Radio Interview talking points for Laurel Stauffer-Daly, CLU, Chartered Financial Consultant. March 2009 What do you do? I am billed as a subject matter expert/ professional speaker. I come out of the financial services industry. I help explain technical, complicated insurance- based products in a way that someone can understand! So most of my audiences are people in a financial business, but I’ve spent a lot of time sharing this same information with public audiences. Since I don’t make my living right now by selling insurance or stocks or real estate, I have no particular axe to grind or conflict of interest. I can speak as a neutral “expert”. I write or give speeches, seminars and workshops that last anywhere from a half hour to a week. My average speaking day runs 8 hours if it is an insurance course, and then I often will do a 3 hour evening Financial Planner course booked for the same day to keep my travel time efficient. Then, the next day I recover! Some seminars run every month, I gave one this week I hadn’t given since 2003- so I had to do a lot of updating! Another one I gave this week had been cancelled several times for one reason or another so I didn’t take the booking very seriously and lo and behold- it booked and I had to do intense prepping to give it on Tuesday! So where do you speak and who hires you? My territory used to be NYC since that’s where many financial companies are based, but now I cover Connecticut, Long Island, Westchester, Rockland up to Albany, I’ve done contracts in Buffalo and Niagara Falls. My longest trip was to speak at a convention in New Orleans. I work for the NY Center for Financial Studies- which is a not- for- profit arm of the life insurance trade association, I work for a large financial publishing house, banks, insurers, Wall Street, financial planners, and when I can, I speak to public audiences just like today. How did you get into this? Spent over 15 years in an old line, conservative insurance company- fell into the industry by accident- but it is a huge and fascinating industry. Literally, I answered an ad in the NY Times – needed a job that paid enough to pay rent and groceries. I had come to NYC from Canada to do my Masters and get my teaching credentials, not knowing that I would end up living here (I met my husband and never went back). Initially I taught private school - the headmistress had asked me when she hired me if I would be able to live on the $11000 salary paid. (I thought – no problem!- since it was American dollars). So I started to learn about the importance of money! Listened to talk radio and went for a complimentary session w a Financial Planner who told me to get the book “How to Save $50”. And his second piece of excellent advice that had a huge impact on my life later on was that I should “insure my income.” Interviewed at this huge insurance company- the job sounded kind of boring but they paid about double the salary. Promised myself I would stay 1 year for my resume and to build my savings and then do what I really wanted. Well, I learned the life and health insurance business on-the-job- I was responsible for training sales people and eventually rose to become in charge of their regional training. Initially though, I mostly taught the rookie courses- to become licensed in the business under NYS law (I still teach this course regularly). So I’ve taught literally hundreds of thousands of financial professionals over 2 decades. I have always thought that if the public had to come to a shortened version of these courses, or take it in college, or before marriage, people’s finances would be stronger. Why- what kind of information would or should the public get? NYS requires that the public get a brochure (Buyer’s Guide) when they start a discussion with an insurance agent or broker. The Guide is called- What you Need to Know BEFORE you buy insurance. (You can access this on the NYS Insurance Dept web site: www.ins.state.ny.us See the Consumer Menu -People aren’t sure when they need life insurance. Ideally, you would buy it the week you are going to die. But most of us (at least statistically) won’t die young. So in theory, you wouldn’t buy until near average Life Expectancy – in this country right now, that is somewhere in your late 70’s- but the life insurance at that age is pretty pricey. In my seminars, I use analogies and try not to use insurance jargon. I explain a consumer’s choices by comparing “renting” your Life Insurance, or leasing with an option to buy (Convertible insurance). Many customers are steered away from “Permanent insurance” (where you would build up equity similar to home ownership over time) because “it’s too expensive”. This may be false- again it depends why the person is buying the life insurance, how long they will need to keep it, how they want to pay for it and when they will actually die. What I am saying is that it may seem a lot cheaper to buy just Term Insurance when you start out- the premium is a fraction of what permanent insurance would be. But if I want that policy to pay when I die and pay my Estate taxes for example, the odds are that, if I live past 80, the term insurance that I rented will be long gone. Vs. if I pay more each year and pay over time, (much like a mortgage or car payment), I will definitely have life insurance throughout my whole life- whether I die young or old. (That’s why one life insurance product is called “Whole Life”). But most of us are short term thinkers and we go for the smallest payment we can. I am a bit unusual in the industry in that I take the time to show people the possible value in paying higher premiums than term insurance. When you put more in your policy, you can build a “Cash Value” equity in your life insurance policy. Personally, I have financed real estate and other projects by later borrowing against my life insurance. I have to caution people though that it takes a long term commitment to build that kind of money in your policy (just like it takes a long term commitment to save up to pay 20% down on a home) and you have to be very careful about borrowing against the death benefit- (just like you have to be very careful about borrowing against the equity in your home or reverse mortgages)-You can really harm the people you leave behind. What’s the most important thing you learned from the life insurance business? That question brings me to my real passion-having worked with so many cultures when I worked in NYC- the Psychology of Money. In financial services business, you watch people do all kinds of illogical