Do You Need to Be Sold or Told?: Shootin' It Straight With Stan

Welcome to Shooting it Straight with Stan. I'm your host, Stan The Annuity Man, America's annuity agent, licensed in all 50 states, wearing my Johnny Cash Annuity Man outfit. For all of you reading this, it's all black. Black glasses, black hat, black logoed gear. I mean, come on man. Look good, looking sleek, as they say.

Today's topic is, Do You Need to Be Sold or Told? One of the funny things about the annuity industry is that you'll hear people who think they're smart and the verbal jump ropers. A verbal jump roper is a person that any topic you bring up to them, they're the expert on. They just get in the jumper. They just start jumping in.

You Need to Be Told

People that they say, "All annuities are bad. No one wakes up in the morning and buys an annuity, and all annuities are sold." That's crap. In fact, I trademarked where annuities are bought, not sold, which reflects my business model, my site, and how I look at annuities. If you present the facts, leave people alone, and provide them with enough good information to make a decision, then they will buy the annuity. And yes, people do. All the know-it-alls out there, yes, people do wake up by the thousands and buy annuities without being prompted. I mean, they're looking for guarantees. So, my question to you is, do you need to be sold or told? And I'm hoping you need to be told.

You need to be told the facts. You need to be told exactly what you've asked for. If you ask for a specimen policy, you need to be sent that specimen policy. If you need to watch more videos, you need to watch more videos. If you need more conversation, more time, and more consultation with your loved ones about it, then that's what you need. You don't need to be sold. In fact, my mission in life at this point, other than being skinnier and having six-pack abs, which I will never have, and to be a better husband, of course, and father, is to take the negative mark off of annuities. The annuity industry has earned that in many cases, but in many cases, it's just stupid people that think they're smart. They say, "All annuities are bad." Or the person on television goes, "Never buy an annuity." Come on, man. Come on.

Don't Be a Hypocrite

For all of the people, all of the advisors in the investment world that talk like that, then all I'm saying to you is, okay, if that's the gauntlet you're going to lay down, then don't advise your clients to take Social Security. Refrain from advising your clients to take a pension. Don't take Social Security yourselves because that's an annuity. That is an annuity that increases with inflation. A pension is an annuity. I mean, don't be a hypocrite. If you're going to lay down the marker and you're going to stick your foot in the ground, then don't advise your clients to buy and, "All annuities Are bad, Stan. I saw this guy on TV. He says he'd rather go to hell than buy an annuity."

Well, I guess he's going to hell, right? Then he is not going to buy an annuity. But you know what else he's not going to do? Turn on his Social Security because that's an annuity. Hypocrite, anyone? That's how crazy this is out here. And that's why I enjoy ripping the scab off this nonsense and giving you the truth. So, the question is, is someone trying to sell you an annuity right now? If you're breathing and you have money, and you've shown up at a bank or a bad chicken dinner seminar or anywhere that's financial, someone's probably tried to sell you an annuity.

Flip the Script

You need to flip that script on them. You need to say, "I don't want you to sell me. I want you to tell me. Tell me all the details. Tell me the good. Tell me the bad. Tell me the upside. Tell me the downside. Tell me the limitations. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. I want to be told, not sold. That's what you tell me. Tell me everything. Don't just show me back-tested return numbers. That's crap. Tell me about the renewal rates. Tell me about the limitations. Tell me about the history of the annuity company and how they back up the claims. Tell me that you shopped all carriers for the highest contractual guarantee. Tell me that you looked at the ratings. Tell me that you looked at the company's financial capabilities, backing up the claim. Tell me, tell me, tell me, don't sell me."

Of course, we want you to use our website for all your annuity needs, but you might have the brother-in-law and sister-in-law and frat brother or fraternity sister out there that's selling, hawking annuities. And you need to say, "First of all, I'm not your friend now. I'm your client. I need you to tell me, not sell me." If someone says, "Upfront bonus," you say, "Stop. I need you to tell me, not sell me." If someone says something that sounds too good to be true, stop them, "I need you to tell me, not sell me. I need to be told, not sold."

