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Dear Everyone!
Things are tough out there... but not for everyone.
We hear that unemployment is 10%, but that means that 90% of people are still working.
It's easy to "be down" about the negative news, but try to remember that things in the news you read and hear are never as bad as they say.
Bad news sells papers, and gets ratings. And never forget that with most media the "news" is just a vehicle to sell advertising. The higher the circulation or ratings, they more can be charged for space or airtime.
There are a lot of businesses doing just fine. I want to welcome to this venue many of the business people I met at the recent Folsom Business Expo. If you didn't go this year, make sure you go next year.
These are the men and women who are the movers and shakers of the community. It is not the Intels and big-box stores that make our community, it's the people who start, own, and work at their own businesses.
They are the folks who join the chambers and rotary clubs. They are the people who volunteer their time and products to good causes. When was the last time you saw an Intel executive raising money for a civic organization to do a good deed with?
The economy may be down, but the spirit of the men and women I met last week is as indomitable as ever. When you have the opportunity to buy at the big-box or chain, as opposed to at a local business, go local.
Your community is supported by the local small-business community... not Intel.
-Al
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"Shine, mister?"
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These are hard times for a lot of people... but not for everyone. Like a lot of people, I made good financial choices when I was in my 20s and now that I'm older I'm doing OK... not because I ever made a lot of money, but because I lost so little of it.
I've been doing some thinking about how people are hoarding their cash... even people who don't have to.
Since my biz is down from the previous year, I've been looking at our budget and after looking at our household expenses I now realize that we use a lot of services.
We have a Ukrainian au pair who come in for an hour or so once a week to clean. We have a gardener once a week to mow, blow and prune the fruit trees. The bug guy comes once a month to spray the outside and the window guy comes once a year, as does the rug/carpet guy.
Oh, and don't forget the Bark Buster dog trainer every three weeks (flat yearly fee,) wife's monthly physical therapist, wife's monthly piano teacher, the monthly hairdresser, the monthly manicure-pedicure woman, the monthly facial woman, the house-sitter a couple of times a year, the vet visits for 3 cats and one obstreperous Australian Shepherd, the twice-a year A/C-furnace inspection guy, my monthly fitness club dues.... and the other 1,001 personal services and businesses we use on a continuing basis. I sometimes think we're the only ones keeping the economy going here!
People are desperate for work here in the Sacramento area where official unemployment is about 11% but I bet it's really 15%. (Yeah, Rush Limbaugh blames Obama, but no one I know listens to that argument.)
We called our husband-wife housekeepers into the living room several weeks ago... to give them a raise... as we do each year. The wife cried... she thought we were going to lay them off. (They've been with us for 7 years now... occasionally she translates for me with Ukrainian clients who need coverage... we have a large community here from Ukraine.) They thanked us over and over again. I was kind of surprised... and touched. It was only a small raise.
How are you doing? Are you as bad-off as everyone else? I rather doubt that most of you are.
So if YOU are doing OK financially, maybe it's a good idea to get some stuff done around your house that you've been putting off... and make some work for others? I know that any kind of social consciousness is an anathema to those who are social-Darwinist, right-wing, "let 'em starve," conservatives, but most of you in our community understand about doing well by doing good.
I'm sure the economy is better than we are being told it is, but it's still bad and I know there is someone out there who would value whatever work you can give them. They won't think you are a bleeding-heart liberal. They will think you are a good person... which for some of you Rush Limbaugh, free-market, anti-government-assistance capitalist types will be a huge rarity! :-)
When I was a boy of eight I vividly remember being in lower Manhattan with my dad... not far from Wall Street. He made $100 a week in 1955 and we were considered "rich." A "C-note" a week was a "magic" salary that everyone coming back from the war sought to make.
I had on new shoes and my father ALWAYS had polished wing-tips. We passed a shabbily dressed little boy about my age who had a shoe-shine kit and who cried out "Shine, mister?"
My dad had us both stand there and get a shine... probably for a buck.
When we were done I asked " But dad, your shoes were clean and mine are new. We didn't need a shine."
My six-foot tall father looked down at me and said "I know. But he did."
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Why I no longer sell worksite Colonial
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Those of you who have been getting this electronic fish-wrap for the past year or two know that I used to sell voluntary worksite benefits for Colonial (which is the "better" Aflac.)
I don't sell for them anymore.
The saying is true. "All politics is local!"
Our area has 11%+ unemployment... perhaps you have seen the video of the tent city that has started (about 30 miles from where I live.) Maybe you've seen the interviews of these people on your local news. Most of us are sorry about their plight... but these were guys making good money in home and office construction here for a lot of years.
