Affluence

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New here and this question might be a tad off topic but this seems to be the most relevant forum for me. I’m currently only life and health licensed but I’m working on all of my securities so I can offer more and expand my knowledge and what I’m capable of as I grow my business. The more successful advisors at my brokerage are the ones with securities licenses and I’ve been on a number of webinars with them to learn that they are really big on annuities and other products outside of the IUL which is really championed where I work.

Getting to the point.. I was wondering if anyone on here can help me decode some of the “real life examples” I’ve heard about through webinars meant to inspire myself and other agents to get additional licenses. I haven’t been able to direct answers but maybe some of you will have an idea? I really just want to uncover how these examples are possible so I can start seeking out training on how to apply them to my business. But some of the services that we’re allegedly able to do for higher net worth individuals includes things like asset liquidation, estate planning, succession planning, buy sell agreements, retirement planning, wealth preservation, private equity, asset protection trusts, 1031 exchanges, executive bonus plans, employee retention strategies, qualified plans, non qualified plans, and other forms of advanced planning and sophisticated tax strategies.

These are the terms of the planning strategies I’m aware of being done by advisors on different “teams” than me making a lot of money helping i people in significant ways. However I don’t understand how these things can lead to the pay days they discuss. For example: I specifically remember one advisor talking about a business owner that he designed what’s called a “private pension” for. The business owner netted around $1M in profits but because of this private pension, they were able to structure a plan where he only had to pay taxes of $250,000 or so. That’s one heck of a savings for the business owner but these guys never break down the details of what they’re doing to accomplish this.

My question is this.. given the list of planning strategies mentioned, does anyone here have any experience with these terms and how certain policies can be structured to save the ultra rich so much money in taxes? I have a significantly wealthy warm market and would love to learn ways in which I can help them in such a way but unfortunately nobody cares to have a conversation with you if you’re not on their “team”. Anybody have any big time examples of ways these strategies can be used to help people in such a huge way?
 
Sorry if this forum isn’t meant for advanced planning like what I’m mentioning. But all of the financial advisor forums I searched have websites that crash and take forever to load. Just trying to engage with others that have experience in what I am trying to learn about. If there’s a more relevant forum on this website to make this post, please direct me there!
 
New here and this question might be a tad off topic but this seems to be the most relevant forum for me. I’m currently only life and health licensed but I’m working on all of my securities so I can offer more and expand my knowledge and what I’m capable of as I grow my business. The more successful advisors at my brokerage are the ones with securities licenses and I’ve been on a number of webinars with them to learn that they are really big on annuities and other products outside of the IUL which is really championed where I work.

Getting to the point.. I was wondering if anyone on here can help me decode some of the “real life examples” I’ve heard about through webinars meant to inspire myself and other agents to get additional licenses. I haven’t been able to direct answers but maybe some of you will have an idea? I really just want to uncover how these examples are possible so I can start seeking out training on how to apply them to my business. But some of the services that we’re allegedly able to do for higher net worth individuals includes things like asset liquidation, estate planning, succession planning, buy sell agreements, retirement planning, wealth preservation, private equity, asset protection trusts, 1031 exchanges, executive bonus plans, employee retention strategies, qualified plans, non qualified plans, and other forms of advanced planning and sophisticated tax strategies. These are the terms of the planning strategies I’m aware of being done by advisors on different “teams” than me making a lot of money helping i people in significant ways. However I don’t understand how these things can lead to the pay days they discuss. For example: I specifically remember one advisor talking about a business owner that he designed what’s called a “private pension” for. The business owner netted around $1M in profits but because of this private pension, they were able to structure a plan where he only had to pay taxes of $250,000 or so. That’s one heck of a savings for the business owner but these guys never break down the details of what they’re doing to accomplish this.

My question is this.. given the list of planning strategies mentioned, does anyone here have any experience with these terms and how certain policies can be structured to save the ultra rich so much money in taxes? I have a significantly wealthy warm market and would love to learn ways in which I can help them in such a way but unfortunately nobody cares to have a conversation with you if you’re not on their “team”. Anybody have any big time examples of ways these strategies can be used to help people in such a huge way?
In the example mentioned, I meant to say the business owner only had to pay taxes ON $250k of his $1M earning. Not that he paid $250 IN taxes. So that leaves $750k of his earnings or so that wasn’t taxed or at least not yet. In the state where this took place (Colorado), that would be $237,339 in money saved that would otherwise be spent on taxes. That is a huge savings.
 
You are trying to run a marathon and haven't even run a 440 yet.

Slow down. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. Give yourself a chance to learn the basics before trying to a a Jack of all Trades and master of none.

You are just a Padawan. Plenty of time before you can be a Jedi Master.
 
My question is this.. given the list of planning strategies mentioned, does anyone here have any experience with these terms and how certain policies can be structured to save the ultra rich so much money in taxes? I have a significantly wealthy warm market and would love to learn ways in which I can help them in such a way but unfortunately nobody cares to have a conversation with you if you’re not on their “team”. Anybody have any big time examples of ways these strategies can be used to help people in such a huge way?
Are you a new agent?

