Stars are Aligned for Fixed Indexed Annuities and Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits

By: Charlie Gipple, CLU, ChFC, SVP Sales and Marketing at Partners Advantage Insurance Services, LLC

With FIAs, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF RETURN ON YOUR MONEY, IT’S ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU’RE GETTING THE RETURN ON.  

The year was 1994, and there was a CFP from California that would create one of the most profound “rules of thumb” for retirement income that has ever been created.  William Bengen wrote an article which appeared in the Journal of Financial Planning, and it released the results of this very profound study that he had just undertaken.  This study is what started the “Gold Standard” safe withdrawal rate of 4%.  William basically said that even though over time the market had averaged around 10%, in the distribution years, it doesn’t mean that a client can “safely” withdraw 10% from their portfolios.  So, what William did is he back-tested hypothetical retirement “start dates,” assuming a 50% stock and 50% bond portfolio all the way back to the 1920s, using the actual stock and bond market performance. 

After the analysis was said and done, he said that consumers were “safe” by withdrawing 4% of their initial portfolio value per year adjusted for inflation or deflation.  By “safe,” what he meant was that the 4% distributions were very unlikely to spend down the client’s portfolio/retirement money before the end of the 30-year retirement.  As a matter of fact, in his study, he had a 100% success rate using the 4% rule for retirement income. 
As a result of this study, securities reps for almost two decades have been living and dying by this rule. If a client has a million dollars at retirement, then the client should not take more than $40,000 during the first retirement year, for example. A later study was done in 2013 that was coauthored by Morningstar Inc. It established, in this new world of volatile markets and low interest rates, that the new “safe withdrawal rate” is actually 2.8%. 

The study also indicated that with today’s low-interest rates, market volatility, and SEQUENCE OF RETURNS RISK that there is almost a 52% chance of failure using the 4% rule. Would you get on an airplane if there was a 48% chance of having the number of landings equal the number of takeoffs?

Before looking at what a GLWB can do for a client on a “guaranteed* basis,” I want to point something out. When you look at this risk that we just discussed, which is the client losing 20% of their portfolio value and then taking a major pay cut in retirement or having to delay retirement, this risk is just as catastrophic as say a car crash, medical emergency, a house fire, etc. Or, maybe even death itself. What is the point? My point is, when risks in our lives are catastrophic, should they occur, we take actions to hedge those risks. What do we use? We use something called insurance!

Learn more about FIAs and GLWBs in the full white paper "Stars are Aligned for Fixed Indexed Annuities and Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits" by Charlie Gipple, CLU, ChFC. Gain insights on how to help your clients with FIAs and GLWBs and walk them through hypothetical scenarios that show them how FIAs can be great inflation fighting products.

Call your Partners Advantage Brokerage Team at 888-251-5525, ext. 700 for a copy.

For financial professional use only. Not for use with consumers4

*Guarantees are backed by the Financial Strength and claims-paying ability of issuing company.

Annuities are designed to meet long-term needs for retirement income. They provide guarantees against the loss of premium and credited interest, and the reassurance of a death benefit for beneficiaries.

An income rider or benefit (sometimes called Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal benefit rider or GLWB rider) is an additional feature available with some annuities and generally optional and come with additional costs. Income benefits are designed to provide income options above and beyond the standard annuitization or free withdrawal features in annuities.

Pursuant to IRS Circular 230, Partners Advantage Insurance Services and their 
representatives do not give tax or legal advice and cannot be used to avoid tax penalties or to promote, market, or recommend any tax plan or arrangement. Encourage your clients to consult their tax advisor or attorney.

The information contained in this article is not intended to serve as tax or legal advice and is not intended to provide financial or legal advice and does not address individual circumstances.

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Are PowerPoints Your Best Friend or Your Worst Enemy?

By: Charlie Gipple CLU, ChFC, SVP Sales and Marketing at Partners Advantage Insurance Services, LLC

I believe wholeheartedly that the purpose for PowerPoints has been lost on many presenters because of those presenters’ own shortcomings at presenting. Let me explain. For many that do presentations wrong, the idea of putting together a long deck of beautiful slides that are extremely wordy automatically makes them think the presentation will be well received. Thus, the amount of time preparing for what is really important— practicing the words you use and how you use them—has gone by the wayside.

