Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome everybody to the Annuity Straight Talk podcast, episode number 236.
My name is Brian Anderson, founder and creator of AnnuityStraightTalk.com and I'm Nate Lee joining again today.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Awesome to have your Nate. You've been here for a few days. And he came to enjoy some frigid fall weather in Montana. Planned on going fishing, but we didn't do that. Right. But we had several good meetings and we're going to talk about a few of the people we. We talked to this week.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Nope. Would have been nice to get out on the water again, but yeah, good to get some work done.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: We had a good, we had a good fishing trip in July, I guess it was.
September can be great, but it's more variable, so who knows?
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: So one thing I wanted to talk about this week. If you guys want to go ahead and like subscribe or comment on any of your favorite podcast platforms or on YouTube, schedule a call with either of us. It's on the top right corner of any page on annuitystraighttalk.com if you prefer Nate over me, just put it in the notes and say, hey, I want to talk to Nate. I'll make sure you go to his calendar. But we kind of share responsibilities here because we are of like, mind and do everything the same way. We will do the best we can to take care of you. So a couple of the meetings we had this week, we noticed a trend, Right. And the trend really was that there are certain people, there are a lot of people that really need annuities, but there are also some people that use them for a strategic advantage. Yeah.
And so one case that we first talked about was, you know, it was a guy who had just enough money to, you know, make it through retirement and the annuity would give him something that was guaranteed. That's very needs based strategy.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Yeah, he had a pretty small income gap, but had qualified money, some retirement assets that he was looking to, you know, guarantee that he was going to have that for as long as he lived. And luckily he had plenty of money to make that happen. And I think it was a couple hundred thousand, but we didn't need all of it to, to guarantee those basic needs.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: And so to guarantee his basic needs, we could take it was less than half of what he had and give him the extra income he needed, plus a little bit of wiggle room, some extra cash flow every month. And he said, I just don't want to have to worry about it. He's what, you know, 68 years old, you know, longevity in the family. And he can live, you know, and he can live comfortably knowing that he's got growth in the rest of his portfolio, but some other, you know, the guaranteed income that he needs. Yep.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, one thing I'll mention too is, you know, we had multiple conversations because, I mean, again, there were additional assets, but we didn't try to put all of them into one product. It didn't necessarily make sense. But again, the needs based approach was let's cover, you know, those fixed expenses. Just make sure you have that peace of mind. And yeah, it just allows you to sleep better at night.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: That's a good, that's a good point. Because he came in thinking that he was going to spend, what, maybe 60 or 70% of his assets to get a guaranteed income product.
And when we figured out what his needs were, we said, no, no, no, you really can dial it back quite a bit. And he felt really comfortable with it. So he moved forward and did something that was actually less than half of what he has available. So it saved him 60 or $70,000.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: It did. And you know, and that brings up another good point is we're always trying to look at it, you know, from all angles, but suitability comes into play and then the word flexibility, to be able to, you know, make sure we're doing the right thing for the client, but also giving them options with those assets. Because life happens, things change. You know, by not having to put all of it into one product, he's going to have a ton of different options in the next five to ten years.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, if the market keeps going like crazy. So he's going to have, he could buy the annuity, get the guaranteed income, and what's left over could replace what he even started with from a gross standpoint, so. Exactly. Um, and the other one was, you know, like what we get a lot of times is kind of like, hey, wait a second, I didn't know. It's a guy who doesn't really necessarily need the income or doesn't have a retirement income plan in place, knows he's going to retire in a few years, but he didn't, he said, oh, I never thought I really needed this. And this goes back to Fidelity's annuities and all the other different scenarios we've said where a lot of people said, hey, I think this is. I always heard this was a bad deal.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, both of us, throughout our careers, we hear that all the time. And whether it comes from Susie Orman back in the day or Fisher Investments.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:39] Speaker B: Annuities are bad. They're not good for you. This gentleman just happened to be super smart, a numbers, you know, finance guy, and he looked at it, he goes, why wouldn't I do this? It just. It doesn't make sense to not guarantee a piece of that retirement.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: And it'll be fun. And so that one like that one, we're just getting started with the guy. But that's what we're talking about is saying from a strategic standpoint of growing assets, building wealth through retirement, he thought, wait a second, maybe this does make sense.
Never thought I needed it. Always thought they were a bad deal, but I might come back around. And I said, hey, that's all of my clients and everybody that Nate's talked about for the last 20 years of his life, too.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And just to. To point out, I mean, he's got plenty of retirement money, but, you know, we haven't gone through all the. The process. Right. Again, this is where the strategy comes into play, that there's a number of different things he can do. But, you know, not to pick on dinner seminars. Right. They're trying to sell you a product.
They, you know, they drive you to these events and, hey, come to, you know, hear what I have to say. But they're trying to push a product.
And when you talk about strategy, there's a lot of things that go into it. And that's where I think we add value to be able to show you the different ways you can leverage these different buckets of money.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: Yeah, no, absolutely, because we don't. Our goal is not to sell something to everybody that comes in here. Our goal is to help you find the solution.
