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If you aren’t discussing the impact of taxes on clients’ retirement, you’re missing an opportunity to help them have more money in retirement and to grow your business. Plus, you risk losing clients to advisors who will deliver clients tax-saving strategies.
You can not only keep existing clients from fleeing but also attract higher net-worth clients and grow your business by implementing a turnkey process that educate clients on tax risk in retirement and shows them how to keep more of their money instead of paying Uncle Sam.
But the first hurdle might be your own thinking.
Taxes Not Your Territory?
Don’t limit yourself by thinking that taxes are the responsibility of other professionals, such as certified public accountants (CPAs).
When money that could have gone toward your clients’ needs and desired lifestyle instead goes to taxes, their dreams of retirement could fall short or they could even suffer financial hardships they thought you would help them avoid. If you’re advising clients on any aspect of retirement, understanding how different income sources in retirement are taxed is critical to help them avoid nasty surprises later on.
Furthermore, if you’re a fiduciary, failing to discuss taxes in retirement could mean you’re not fulfilling your fiduciary duty.
A Turnkey Process That Delivers Tax Savings to Clients
Because Senior Market Sales® (SMS) was built by advisors for advisors, we understand the need for easy-to-implement, time-efficient programs that keep advisors ahead of the competition. SMS identified tax-saving retirement strategies as an emerging trend for advisors and sought a way to keep advisors at the forefront of this trend. SMS delivers the CirrusViewTM process as an easy-to-understand and easy-to-implement system to illustrate your value as an advisor offering tax-saving strategies.
Plus, it gives SMS-contracted advisors an edge with indexed universal life at a time when indexed life sales in the second quarter experienced their greatest quarter since 2019’s record-setting fourth quarter, according to Wink’s Sales & Market Report as reported by InsuranceNewsNet. Indexed life sales – which include both indexed UL and indexed whole life – for the second quarter were $627.5 million, up 18.2% when compared with the previous quarter, and up 23.4% as compared to the same period last year.
“Retirement planning is extremely important to our clients, and making sure that they do not run out of money in the future is job one,” said Bill Kauffman, Vice President of Financial Solutions at SMS. “That includes minimizing the devastating impact of taxes, both now and in the future. CirrusView gives advisors the tools to help clients and also increase IUL sales as well as other lines of business.”
What is the CirrusView Program?
It’s a proven system that takes a complicated concept and simplifies it into a repeatable process to earn you more money in an efficient manner. The name refers to cirrus clouds, which are the highest altitude clouds, between about 20,000 and 40,000 feet. You could think of it as another way of saying a “30,000-foot view.”
“CirrusView” speaks to the value that the CirrusView program brings to your practice. It provides clients a high-level view – a different, wider view – of retirement than what advisors typically discuss.
The 3 Components of CirrusView
It does this with three main components: marketing resources, software and reports, and training and coaching.
The marketing resources include seminar presentations, customizable books, TV and radio scripts, one-pagers, white papers and worksheets.
The software produces reports including:
- Side-by-side comparisons of taxes with indexed universal life (IUL) insurance or individual retirement account (IRA)
- A client’s tax burden
- Tax, wealth and income analysis
- Potential tax impact
- Cost analysis of an IUL contract
The tax burden report is the No. 1 report that leads to the most sales, oftentimes showing clients that they can save hundreds of thousands of dollars with the solutions you provide. Together, the different reports help you tell the story of what the client could potentially pay in taxes and how your solutions will lessen the tax burden.
You also get training and coaching to do more IUL, whatever your level of experience. Whether you’re beginning or proficient in IUL, the online course will take you to the next level. You also can access a monthly roundtable webinar and a study group on topics such as how to adapt to changes in the industry.
The support and guidance provided through the CirrusView system are a big part of what will ensure your success – you’re never alone. At every step of the way, you have access to marketing consultants and experts working behind the scenes to help you shine in front of your clients, whether that’s finding the right solution for your clients, running illustrations, making sure you feel comfortable with the software or running reports.
Lift All Lines of Business With CirrusView
While the CirrusView system will increase your IUL production, it also can lift your annuity sales and assets under management (AUM), as well as other lines of business.
One advisor who started using the same system in 2018 with almost no IUL business increased target premium from $20,000 in 2018 to $1.4 in 2020. He also saw a lift in annuity sales from $14 million in 2018 to $21 million in 2020.
The CirrusView process gets these impressive results because it targets higher net-worth clients who can benefit from the strategies it illustrates, provides the step-by-step guidance and software to engage them with a tax-savings dialogue and positions you to gain more wallet share. It also differentiates you in the competitive retirement market. While every competitor is talking about income planning and market risk, your conversation on taxes will set you apart and fuel referrals.
The Power of Word-of-Mouth With Tax Savings
When you save a single client thousands of dollars that otherwise would have gone to pay taxes, word will spread about your services. You’ll be attracting prospects not only through CirrusView’s effective marketing materials but also through friends telling friends about your tax-savvy strategies.
Plus, it’s easy to start immediately. Because you didn’t have to search out or create this process, you’ve saved yourself time by implementing a turnkey solution that gets results quickly and repeatedly. That time efficiency also means that you’re making more money and have more time to spend on what matters most to you. Your reputation in the community will rise as a trusted leader who helps people achieve their dreams in retirement, and you gain clients’ children and friends as clients, too.
You’ll also feel confident that you’ve done all you could to ensure clients’ happiness in retirement. Instead of ignoring the tax implications that could erode their retirement income, you educated them on the reality of taxes and uncovered tax-saving strategies that helped them achieve the best retirement possible.
How to Get Started
Are you ready to provide clients a macro view of retirement, identify strategies to help them avoid unpleasant losses to taxes in the future, and grow your business now?
SMS will show you the CirrusView system, including a demonstration of the software.
Call a marketing consultant today to learn more: 1.800.786.5566.
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