In a people business, where people want to connect with people, this is the wrong way of presenting yourself. Creating PowerPoint slides should be secondary and should take you only a fraction of the amount of time that it takes you to think through and rehearse the delivery of your words to the audience. If you have this backward, you are simply choosing your priorities and needs over those of the audience. There is no way that even a powerful PowerPoint could ever offset shortcomings in the presenter’s word and concept delivery.
With that as a primer, I want to share with you five quick tips that I teach people for using PowerPoint slides so they are not falling victim to the traps I just outlined. 

1. Less is Better. I believe if you are going to use PowerPoint slides, there should be no more than one slide for every two minutes of speaking you do. 
2. Know Your Transitions. Having smooth transitions makes the presentation one cohesive message, as opposed to starting and stopping 30 times which is equivalent to Ambien. 
3. Never read the PowerPoint slides verbatim. PowerPoint content should be merely bullet points or pictorials to tee up a much broader conversation. Paragraphs in PowerPoint are deadly to a presentation. PowerPoints are points—with you elaborating on them verbally.
4. Favor Stage Right. Of course, stage right is on the left-hand side for the audience. So as you speak on the left-hand side of the projector screen, from the observer’s standpoint it is subconsciously more natural. The audience is able to look at you on their left and then to the right to the PowerPoint.
5. Learn and Rehearse Stories and Jokes. As I am pulling everything back up after a crash, I will tell a story or a joke in order to fill what otherwise would be an awkward silence. When you do this, you are showing that you are in control, not panicked, and have been there and done this before.

In closing, I am a PowerPoint fan if it is used correctly. The problem with this wonderful technology is that it has made our lives so much easier, that it is easy to rely on this tool too much while cannibalizing the important stuff—delivery. And good delivery is hard because it takes a ton of elbow grease. A good presentation takes work—not more slides!

Want to learn more? Call the Partners Advantage Brokerage Team at 

888-251-5525, Ext. 700.

Fill out my online form.

For financial professional use only. Not for use with consumers.

The information in this article is for general information only.

Always follow your firm’s policies and procedures regarding review and use of third-party templates, creation and distribution of client and prospect materials, hosting of client and prospect events, offering giveaways or prizes, and your firm’s employment process.

The Official Delay of the DOL Fiduciary Rule – Now What Happens?

We all had a sigh of relief hearing the official delay of the DOL Fiduciary Rule until June 9. While Partners Advantage has been preparing for the April 10 rule implementation for over a year, we are celebrating the news of the rule’s delay.

However, Partners Advantage will continue to prepare for possible future changes. 

You can listen to Partners Advantage’s DOL strategy here: 

You will hear four main points during the webinar:

• The backdrop of the past and future, regarding the DOL Fiduciary Rule. When you take time to understand the history, it helps you better understand what is going on currently. Then what does this delay mean and how do you make sense of it all?
• Partners Advantage’s General Counsel Patrick will provide answers to questions many agents currently have. 
• Now what? What happens between now and June 9?
• Partners Advantage’s Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, Charlie Gipple, will share why Partners Advantage is continuing to flourish despite all of the changes within the industry. How can you join them?

We bring you the key tools to prepare you for changes like the DOL Rule and provide you with a critical link towards continued success of your business. If you would like more information on how we can PARTNER, please contact us at 888-251-5525, Ext. 700. 


For financial professional use only. Not for use with consumers.

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The DOL Rule Delay Is In...What Now?

The fiduciary conversation is not over! The Department of Labor has delayed its Fiduciary Rule and announced a 60-day delay to the applicability date. What does this delay mean to you?

Join Partners Advantage's Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, Charlie Gipple, and General Counsel, Patrick Amaya, Friday, April 7 at 10:00 a.m. PST as they share an update on the delay, what this means for you and the industry, and what you should do from now until June 9.

Friday, April 7 at 10:00 a.m. PST

Can't see the button? Register here!

Here's some of what our knowledgeable team will cover:

• What does this 60-day delay mean to you and what's next?
• What you should do between now and June 9
• Our thoughts on how the DOL Fiduciary Rule may or may not change
• The dos and don'ts concerning your business and this pending rule
• Partners Advantage's commitment to you and your business now and how that will continue after June 9

Don't miss out on the valuable insight and key strategies in continuing the success of your business.

If you have questions or concerns please contact our Partners Advantage Brokerage Team for additional information: 888-251-5525, Ext. 700.

For financial professional use only. Not for use with consumers.

Discussion of the Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rule is based on the information available from the DOL, pending litigations, and other sources deemed to be reliable as of the date of this communication. The views and opinions of Partners Advantage Insurance Services, LLC is subject to change as guidance from the DOL becomes available and court opinions are published.

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