2020 was a year of challenges and change. You know the adage, when thrown lemons, make lemonade. That’s what we did!
My personality is rare according to folks such as Carl Jung, the father of modern psychology. I process information using all four areas of the brain simultaneously. He said most people use one quadrant at a time. The good news is I intuitively know the questions folks will ask of me before they ask and I have formulated a solution, as well. (By the way, Nancy Ball, who runs our financial department has the exact same personality type. She is super smart!) Some of my personal interactions come off as arrogant or condescending. I do my best to wait for folks to process their question, verbalize their question, and wait for a response.
So how does one use the gifts they were given for the good of all those they meet? Simple; provide solutions to everyday challenges.
If you know what is going to happen and you know how to fix the obstacles folks will encounter, the next steps are to put in place tools to use to overcome the problems they will face, even if they don’t yet know they exist.
Where is this going you ask? Our business is solving challenges for people.
We know when someone approaches their 65th birthday, they will be inundated with biased sales pitches to buy this, that, or the other. Annually, the same ads pitch amazing things. Some are real, some are a stretch. Comedians and football players are even selling Medicare these days. The sales information is inescapable. It is everywhere: TV, radio, newspaper, lobbyist groups monthly publications, Facebook, YouTube, even in your email inbox and mailbox.
When someone approaches retirement, the ads on all media naturally become more relevant. Most ads are pushing the same thing they sell to folks in their working years, just re-packaged to look like stuff for retirees. We see it every time we turn on any electronic device. We look at the ads and it breaks our hearts every time we see how folks bite and move their lifelong savings with the hopes of great things, only to be disappointed.
2021 will be a watershed year for our clients. More folks than ever before will retire. More folks than ever will need to have a steady, reliable income to replace their working income. More folks than ever before will need health insurance outside of their employer.
As always, we will work in our client’s best interest (the definition of fiduciary). As always, we will be answering the phones with a smiley human (yes, you can hear a smile). As always, we wish you a healthy, prosperous, and safe new year!