things with money. For example, most people do exactly the wrong thing in the stock market- they bought based on hot stock tips when the price was near the top, and they sell now at the bottom. I’ve published an article critical of the insurance industry because the industry itself is not logical. For example, Life insurance isn’t the first type of coverage you need. Even before we have dependents, we need to insure our incomes. (this is what my first financial planner told me to do- the one I met from talk radio). (Listeners will be turning up their radio dials to find out how to do this in an economy bleeding jobs!). The difference between a pleasant life and a difficult life depends on our health and our children. And then, it depends on how comfortable you are financially. Daily worry about money harms your health. Medical insurance/ Health insurance is absolutely vital. Yet fewer and fewer people get benefits anymore. The Health insurance industry is a radio show in itself so I’ll just make one or two points today. But I love health insurance products- again the public never gets a good overview on how these plans work or how to buy them. “Morbidity” odds are much worse than “Mortality” odds- although Mortality/Death is a 100% sure thing. So I know that all my life insurance clients will die- I just don’t know when. And a life insurance company’s job is to guarantee it will have money from its pool to pay the families of customers when their loved one dies. That’s why you want to pick an insurer that will be there in 50 or 100 years and not make your decision on how cheap their premium is! But how many times could my client lose work time for an accident or sickness? And what I am seeing a lot of in my other business- Curves- is that people are losing work time and their own health when someone in their family gets sick and they are trying to take care of that person. So Morbidity odds compared to Mortality odds- worse- right? About 50% of foreclosures are because someone in the household (even with health insurance) has been ill or disabled. Thank God that financial planner guided me to buy Disability insurance. In my Disability insurance/Health insurance seminars, I tell stories- stories comparing how I paid my bills when I was off work after major surgery, compared to 3 colleagues (who were also in the insurance business) and what happened to my staff person after a car accident, one woman had to deal with colon cancer, and another friend had back troubles. So in my opinion, it is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than life insurance is to insure your paycheck (assuming you have earned income). That’s called Disability insurance which you might be able to buy yourself, or many people can buy through work. And later, closer to retirement, you swap out your Disability Insurance for Long Term Care Insurance (again another radio show or seminar) and you modify your life insurance so your heirs don’t have to pay your Estate taxes by selling the family farm and heirlooms. But back to my point about being logical and the Psychology of Money: But many, many people are very uncomfortable with the idea of leaving money to their wives or husbands (my wife will buy shoes! My husband will marry a younger woman!) or to their kids (add step children to the mix and you hear a lot of contention). I call this the “Yukkiness Factor”- that’s a very professional term for the fact that insurance companies give people money when terrible things happen. A lot of our opinions about money and what it is for are deeply rooted in our culture and religions. For eg- some religions consider that money is the root of all evil. You have to work for your money- don’t take hand outs. I learned that most of us are not rational about money. So people have divided feelings about the whole concept of insurance. So ironically, I end up in the money business- helping people figure out money and how to insure against losing it! So you used this kind of technical knowledge at the insurance company job sort of as an in-house speaker and expert? When did you know you were a “speaker”? I think, looking back, it might have been destiny to make my living with my voice-it was definitely the influence of my Grandfather and my father. I come from a family business and my Grandfather was very active in Farmer Co-ops. He traveled all over – he used the original “Six degrees of Separation”. He would work a room, introducing himself and getting someone’s name and getting them talking and figure out connections between that person’s family or faming community and ours. (I believe he also had to make speeches too.) When I was in grade school, my g/father and Dad would make me rehearse my public speeches. I got several levels up in the local speaking competitions. In my job at that first insurance company- they hired me because of my communication skills- my ability to crystallize concepts. I had absolutely no financial background and knew nothing about insurance, or the stock market. When I explain insurance products, I actually use a lot of line drawings and now computer graphics. In fact, I didn’t speak Korean or Mandarin- in that agency where I first worked- our clients weren’t comfortable speaking in English. So how does a good speaker communicate? Speaking- whether you are running a PTA meeting, or teaching a course, or selling for that matter- Figure out what you want to say- what is the purpose behind your message. Then you have to know your stuff (or know who to call if you don’t know your stuff When you are speaking- you have to write out your content, simplify/crystallize it, create word pictures, and REHEARSE the timing and phrasing. The only way to pull off a great presentation is to know exactly what you are going to say and convey absolute confidence through your body language. But what about interacting with your audience? In the beginning, it’s probably better for a new speaker NOT to interact! That skill comes later. Your material has to address what your audience wants. Then, you can start building your confidence and skill in addressing the audience’s questions or issues. There is a whole art to interactive seminars. You learn to read an audience and manage their personalities. It actually becomes fun handling any difficult people that might be lurking out there to trip you up. Remember that as a new speaker, people are usually with you- they want you to do well and not freeze up. Just remember to BREATHE! And be prepared! Do you coach people? Yes, I can. They can leave a