Brings Years of Experience
As a business consultant at Asset Marketing Systems, I bring to the table over 40 years experience doing things like growing and building, then selling an insurance agency, becoming a district manager where I trained, recruited and managed a district of agents to wholesaling financial products, and now a business consultant here at Asset Marketing Systems.
VP, Business Consultant
A Little About Me
Sam Payne, RICP®
With over 40 years of experience in the insurance and financial services industry as a producer, business owner, and consultant, I know what it takes for YOU to be successful.
I originally worked with AMS between 2005 and 2007, before joining Phoenix Wealth Management as an Annuity Distribution Regional Vice President, and later co-founding Payson Financial, Insurance and Financial Services. I rejoined AMS in 2012 as a Business Consultant and continue to keep my financial planning practice active.
My philosophy is based on the concept of taking a holistic approach to each client's situation and offering a variety of products to choose from to better meet the needs of the individual.
I am also an expert in growing businesses from scratch primarily on the basis of referrals, another cornerstone we share at Asset. I am life-licensed in several states, also have a P&C license in CA, and hold the series 65 license.
I began working in the Insurance and Financial Services industry during my early 20s, and had the benefit of some amazing mentors at the time. This is when I truly began to learn how to communicate. The most important skill required in this business is the ability to communicate, and to tell your story. Thanks to this early education I had the good fortune to grow a successful agency, introduce, train agents to our industry, and truly give back what was so willingly offered to me so many years ago.
The passion that drives me now is the relations that I build with advisors. Watching them identify their future, helping set a course to achieve that future, and watching it become a reality.
I believe there are 4 key aspects that are necessary for us to succeed together:
- First, there must be a foundation of mutual trust and respect.
- You must have concrete goals that you wish to accomplish, in which I can guide you through.
- Let's find your niche. What is the personality that you wish to portray in your marketing?
- Lastly, we both must believe that we can succeed in this business together.
Your Challenges,
My Solutions
When growing a business that is meant to help the public achieve their lifestyle and retirement goals, it is crucial to follow these 3 rules:
Why, What, Who
First, your business needs to know why it exists, what it wants to accomplish, and who the business serves.
A Great Message
Second, you need a message that resonates and stirs your desired audience into action.
Actionable Items
Third, you need to have an action plan and create activity amongst your clients.
Retirement Challenges
Americans are faced with 3 distinct "Retirement Challenges". Are you prepared to help them?
I believe that there are three major retirement pitfalls that exist today that you should be addressing and creating activity around:
- The sustainability of Social Security
- Minimizing market volatility
- The lack of a retirement income plan.
A solid plan that considers each of these topics will bring a secure future and peace of mind to your clients.
Are We Seeing the End of Social Security As We Know It?
Each year, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds report on the current and projected financial status of the two programs. This year's report is a sobering reminder of the financial situation that trust funds have been facing for years.
Since its advent in the 1930s, Social Security has provided a safety net for retiring Americans. Its original intended purpose was to lift seniors out of poverty during their retirement years. Today, it benefits over 65 million Americans, with the bulk of those relying on their Social Security checks to provide most of their retirement income. It has also become so much more than it was intended to be, yet the program has remained largely unchanged.
A pending Social Security System crisis has been forecasted for years. We hope this year the warning will be taken more seriously. If the program continues without serious policy changes, the continued outflows will eventually exhaust the programs reserves. Left unabated, this will eventually lead to dramatic benefit cuts.
All in all, the Social Security System we know today is in peril. We don't know for sure when or how it will change, but the likelihood is that Social Security will not look the same 10-15 years from now. So how do you communicate with your clients and prospects about this?
I suggest communicating to three groups with a different yet similar overarching message. Those three groups are those who are:
- Currently enjoying retirement
- Near and looking forward to retirement
- Working hard, loving life and years from retirement
If this is a message you'd like to employ, click the link below to get our whitepaper that describes the Social Security Trustee's dilemma, how we got here, what options are on the table for correcting the problem, how these groups should look at the issue, and all the steps each group should be taking to prepare.
Americans need our help! Let's help them identify the present risks to the retirement of their dreams. We have the tools, the strategies, and the techniques to educate, collaborate, plan, and help build a retirement income plan to live for!
Market Volatility and Inflation
We have seen wild intraday swings that in other times would make our heads spin. The big question- What is driving this and what will the next months bring? To answer much too simply, but truthfully, you need to look at the definition of inflation.
Inflation, in its basic form, is created when too much money is chasing after too few goods. How does that affect the market? One of the major lifelines that our economy has benefitted from, since the Great Recession in 2008, is the same thing that has always had the potential to drown us. Federal spending... creating dollars that are now chasing too few goods.
With a national debt that is historically high and has funded our economy through a recession and a pandemic, we are realizing that the piper must be paid and it's beginning to ask for what is due. The Federal government will do everything they can to fight inflation, which includes raising the benchmark rate and easing their bond buying. But they are, I believe, walking on thin ice. They can raise rates to cool off the economy, and reduce their monthly bond purchases, which they have promised to do.
The bottom line is this: every consumer has seen and been affected by both inflation and market volatility. Because of that, many are concerned about the impact of both inflation and the crazy market on their hard-earned dollars. We are shouting from the mountaintops that we have the tools, the strategies, and techniques to help protect against market volatility and as it relates to retirement income and attempts to soften the blow of inflation.
Many of those who are or will be affected, are unprepared and simply don't know what they don't know. They need our help!
Retirement Income Planning
We forecast spending needs in retirement, quantify our appetite for risk, and establish goals. But are we missing something? Yes, here are two concepts to keep in mind.
First, retirement planning is a relatively new activity. The retirement planning conversation and disciplines are fairly new concepts. Although money has been around, the modern foundations of money decisions - saving and investing - are based on concepts that are relatively new.
Second - It's about much more than the money.
If the idea of retirement is solely about escaping a job, then I'm afraid many will be disappointed. Images of golf, travel, sailing, projects, gardening, and so on fill retirement dreams, but is this enough to generate lasting satisfaction? While these are important images to hold and pursue, there are other equally important factors to consider, such as:
- Identity and purpose—Who are you and who are you serving in retirement?
- Connections—What are your ties to the community, who are your close friends, how do you stay active?
- Aging and Care—Understanding the aging process and being prepared when you require some type of assistance.
As advisors, if we can help our clients address these factors, then we will have truly set them on a road to a retirement worth living. These conversations can help bring clarity to what it means to retire, and ultimately lead to a more specific picture of financial needs. Engaging in this type of creative discussion can bring focus to what may have been only a blurry image until now.
Recommended Reading
Advice That Sticks: How to give financial advice that people will follow
by Moira Somers, Ph. D.
Storyselling for Financial Advisors: How Top Producers Sell
by Scott West & Mitch Anthony
OUr Advisors
Love Working With Sam
Sam has been the integral part of what caused me to get focused over this eight or 10 years on what it really takes to drive a successful business. Without his involvement, I wouldn't be at the production levels we are right now. He's the one that focused me on, it's all about activities and just do the activities, results will come. So if I need more time, if I need his assistance, Sam is there.
Financial Advisor
Let's Have
A Conversation
If, by chance you have not clearly identified your why, your vison statement, goals, or ideal client, fill in the contact form below and let's discuss that specifically.