A famous faux-commercial from "Saturday Night Live" has Sam Waterston as pitchman for Old Glory Insurance. Waterston, star of NBC’s “Law & Order,” warns of a dire threat plaguing the nation. He plays it so straight it isn’t until the nature of the threat is revealed that the viewer understands the joke – robots are attacking the elderly.
“As a senior citizen, you’re probably aware of the threat robots pose,” Waterston deadpans. “Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people’s medicine for fuel.”
Pretty amusing; especially against the backdrop of a low-tech, Gort-style 1950s robot smashing through an elderly couple’s bedroom door to gobble their pills.
It’s easy to laugh at our irrational fears, especially as we age. But the current threat to boomer retirement isn’t at all funny. The bedrock of any successful retirement plan and lasting financial legacy is effective risk management through the use of insurance. It’s considered the first level of the financial planning hierarchy of needs. Hell, the American College (until a recent curriculum change) began its CFP, CLU and ChFC courses of study with Fundamentals of Insurance for Financial Planning. Riveting, to be sure, but also completely necessary. So why do so many financial advisors outsource this most basic client need?
Can’t tell you how many high-net-worth advisors say they’re comprehensive, then add they don’t handle insurance and refer clients to a trusted life or long term care agent. Too many advisors still view insurance as something that’s sold, and its commission-based compensation structure offends certain high-minded sensibilities.
This is the reason for our February insurance issue. We talk with Andrew Mathews, president and founder of Berkshire Advisor Resource, a firm that brought it all in — house and is making it work. In order to be comprehensive you have to … well, be completely comprehensive. This is all the more important as more boomers begin to consolidate their assets from an average of three advisors to one with a one-stop-shop model, as research indicates they are now beginning to do. It’s the right thing for your boomer clients – and your business.