Why didn't they take fifteen cents out of every dollar and put it in risk-free or risk adverse financial products... a few pennys in CDs, a few in a whole life policy and a few in highly secure corporate or muni bonds? Instead they bought homes they could not afford and plasma TVs with money they didn't have.
And what I don't understand is that from what I can gather these are mostly "Rush Limbaugh" hard-hat, hammer-and-nail, mucho-macho... conservatives... as opposed to so-called "pointy-headed" Barny Frank ("let's group hug") liberals.
Anyway, I digress. Our area (and state) is an economic train-wreck and when an Aflac or Colonial agent calls an HR guy/gal or the boss about introducing worksite benefits he/she says "Al don't talk to me about benefits... we're looking at laying off people... and it hurts us badly to do it... these are are friends and co-workers."
Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of worksite benefits, but I find that the business model of Aflac and Colonial to be less in favor of the client and far more favorable to the many levels of the carrier's management. Each has a local manager, a territory manager, and a regional manager who all get a piece of the premium, leaving the agent with about a 22% average on the sale... unless he also enrolls which will give him another ten points... but it is somewhat problematic to do both the sales and the enrolling.
Aflac and Colonial both say the average employee spends $50 a month and only 60% of the employees participate. So on a group of 20 you might get 12 people. Do the math and an agent might make $1656 (probably less) for his efforts.
That would be fine... except that the amount of time it takes in pre-sale and pre-enrollment for the average agent to get the final signature... and then set-up for enrollment... is HUGE. You can easily spend 70 hours on the case over three months, giving you about $23 an hour for your labor. And you can be sure that 20% of those who enrolled will lapse or quit or be terminated... and if you were advanced the commish (insurance lingo for "commission"), you are now in a debt position.
Both Colonial and Aflac have a rule that if you don't write a certain amount of premium in the following year your contract will be terminated and you are not vested so you lose the renewal commissions (which are not high to begin with.) Where does this money they go? To whom do you think?
In some companies there is a real incentive for managers to recruit, recruit, and recruit with the idea that everyone writes two or three groups, they quit, and the renewal commission flows to them and those above them. I don't know if it is that way with Colonial or Aflac, but I suspect it is.
I'm not saying it is unfair. I was OK with it as it was disclosed up front... until the local manager decided to give 50% of my commission on a case to another agent who did minimal work on the case. I would have been OK with a 10% split, but not 50%. So I took a walk.
As I've said... all politics is local! If an agent is going to write for a company and is going to be "managed" (i.e. someone has a say in what he gets paid) he needs to make sure his manager guy or gal is honest and trustworthy. It's really hard to do... I know I was fooled... but coming to this industry from the information tech sector where there is more differentiation among products and solutions and where all the sales guys knew each other (and often worked together on a large project) I'm probably more trusting than most of you.
The above aside, there is nothing wrong with most of the products of either Colonial or Aflac. They can be expensive from some age groups, but since there is no or little underwriting, the company takes a big risk.. and risk means high(er) premiums. For example most people would save a lot of money by getting their own life policy instead of through a worksite carrier like Aflac or Colonial.
And an area where the economy cannot quite support the payout of an extra $50+ a month by employees, selling worksite is difficult... and many agents have just given up on it, as I have.
So if your company is seeking to incorporate voluntary benefits from Colonial, I'm not your guy... and while these have their place... in this economy you (as the boss or employee) are better served by having an individual non-worksite life plan and long-term disability plan as opposed to what you would get from either Aflac or Colonial.
Yes, worksite benefits are convenient... but there is no free lunch and often whatever you save by using a Section 125 "pre-tax" plan, is wiped out by the often/sometimes over-priced products that both Aflac and Colonial sell (especially in the life arena.)
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Well, that's a wrap for this issue. I hope you've found some of the info above useful and interesting. If you have questions about life or health coverage, safe-money annuities, or employer group benefits just give me a call or send email.
Sincerely,
Alan N Canton
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency
InsuranceSolutions123.com
916-962-9296
CA License # 0F31110
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Al Canton, Owner
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I'm Al Canton, owner of the Insurance Solutions Agency.
Everyone promises the best service, etc. So I won't bore you with that message.
Bottom line, I know health insurance, disability, Medicare, life, and annuities.
Most importantly, I'm honest. I will not put you in a product just for the money. I've lived in the Northern California area for 35 years and I've built my reputation on integrity and honor.
It's that simple.
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