turns their shortage into a surplus. For a household income of $200K annually, this number is $16-38,000. KaiZen Policies are excellent for these households, in many cases. On average, 1 in 2 adults (approx. 48%) experience a long-term care event or disability in their lifetime. Insurance is the ABSOLUTE BEST WAY to protect against financial shortfalls that will occur if they experience such an event*****

• “If you’re like most of my professional clients, you probably have some life insurance offered through work. On average it’s 2x their income - Can you tell me how much or what type of insurance you have in place?”
• "Would it be helpful if I reviewed the steps you’ve already taken to protect and accumulate wealth? Great, can you pull up a copy of your life insurance polic(ies)?
• “Let’s talk about your goals - Are there any major purchases you anticipate making in the next 5 years? Where do you see your finances in 6 years to 20 years from now - anything you may need a big pile of money for?”
• "In 20years, where do you see yourself and would you like the option to slow down or stop working then, not because you have to but because you want to?’
• “If I could show you a way to pay for your entire retirement by leveraging a life policy with a bank with no loan documents, no credit check, and no personal guarantees - that would be pretty wonderful right? Oh and by the way, when’s the last time your retirement plan protected you for a long term care event or chronic illness - WITH NO TAX?”

A quick rule of thumb: for every $3,000 of after-tax income, a prospect should have a minimum of $1,000,000.00 of life insurance coverage. This number is higher for married couples with children The suggested amounts of coverage range from 7-10x annual salary in smaller towns and 10-15x salary in more populated cities where the cost of living is higher. I usually lean towards 10-12x salary, and I’ve never had someone come back to me and say they regret having more coverage.*

Food for thought: Husband (40 years old) passes away leaving his wife (35) and 2 children behind, with only his life insurance policy to help. Does $1,000,000.00 provide her enough support for additional childcare, education and college tuition, mortgage/rent, car payments, medical expenses, etc. for the next 10 years?

• “We use life insurance for ‘the What-Ifs’ and ‘the Whens,’ Would you like me to explain why that is?” Pause​ “For life’s ‘What-Ifs’ or unexpected life events, we protect ourselves with insurance benefit. For our goals in life, we determine when, and life insurance allows us to accumulate wealth tax free by that ‘when’ or date when we want to use it for retirement, as loan collateral, for college tuition, to secure real estate transactions, etc”