Advantages of Becoming a Certified Income Specialist (TM)

There are three periods of transition in one's life wherein a large sumof money is involved: divorce, death and entering retirement. Yourclients may have been with you for 5, 10, even 20 years, but when itcomes to their retirement income, many will seek the expertise of aspecialist (translation: another broker). The reason so many leavetheir current broker is because they see their advisor as the one touse during accumulation. After all, that had been the client'sobjectives for all those years in the past. However, when it comes toincome, a high percentage of clients search elsewhere.

There are a number of reasons clients switch brokers as they enterretirement: [1] risk level becomes lower and it is perceived that moretraditional investments such as bonds, fixed-rate annuities and bankCDs are needed; [2] greater desire to reduce taxes since assets are nowmore finite; [3] concerns over Social Security and Medicare benefitsand [4] renewed interest in estate planning. For the most part, thetypical retiree is most interested in maximizing income whilemitigating risk and taxes. Enter the advisor with demonstratedretirement and/or retirement income training and expertise.

Seasoned brokers realize the emphasis of their training and productknowledge has been growth-based investments. Up until 1-2 years ago,there was little, if any, talk about retirement or retirement income.Brokerage firms now realize the importance of retirement incomeplanning and are beginning to advertise this "new" service.Unfortunately, more money is being spent promoting retirement planningthan educating brokers and advisor.

There are several advantages to you becoming a retirement incomespecialist: [1] more positive office environment-people who receivemonthly checks are happier than those concerned with the ups and downsof the stock market; [2] increased referrals-it is easier for a clientto explain to friends about monthly income than portfolio allocation(people remember someone is receiving $3,300 a month, not that they are25% invested in government bonds, 15% in emerging markets, etc.); [3]instant gratification-an income-oriented portfolio provides immediatebenefit to the client; they do not have to wait X years for theirportfolio to increase; [4] ongoing positive feelings about theadvisor-every month the client will be reminded about how theirportfolio was structured to give them current income and [5] lesslitigation-a more conservative portfolio is less likely to disappointthe investor (i.e., when was the last time a client sued a broker overhaving too much in bank CDs or government securities?).

There is a reason the fixed-income marketplace is much bigger than thestock market: broader appeal. It is also true that fear is a muchstronger emotion than greed. You can increase the size of your practiceby becoming a Certified Income Specialist^TM; make more money and have ahappier clientele.