And if it's an annuity, then we'll get you the best one you can get. I like the dinner seminar approach. And I remember, like, a few years ago, some guy told me, like, he's like, yeah, but you're doing kind of the same thing. I'm like, yeah, I am. Right. I'm paying money to put the name out there and to get this stuff. But you guys get to self select and decide who you want to deal with. Okay.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: And I'll add that, you know, after wholesaling for 20 years and working with, you know, advisors and agents all over the country, you know, you can tell when people need to sell something. And it's pretty obvious, right? You got to pay for those seminars. You got to pay for your own office. You've got to do all these things. And you know, the one thing we always offer is, hey, we're here to help. You know, our expertise and all the years of doing what we've done. You know, we're not pushing a specific product. We're trying to find the right fit. And I think that comes back to the strategy piece. You know, it's, we hear it all the time. I bought an Alliance 222 and I don't even know what I have or why I have it right. And, and that's where, you know, it's sad, but that's why we are here to help you.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: Think about the time, all the times that I did it in before where people would call me, tell me what my, tell me about this annuity. Well, what company do you have it with? And they said, oh, I don't know, what's the name of the product? Oh, I don't know. I was like, you put several hundred thousand dollars into a contract, you don't even know where it's, where it's at.
And I mean, and people give me grief over small things. But like, this is a big decision that you're making and you know, we take it seriously and we want to do the best thing for you. So that's it.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: And we're not going to pressure you. And we say that all the time. You know, we'll, we'll set as many meetings, have as many calls as you want so that we can answer questions, but also to make sure that we are putting you in the right position and developing a strategy that works for you and your family. Because everybody's different, you know, unique circumstances
[00:08:01] Speaker A: and, and going back to like when we talk about the needs based guy versus the strategy guy, when it comes to the strategy guy, we're going to run him through the software that we have that is patent pending and proprietary. It's the only place you're going to get this level, the depth of retirement planning analysis to decide what is the best for you going forward.
So with the strategy guy, we're going to take him through that application and we're going to go and look at the numbers and test different scenarios. And so that if he does decide to do business, if he does decide to buy an annuity, we're going to actually verify it with solid historical analysis to make sure that he is locking in number one at the best time, you could actually hope to buy an annuity. Watch the next episode next week because that's what we're going to talk about. But also we're Going to verify that that's a solid financial move to make because we have the software and the financial planning tools to do that.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: And you should not leave, you know, a conversation with us or if you ultimately work with Brian and I, not knowing what you have and why you have it, we should be able to pinpoint why the product makes sense and the dollar amount. Because a lot of times people say, how much should I put in?
We can't answer that for you. We can guide you and direct you.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: We'll give you a range of options that say, well, here's what it looks like in the software. And if you do this, like, this seems to be optimal, but maybe you're comfortable doing less.
But again, if you want to guarantee, if you want security in retirement, do you want all of that? Do you want to. You should have a piece of it, right? Have a piece of that, of the guarantee. And that's kind of. It's like one of those things where, like, you, like you said, like I always told people, I want you to know so much about the annuity that you buy that you could go sell it to somebody else. Okay? Not like, oh, hey, how does this work? Because I get those calls all the time and I get tired of it. It's like, oh, but they said this, but it means that, and I'm really upset and I don't know, be able, like, know enough about it so that you can defend your position when someone tells you and say, this is my plan, be proud of it. It's a big decision. You buy it, you make a lot
[00:10:20] Speaker B: of money, and you bring up a good point. We work our whole lives so we can save so that one day we can retire, Right?
[00:10:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: And why wouldn't you, you know, spend the time, do the homework, and then have a plan, right, that, you know in place that's going to allow you to, again, feel really good about what you have, why you have it, and then make your money work for you. The annuity can't hurt you. And we say that a lot. I mean, there's a lot of products and things out there that if they're sold incorrectly, definitely not going to help you. But the nice thing with the annuity, you're not going to lose value, but there's certain products and features that are better for different individuals. We can help you to find that.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: And, and that's true. Like, I like to see that in the software and people look at it and you see where the annuity fits in. And the one thing is, like, the Annuity is the part that will not fail.
So maybe that plan doesn't work out. Maybe you don't have that big balance at the end. But the annuity is not going to be the problem because we're going to put you with a good company and it's guaranteed, and it's going to create so much more growth in your portfolio because you don't have to worry about it.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And that was your flex strategy, right?
[00:11:30] Speaker A: I mean, yeah, it's flex strategy. You know, Come on. We're selling something, dude. We're selling a strategy, right? Anyway. Okay, guys, this has been episode 236. Nate, awesome to have you here. We're gonna do it again. We'll continue to do it, but appreciate you guys joining us. Please, like, subscribe or comment on any of your favorite podcast platforms or on YouTube. Schedule call with us. It's the top right corner of any page on annuitystraighttalk.com schedule a call and we'd be happy to work with you and help you figure out the best path for you in retirement. So thank you, everyone, for joining us. Thank you, Nate, for being here.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: And we'll see you guys next week for episode 2 37. Okay, bye.