Click and Buy

There's never an urgency to buy an annuity of any type. The urgency is for you to fully understand what you're buying. I mean, that's the way I look at it. I hate it when I go to a car dealership. I don't do that anymore, but when I used to, and the guy's following me around. "Leave me alone. I'm going to look. I'll ask you a question when I need it." That's the way it should be. That's what I'm trying to build here at The Annuity Man. We're the closest anyone's ever gotten, and we'll get really close until the annuity industry listens to me. It's going to be direct to consumer for real. It isn't right now. There's one step you have got to take, but legally, in the future, you'll be able to click and buy. Click and buy and go just like you click and buy a stock, click and buy a bond, click and buy a mutual fund, click and buy anything. Annuities are next. I was just talking to someone on my podcast. He didn't believe that. I'm like, "Believe it. It's going to happen." It's eventual. It's a moment in time right now that is archaic in the annuity industry.

Right now, at the time of this blog, the annuity industry sells $300 billion worth of annuities a year, which is nothing. It should be $1,000,000,000,005. Just demographically, it should be $1,000,000,000,005. Just looking at the math, and I'm here to take the industry to $1,000,000,000,005, whether it's me or combinations of me or whoever. People need guarantees. People need to transfer risk. People need lifetime income. People need principal protection. People need long-term care coverage. People need legacy guarantees. People need those things. There are 11,000 baby boomers hitting age 65. People are looking for guarantees. People are tired of the markets. People are tired of watching the news. People are tired of CNBC and Fox Business. People are tired of prognosticators telling you what to buy. People are tired of volatility. People are tired in general, and people are tired of being sold, not told. I mean, salespeople, historically, have always come on last. Who's the worst respected industry? Salespeople. Car salesman, insurance salesman, and annuity salesman. I don't know. Salesman selling. To the people in the industry that watch me and hate watching me because they know I'm right, and I don't know why they don't. That means they knew me. But stop selling and start telling.

We're in an Information World

People don't want to be sold. And there are some buffoons out there in the marketing world of the annuity industry that says, "No, people really do want to be sold. They do want a perfect sales presentation." No, they don't. That is such sales garbage. That is such leisure suit, big lapel, big tie-wearing garbage, nonsense. We're in a world of information, artificial information, whatever information you want. We're in an information world. People want information. They want factual information. They don't want a sales pitch. They don't want the headline. They want the story. So, if you're a consumer out there, and that's who I talk to. I'm not talking to agents and advisors. Thanks for reading, but I could care less. I'm talking to the consumer. I'm talking to all 50 states. I'm talking to people that are retiring. I'm talking to people that are thinking about retiring. I'm thinking about people that are looking at retirement. I'm talking to people that are retired and trying to be better at it.

Be careful out there. You buy an annuity for what it will do, not what it might do, and the will do is the contractual guarantees of the policy. You buy annuities for the contractual guarantees only. You do not buy the back-tested, hypothetical, theoretical projected, unicorn chasing the butterflies, agent hope and return scenarios. "My mom owned it, and this is what my mom got." No, you don't buy it for that. Anyone who says that, get up, walk out, and say, "You're a putz." I don't know what putz means, but my Jewish friends could tell me that.

My lawyer's like texting me right now, "Putz means...". I just like the word putz. You're a putz if you believe that. If someone's pitching, "Well, my brother bought it. I bought it, and my mom bought it. My aunt bought it." I'm like, "Geez, you went through the whole linear? I mean, what'd you do, hand out brochures at the family reunion as people were eating the potato salad?" Mayonnaise based, not mustard base. Thank you very much. But remember, if someone's selling, have them start telling. I love that. That needs to be on a T-shirt.

Don't get sold, get told. Get told, and then tell them to leave you alone and let you decide on your terms and timeframe. And oh, by the way, that's my business model at The Annuity Man, and that's what we do. We will give you all the information needed. We provide it to you for free, and we leave you alone to make a decision. We never pester you. We never do that. I hate when people do that, and if anyone on my team ever does that, they won't be on my team much longer, period. That's Shooting It Straight With Stan. I'll see you next time.

Never forget to live in reality, not the dream, with annuities and contractual guarantees! You can use our calculators, get all six of my books for free, and most importantly book a call with me so we can discuss what works best for your specific situation.