Any agency "championing" a product is likely garbage imho (people all have different needs so there's no perfect product for anyone).

There are a ton of tax strategies that high net worth folks can use for deductions.

If I had your natural market, I'd focus more on the after-tax aspect of life insurance in general and how some of the most wealthy people in the country use it. (1m in profit isn't really "mega-rich", it's a fantastic income but people with a lot more money use insurance for many reasons).

It could be as simple as estate planning or more complex using maxed cash value life insurance.

Frankly, if you want to write these types of cases you should work with a group that actually does them.
 
But some of the services that we’re allegedly able to do for higher net worth individuals includes things like asset liquidation, estate planning, succession planning, buy sell agreements, retirement planning, wealth preservation, private equity, asset protection trusts, 1031 exchanges, executive bonus plans, employee retention strategies, qualified plans, non qualified plans, and other forms of advanced planning and sophisticated tax strategies.

Much of these cases are integrating many of those into the same strategy. They're outlining it to show you how "good" they are.

Yeah... you're in the jungle of diffusion. "Look at all the stuff we can do!" The problem is you don't know who the ideal prospects are, how to talk to them, and how to help bring in the client to bring home the bacon.

It's almost as if I went to you and said: "I specialize in IRS code sections 72, 79, 101, 401, 403, 408, 412, 419, 1035, 7702, and 162."

If you can't prospect for these cases, it won't matter how smart you are.

Btw, I had my Series 7 & 66. They didn't teach anything about strategy. Primarily about rules, markets, and regulations.

I learned more about that stuff in my CLU & ChFC designation studies. However, you'll learn FAR more doing joint work... if you can bring in the cases to spilt with the various specialty groups that you talked about.

I'm also looking forward to the IARFC's new Registered Business Consultant designation course and program. @HARVEY BAILEY is keeping me appraised on it (as he's CEO of the IARFC). It hasn't come out yet, but it's an expansion of the previous Business Owner Consulting Workshop the association had 10 years ago.

Here's a preview of what you'd learn in that workshop:
 
Are you a new agent?

Any agency "championing" a product is likely garbage imho (people all have different needs so there's no perfect product for anyone).

There are a ton of tax strategies that high net worth folks can use for deductions.

If I had your natural market, I'd focus more on the after-tax aspect of life insurance in general and how some of the most wealthy people in the country use it. (1m in profit isn't really "mega-rich", it's a fantastic income but people with a lot more money use insurance for many reasons).

It could be as simple as estate planning or more complex using maxed cash value life insurance.

Frankly, if you want to write these types of cases you should work with a group that actually does them.
No. Not a new agent, just trying to evolve what I do beyond life insurance. I’d like to learn more about the investment services that life insurance can be used for (annuities, securities, etc. as well) specifically as it relates to tax mitigation. This forum isn’t my primary source of training, I do have mentors and others that I plan to work jointly with but I just figured why not use every resource available to gather as many opinions and experiences as possible.

I’d like to learn more about how the wealthy ($1M+ earners) use insurance to mitigate taxes, plan for retirement, etc. I mean, I know the benefits of an IUL and stuff like that but I feel like there’s a lot more than just that and would like to know some of the other ways we can help affluent clients that may be too old or sick for an IUL to be worthwhile. The idea of being able to save a client like a business owner a large sum of money that would otherwise be spent on taxes seems like a priceless promise to be able to make and I’d love to learn more about the how the resources available to me can help me deliver services like that. Until I am an expert and have the real life joint experiences doing such services, I’ll stick to traditional insurance plans.
 
Much of these cases are integrating many of those into the same strategy. They're outlining it to show you how "good" they are.

Yeah... you're in the jungle of diffusion. "Look at all the stuff we can do!" The problem is you don't know who the ideal prospects are, how to talk to them, and how to help bring in the client to bring home the bacon.

It's almost as if I went to you and said: "I specialize in IRS code sections 72, 79, 101, 401, 403, 408, 412, 419, 1035, 7702, and 162."

If you can't prospect for these cases, it won't matter how smart you are.

Btw, I had my Series 7 & 66. They didn't teach anything about strategy. Primarily about rules, markets, and regulations.

I learned more about that stuff in my CLU & ChFC designation studies. However, you'll learn FAR more doing joint work... if you can bring in the cases to spilt with the various specialty groups that you talked about.

I'm also looking forward to the IARFC's new Registered Business Consultant designation course and program. @HARVEY BAILEY is keeping me appraised on it (as he's CEO of the IARFC). It hasn't come out yet, but it's an expansion of the previous Business Owner Consulting Workshop the association had 10 years ago.

