Simple Reminders in This Difficult Time

Maintain regular contact with clients and prospects, continue to charge your professional batteries, and stay motivated.

By Frank C. Bearden, Ph.D., CLU, ChFC

NAIFA has always been an organization that serves. During much of this year, you may have felt like someone in a rowboat on intermittent rough waters. At times, the roughness from COVID-19 seemed to disappear, only to return with little notice.

Nonetheless, NAIFA remains a service organization that serves to protect the financial interests of our clients by acting in their best interests (NAIFA Code of Ethics). In that sense, nothing has changed. You might find it interesting to discover the wide variety of clients our members serve. View the the list on financialsecurity.org and select “Who We Serve” for the full article.

We can be proud that NAIFA has been in the forefront of professional associations that seek diversity among our advisors. As a result, “Today there are more women, minorities and young people entering the insurance and financial planning profession than ever before.”

Those we serve include:

• The middle market whose household income ranges from $35,000 to $100,000. Middle-income Americans face challenges with being underinsured or underfunded for a comfortable retirement.

• The multi-cultural market includes Hispanic, African American, Indian, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese communities. Members of these communities may need education on the need for financial protection for themselves and families.

• Women have a strong need for financial planning, as they as a group live longer than men but may earn less. Their careers often have been interrupted by child raising or caring for aging parents or grandchildren.

• The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT). About 3% of Americans identify themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual and .3% are transgender.

• Young families include nuclear families of two parents and children, unmarried couples, single parents, and same-sex partners with adopted children. The increasing longevity of Americans presents estate planning and retirement challenges. (Much of the material in these five points above is from security.naifa.org/who-we-serve.)

How do we serve our clients? This is answered by reviewing the second obligation in the NAIFA Code of Ethics —“To work diligently to satisfy the needs of my client by acting in their best interest.” their financial planning. We can display charts that convey descriptions of recommendations so that they can follow the need for, and benefits of, changes to their financial plans.

We should also maintain our activity in reaching out to prospective clients, in the aspiration of being of service to these persons. Phone calls and email messages are effective means of reaching out to referrals to schedule introductory meetings via Zoom. In our activities with clients and prospective clients, we should remember that an underlying ethical reason to stay active relates to doing all we can to continue to be effective in our profession.

Regular Contact With Clients And Prospects

In times of uncertainty like these, it is important to maintain regular contact with our clients, being attentive to their financial needs and concerns. In a prior article, we discussed using resources such as Zoom to hold face-to-face video meetings with clients. In these meetings, we are able to convey our interest in our clients and review priorities for

A final note in staying effective involves taking time to charge our own professional batteries. This involves continued studying to add to, or maintain, our professional and educational credentials. It also involves maintaining our professional contacts, such as those in our local, state and national NAIFA organizations. Keeping our own motivation strong is a fundamental act of ethical service.