message for me at my City office: 212-717-8607 What is the worst thing that has happened to you as a speaker? I had to excuse myself and leave the room because I knew I was going to faint. – No actually- My worst things happen in my dreams. I sometimes have dreams where I can’t control the children in the classroom, or can’t get an audiences attention to get started, or I just can’t get to the seminar location. So if I have a presentation coming up that I’m not really ready for, my anxiety comes out when I am sleeping. What can be unpleasant- I do a lot of “Continuing Education” workshops mandated by the Insurance Department for brokers needing to keep their insurance licenses up. Some of those guys are getting pretty old and they can be really cranky- they feel they should be grandfathered since they sold insurance for over 50 years. So they don’t want to be there, and the deafest ones always sit in the back row and complain they can’t hear. I find that amusing but annoying. What is the best part about being a speaker? The best thing about the speaking business is getting audience feedback –especially after a particularly dry session. One of my favorite testimonials is from one of the great New York Life agents- he said (in writing) that he had always likened NYS mandated insurance CE to root canal but was pleasantly surprised when he attended my session. People comment that they didn’t fall asleep after all- even tho the subject matter can be dry- it was much better than they expected, they got a lot out of it, they want to put the information right to use… So how has your speaking business evolved over the years? It’s definitely gone through transitions. I saw a need in the mid 90’s for good, relevant content for CE. So in my spare time (while I was working corporate), with a partner, I opened one of the first NYS accredited schools for insurance CE. We also offered the initial training course needed for the insurance agent exam and we also offered courses for Financial Planners and Accountants. We launched that business and grew it and I sold out to my partner in ’97. Continuing Ed as a business has really migrated to the Internet and online learning but fortunately, NYS believes in the value of an interactive live class to keep current. All through the 90’s I was still working my corporate job but took on consulting projects for the trade association, banks, Wall Street and of course, insurance companies. I did some compliance work back then too- how financial companies can help the public understand what they are doing with their money. Ethical sales practices. I saw a lot of the current abusive trends in the making- but on the insurance side, we’ve always been laughed at because we are so conservative and we’ve always had a lot of rules. So we are generally not in the kind of financial trouble we are seeing with the banks and Wall Street. Around 2002-2003, I started to work the national convention circuit but it’s not for me. Travel is just difficult and my stories weren’t so relevant in New Orleans. New Yorkers just talk too fast. I had a web site up for a few years, but honestly, most of my gigs come by referral. People love my stories. And because I have a distinctive name, people track me down. What’s coming up for you? I’m working with a start up company- the head is based right here in New Windsor- we are setting up care and long term care services using a model that I haven’t seen before. Both Bob and I are specialists in Long Term Care insurance products. I’ve written articles helping people analyze what their LTC policy is saying (legally)- the perception is that these policies don’t pay. That’s totally not true. (again- a subject for another show). The bigger issue is how families cope way before an insurance claim gets processed- the little daily frustrations after someone has a heart attack or stroke and they are being rehabbed to come home again, or someone seems to be having memory problems or they are becoming “difficult” and cranky. These issues come up just about every day at Curves. So this new company will help problem solve while a senior is still at home and help the family prepare well in advance for a loved one to decline. Bob is starting on radio soon- I am thrilled to be on radio- Radio is much easier than TV. This is really the first creative work I’ve done in awhile- I would like to get back to my material on the “Psychology of Money”. I started a book one weekend, when I was stranded in Buffalo because no planes were coming into NYC. I also think there is a huge need for companies to do a much better job catering to middle aged and senior clients. I had started some work on “Adapting our businesses and practices for the Senior Generation” – I should get back to that- it drives me crazy that so few companies use readable font- the lighting and acoustics in restaurants is often terrible. Closing comments: Would you care to comment, (as a subject matter expert) on the current financial crisis? It’s disgusting and outrageous. I can’t believe it took so long to fall apart. I guess because of my background in insurance, I have always been more conservative and looked for long term wealth. I think we are actually fortunate in NYS that the insurance regulators force insurance advisors to go to classes and keep current. Many states just allow people to do online re-certification. NY is a tough state and protective of its consumer. So that’s in our favor. Obviously, all of our financial companies are having to take a long hard look at what has happened and how we win back the public’s trust. But the consumer has to take responsibility too- for your own health, your family and businesses and your money. The public is to blame not just the banks and Wall Street. The good news is that we are not going to just hand over our money and trust anymore. Consumers are going to have to do more research and due diligence. We are going to have to become educated –get back to basics and taking responsibility at all levels. People are smart. And we all agree that money makes the world go round. Greed does not win over time. So have a plan for your money- pay yourself first- save some of every paycheck, insure your ability to earn money, protect your financial future and then, have fun investing what’s left over. Money is NOT EVIL- money is what you make of it. ------------------------------- ------------------------------- Listeners can follow up with Laurel by calling 212-717-8607 or emailing her at continuum@nyc.rr.com Indicate in the Subject header WGNY $