Here's a preview of what you'd learn in that workshop:

You’re right. I definitely get the run around when I ask a lot of the advisors I work with to break down each one. I am really just exploring the forum and looking for conversation with anyone that has some real life examples or even hypotheticals about how our services can help wealthier individuals plan for retirement more efficiently than traditional routes and specifically how insurance can be used to help business owners mitigate taxes. I would love to learn more about insurance, annuities, etc. being used as sophisticated tax strategies to help wealthier people grow their money. Right now, my work consists on just making sure families are protected against the unknown. I’d like to learn more about how our services can be used for investing and tax mitigation.
 
For example: I would love to know exactly how this is possible... this is an example of a benefit of insurance I found online..

You can easily make other businesses such as real estate part of the life insurance policy.

Since any funds inside life insurance policy are exempt from taxation for life, the wealthy are leveraging on this and now are combining their real estates with a life insurance policy to avoid taxes.
 
The only reason or time you will need a securities license is when selling variable products. Those include individual stocks, bonds, mutual funds, variable annuities and variable universal life insurance.

The Series 6, 7, and 65 are great to have, but are not required to help this mega affluent community that you want to target. Why? Because unless your target market is both ultra affluent and greedy, this class does not need to assume the risk associated with variable investments. All they should really be concerned with is their investments keeping up with inflation and not losing purchasing power. With this group of prospects you're referencing, very few should "require" these additional licenses to earn a boatload of money.

The objective of this market is to preserve their wealth. They have already accumulated it, whether thru inheritance or self-made. Everybody wants a 20% return on their investment, along with a guarantee that they won't lose money. There is no such investment. If they insist on you investing their assets aggressively, they will sue you when the account loses money. The outcome of the lawsuit is irrelevant. This is just what they do!

A pension is a defined benefit retirement plan, which is sponsored and owned by an employer. These wealthy people you are describing do not have employers, unless they are officers and directors of publicly traded companies. Otherwise, they are owners of privately held companies. Regardless of which they belong, at that level of income, more advanced tax strategies are required beyond a 401k. As a result, your colleagues are proposing the maximum funding of life insurance policies and annuities to setup personal pensions (aka, private pension) for these types of individuals.

Life insurance is funded with after-tax dollars. The cash value grows tax-deferred, and can be withdrawn tax-free in the form of loans. These loans never have to be repaid, if done correctly. Roth IRA's are also funded with after-tax dollars, grows tax-deferred, and can be withdrawn tax-free. If you put enough money into them early, you can set yourself up with a lifetime tax-free monthly distribution.

Annuities, on the other hand, can be funded with pre-tax or after tax dollars. This account also grows tax-deferred. However, at some point in time, annuity distributions are always taxable. Like annuities, 401k's, Traditional IRA's, SEP IRA's, Keogh's, etc. are all taxable upon withdrawal.

Therefore, if you have your client first max funds their retirement plan(s), even if you must create one for them, it minimizes their income tax liability immediately, but only up to a certain point. After these plans are maximized, you may advise them to maximize the Roth IRA, which grows tax-free and allows for tax-free withdrawals. After that, you may advise them to max fund a life insurance policy. This is also known as a Tax Triangle.

Your colleagues may or may not be utilizing Revocable and/or Irrevocable Trusts. The purpose of the latter should be to remove assets from the clients estate upon death. Why? Because depending on the wealth of the client, Uncle Sam can tax the estate as well, further depleting assets that were left for the heirs benefit.

Once again, the securities license was not a requirement for any of this, unless variable annuities, variable universal life insurance, stocks, bonds or mutual funds were funded. However, provided the clients' priorities are asset preservation, rather than asset growth, your life insurance license is more than sufficient and you would be paid just as much as if you had a securities license.

In my opinion, you are headed for a great career. However, I do not think this is quite the proper forum for you. What you want are answers and solutions. Short of DHK, you may not get what you are looking for here. I hope what I contributed answered your questions.

By the way, everything I mentioned above covered Advanced Planning, including Retirement Planning, Qualified and non-Qualified Plans, Wealth Preservation, Estate Planning, Asset Protection and Trusts. You will also cover these same areas when encountering business owners in need of succession planning, buy/sell agreements and executive bonus plans.

There are only a few things you need to do now:
1. Solidify an acceptable commission split between yourself and a qualified experienced associate. By no means does it have to be with the same individual for every case. However, attaching yourself to the hip of a well respected and competent Advisor has many benefits.
2. Prospect. It is your responsibility to bring the prospects to the table. Do not expect your mentor and partner to share his clients and prospects with you. He does not need you. Rather, you need him. Just keep bringing them in.
3. Study and learn. Study how your mentor communicates with the prospect/client. Listen to the questions that he asks the prospect/client. Observe how the prospect/client responds to specific questions asked. Take notes and write down those questions. Later, ask you mentor why he asked those specific questions. Learn the outline of the presentation your mentor uses. Learn the presentation itself. Practice the presentation. Ask if you can participate more and more as you perfect the presentation. By the end of your first year, you should be knowledgeable enough to conduct these presentations and interviews entirely by yourself. You will have gained experience with many different cases, in addition to many different strategies recommended.

If you do no more than those 3 small tasks, you will make just as much money as those you spoke about above.
 
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