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Insurance Agents, Financial Advisors Serving as Educators and Guides Will Thrive
Omaha, Nebraska — To successfully navigate the mounting challenges in the retirement planning industry, insurance agents and financial advisors must rethink traditional planning paradigms, practices and even their own roles, a new white paper by Senior Market Sales® (SMS) asserts.
“The Retirement Planning Mind Shift: New Thinking for Growth in a New Era” examines the troubling reasons too many Americans enter retirement financially unprepared and identifies opportunities for insurance and financial planning professionals to help solve the problems while also growing their businesses.
“At Senior Market Sales, we identified years ago that if we don’t solve certain problems for our agents and advisors — which means helping them solve their clients’ problems — we risk becoming irrelevant,” said John Haver, SMS’ Senior Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Development. “This white paper shares that foresight, by painting a clear picture of the changes ahead and how agents and advisors need to adapt.”
For Americans to achieve greater financial security in retirement and for retirement planners to remain relevant, change is needed at all levels, from policymakers in Congress to agents on Main Street, the white paper asserts.
Specifically, insurance marketing organizations (IMOs), such as SMS, and other businesses, including traditional insurance-only and investment-only businesses, will be most effective and successful if they address an individual client’s entire financial lifespan and all aspects of it. Whether by adding in-house services or by outsourcing, the businesses that will have the most success will deliver financial education, provide holistic services and solutions, and work efficiently by leveraging processes and technology that allow them to see more clients and scale.
As a companion to the white paper, SMS produced “7 Paths to Growth in the New Retirement Era” to expand on specific, actionable steps that agents and advisors can take to position themselves for success.
While SMS found early success by supporting Medicare Supplement agents, it has evolved beyond the traditional IMO to now provide the most expansive health and wealth platform in the industry. Known for leading agents and advisors through the industry’s most disruptive changes for more than four decades, SMS in 2020 partnered with Alliant Insurance Services, one of the nation’s largest insurance distributors, to once again position its agents and advisors for industry disruption.
“SMS is bridging some of the gaps in the fragmented and complicated retirement system,” Haver said. “We’re leading by example, evolving our own business model. By expanding our services and solutions, we’re able to position agents and advisors for the challenges of today and the future, so that together, we can help more Americans reach retirement with greater financial security.”
Watch the webinar on the topics covered in the white paper presented by SMS.
About Senior Market Sales
Senior Market Sales® (SMS) represents top Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage, annuity, life, long-term care, individual health and travel insurance carriers in all 50 states. More than 71,000 independent insurance agents rely on SMS for proprietary technology, competitive insurance products, and expert training and service to help them leverage their time, make more money, and put their business in a position of distinction. Founded in 1982, SMS is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. In 2020, SMS joined the Alliant Insurance Services family of companies. Visit www.SeniorMarketSales.com or call 1.800.786.5566 for more information.
About Alliant Insurance Services
Alliant Insurance Services is one of the nation’s leading distributors of diversified insurance products and services. Alliant operates through a network of specialized national platforms and local offices to offer clients a comprehensive portfolio of solutions built on innovative thinking and personal service. The business of managing risk is getting more complex, and Alliant is meeting this complexity head-on, not with more layers of management, but with more creativity and agility. Alliant is changing the way clients approach risk management and benefits, so they can capitalize on new opportunities to grow and protect their organizations. For more information, visit alliant.com.
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