Left Wing, Right Wing...Need Both to Fly

Hi, my name is Stan The Annuity Man, America's annuity agent. No, I am not a political commentator, but I am going to get in the weeds about what's happening in our world right now. The title of this blog is Left Wing, Right Wing, Need Both to Fly.

‌At the time of this blog, there's chaos. There's chaos in DC, there's chaos with the Democrats, and there's chaos with the Republicans. It just seems like it's never-ending, and I think that this blog, if you look at the timestamp of it when you read it, you all know what's happening. It's kind of crazy, but I think three or four years from now, when people watch it, the same thing will happen, which is my point. I don't really care if you're a Democrat or Republican. I respect and love you. I don't care. I'm apolitical. Both parties have flaws. We both can agree on that. Both parties have people in charge or figureheads within the party that we don't like. Both parties. Both parties have a cable channel that's in their favor that spews that stuff for them, whichever, and I call it confirmation bias.

‌Confirmation Bias

‌And what is confirmation bias? Confirmation bias is if you want to hear what you want to hear politically, you can find the newspaper, cable TV show, or radio show that will give you that information you want to hear, confirming what you believe. But here's what I believe. Stan The Annuity Man. Yeah, I know what you're saying. You're like, "Who cares what you believe? You're the number one annuity agent in the country. Why are you commenting?" Here's why I'm commenting. It's because, at the end of the day, this country's the greatest country out there. When COVID hit, I told my staff, "I'm going to tell you who will solve this. It's not going to be the Democrats, and it's not going to be the Republicans. It's going to be our biotech firms. It's going to be private industry coming up with a solution, a cure, a vaccine. It's going to be all of us getting along. It's going to be all of us pulling together. It's going to be all of us wearing masks."

‌I know a lot of people didn't want to wear a mask. I know a lot of people didn't want to social distance with the COVID thing, but that's just a microcosm of who we are as a country. If you look back into World War II times, people had to give up their steel or their pots or their pans to make tanks and guns, and I know that there were people back there who weren't happy about that then.

‌Now, how does an annuity fit into this? I'm not sure it does. I got a call the other day, and the person was worried about the possibility of a new administration; they think they would mess things up. To me, nothing's going to be messed up. With annuities, they're contractual guarantees. They are what they are. Many of them are interest rate-based or life expectancy-based, depending on the type of annuity. But these are contracts, and I tell you what's not going to change regardless of whether you're a Republican or if you're a Democrat. Our 10,000 baby boomers will reach the retirement age of 65 every day. That's going to stay the same whether whoever's in office, whoever's vice president, whoever's leading the Congress and the Senate and the House, it's going to stay the same.

‌It's About Love

‌People are going to need guarantees. People are going to need more lifetime income. People are going to need to protect the principal. That's not going to change. Our world's not going to change when it comes to that. So, I encourage you to pay attention, be a good citizen, vote, care, and love one another. And that's coming from one of the most abrasive people on the planet who's so outspoken. I'm the walking middle finger of annuity truth, but I had to do this blog because I'm tired of all the bickering. There are people on my staff that are left wing, right wing, no wing, looking for a wing. I'm just saying there are all types on my team. I love all of them, and I respect their opinion.

‌We have to do that. We have to be able to speak our minds. We have to be able to give our opinions without repercussions. We have to be able to do that. My staff does that all the time. They tell me things I don't agree with, and I guara-damn-tee you I tell them things they don't agree with. But at the end of the day, we're all a team, and that's a microcosm of what we can do as a country. And what we can do as a country is the best we can do. But the best that we can do is to get along. The best that we can do is not to hate everybody. The best that we can do is to listen. The best that we can do is respect what people think, whether you agree with it or not. Stop putting everybody down.

‌People are doing the best that they can. I always tell people there's always a story behind the story. When someone's going off, or someone acts out, or someone does something that you feel is stupid, there's a story behind the story. Why are they doing something stupid? Why are they acting out? Why are they angry? Why are they storming the Capitol? Why are they hating each other? Why? It might be because their life is falling apart. It might be because they had someone die. It might be because things just aren't going well for them. There's a lot of people out there like that. We must understand as a country, United States of America, keyword, United States of America. We're not the states of America. We're the United States of America. Now, I know this is nothing new, and this is coming from a guy who calls himself Stan The Annuity Man with no last name.

‌Stan The Annuity Man, and he has a site, The Annuity Man. That's not political, and it never will be political. And when people call me and voice their opinion politically, I listen to them. I respect them. I don't have to agree with everything they say, but I respect them. And I know there's a story behind the story. I know there's fear, there's trepidation. There's something in their life that's making them angry, that's making them tense, that's making them want to do things that they typically wouldn't want to do.

‌Past Example

‌Let's look at an example that happened a few years ago. On both sides, you had the left that was in the streets. You had the right that was in the streets and doing some things. So, the right looks at the left and goes, I can't believe they're doing that. The left looks at the right and goes, I can't believe they're doing that. How about why are they doing that? What's driving them to do that? Why would someone interrupt their lives and do that? And don't give some tinfoil hat conspiracy theory that someone's paying them to do it or blah, blah, blah. They're dumb, or they're not thinking, come on. That's part of the problem. There's a reason.

‌How about we find out the reason? How about we try to communicate without anger? How about we listen? How about this: You have two ears and one mouth. Let's use them in proportion. Talk less, listen more. And that's coming from someone that's yelling at the screen, that's coming from someone that talks for a living. But I'm doing this for a reason. And the reason for this is that we need to come together. We can get along. And that's not some sappy crap. That's not some feel-good kumbaya nonsense. What that is, is reality.

And the reality is that we need to get it together as a country. We need to respect one another. We need to listen to one another and be able to voice our opinions without repercussion. Hello, Twitter. People in power. You need to understand that everybody out here, and I have thousands of clients, and I travel all the time, and the thing that I hear all the time is, "We just need to get along. Why can't we just get along? Why can't people just listen to each other?" The other day, I was in an Uber, and this guy is a hard worker. I don't think we agree on many things, but I know this. I'd lay it down for him, man. And I know he'd lay it down for me.

‌He would. We would. Understand this in the World War II generation, and God bless all of you from that era. When the time came for them to be called to go to war, they went to war, right? Fortunately for the rest of us, we haven't been called to war. We've had people volunteer and lay it on the line for us and the military people up there, God bless you. If you see a military person in a restaurant or airport, buy them something if you can afford it. These people are laying it on the line every single day. But because the rest of us aren't called to that, why don't we lay it on the line for everyone else? Why don't we do that? This is America. We cannot be fractured like this. This cannot continue. It's up to every single one of us to hold every single one of us accountable. Period.

‌Is this a moment in time when people aren't getting along? I hope so, but I fear it's only if we do something drastic from the standpoint of how we interact with people and listen to them. What does this have to do with annuities? Not much. Annuities will be here; whether the Republicans or the Democrats are in charge, it doesn't matter. They're contractual guarantees. I'm going to be here, period.

But what I ask you is this. Think of the person that drives you crazy, that you hate seeing on TV, and you hate when they talk. Do you know who I'm talking about? You just turn the channel. Can you come off that a bit? Because if you can come off that, you can interact with people you don't agree with. And that could be family members, that could be anybody. And by the way, if your family has been fractured over this political nonsense, that's crazy. Nothing's worth that. Nothing, and you know that. Thanks for reading along today. My name is Stan The Annuity Man.

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.