In the last five years I have become quite involved with the Ukrainian people. I have traveled to Ukraine numerous times and spoken to a few dozen audiences of university students in many cities. In March 2023, shortly after the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, my team and I conducted an online seminar (for some seventy students) entitled, “Prepare Yourself for Victory.”
The simple outline for our presentation was as follows:
- You must proactively prepare yourself for victory.
- You must somehow continue living productively during war.
- You need to take steps that will help you move forward.
- You are needed by others to find hope and comfort in these dark times.
The purpose behind this seminar was to break the stranglehold of inertia. Many university students in Ukraine are understandably neutralized. How can they imagine moving ahead in these dark days?
I have never lived in a country under military siege. But, in 2010 I was diagnosed with cancer. Bladder cancer. It was life-threatening. I had two years’ worth of treatments. At the time I read author/speaker John Piper’s booklet entitled Don’t Waste Your Cancer. He wrote it when battling prostate cancer. The message: Make the most of your cancer. Redeem it. Turn it for good. Because of that booklet, I began engaging with other patients in the hospital waiting rooms and doctor’s offices. Many of these dear people were wringing their hands in anxiety and hopelessness. It was easy to sit beside them, place a hand on their shoulder, and offer some words of hope and encouragement. I was in the presence of people I would never otherwise meet because of my cancer. I was committed to not waste the opportunity that my cancer gave me.
Moral of the story: Rather than wait until I was cancer-free, I began working right away on improving my life and helping others.
If, Then
Like the Ukrainian students I have spoken to, and many people I met who were dealing with cancer, it is easy for any of us to get stuck, and to put progress on hold until peace or healing happens. It is tempting to wait until the dust settles. The idea is to simply postpone growth and the extension of ourselves. “If” we return to normalcy, “then” we will move upward and onward.
Point: People living in negative circumstances can fall prey to “If, Then” thinking. They live in an “If, Then” sentence.
On the other hand, human beings can act exactly the same way in positive circumstances. Something great is happening or will soon. Is it best to wait until afterward before investing more time and energy into anything now?
Examples:
- You have a much-needed beach vacation coming in two weeks. At the same time, just today, your manager finally gave you approval to launch the initiative you proposed. Do you wait until you come back from vacation, refreshed, before starting it?
- You propose marriage, the proposal is accepted, and a wedding date is set. Do you stop dating?
- In a year you and your spouse will be empty nesters. You think maybe you will downsize afterwards and perhaps relocate to a warmer climate. Should you fix the dripping faucet, repair the cracked ceiling, and start now getting the house ready for sale?
Point: The easiest thing for a human being is to put off doing things until tomorrow. The easiest thing to believe is that everything is, or will be, fine.
Financial Services Is All about If, Then
When I first got into the life insurance industry, my friends found me a bit morose. I was incorporating the notions of death, disability, and chronic illness into my conversations. Who else but independent financial professionals (IFPs) major in the miseries? “What will you do when the market suddenly crashes?” “What if you were to be hit by a truck coming home tomorrow?” “What if your husband had a stroke and was unable to return to work?”
Many financial services products address things like crisis, tragedy, illness, disability, and death.
“You should consider owning life insurance. If you die… then…”
“Your family will be grateful if you purchased long term care coverage. If you get chronically ill… then…”
“Your biggest asset is your ability to earn an income. If you get disabled… then…”
Point: Financial services is an industry based on helping people survive the unforeseen and unexpected. The “If.” We urge people to prepare now to have funds available “Then.”
What about the in between?
Say an IFP successfully places a sizable life insurance policy, and the family is protected from financial ruin should the insured die. Everyone feels better. Nothing else needs to concern us until “Then.” Right?
Perhaps an IFP assists a couple with their retirement strategies. Accounts are established, automatic monies are allocated, and selected investments are begun. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Nothing to do but watch and wait. Right?
What about the “Now?” IFPs offer more than the “Then.”
Financial Planning Is Like an International Flight
In my work with Global Leadership Partners, I take international flights every Fall and Spring. After all the hassle and commotion of Security, Passport Control, queuing to board, finding a place for the carry-ons, and meeting and greeting seatmates, I am ready to sit back and relax until we land ten hours from now.
Not so fast. There are the required announcements. I need someone to tell me again about seatbelts, oxygen masks, exits, emergency landings, and floor lighting.
Finally, we are in the air. Ahh. Suddenly, around 10,000 feet, more announcements. I am offered inducements to acquire another credit card. I learn what I am missing by not having linked to in-air Wi-Fi.
“Overhead lights will be dimmed. If you need a reading light use the lamp above your seat.” Finally!
Not so fast. Here they come with water. Again, a round of drinks and snacks. Lights on, and a meal is served.
A long span of time passes in darkness without disturbance. Then the pilot comes on, “I am turning on the ‘Fasten Seatbelt’ lights because turbulent air is reported to be ahead.” This is repeated by the flight attendant.
Sometimes, a request is made for anyone with medical training to attend to an ill passenger.
Someone uses the wrong bathroom, and we are all reminded to use those provided in our own cabins.
Lo and behold! Another water service followed by a final meal and a plethora of announcements.
Point: The “If” in my head was a successful take-off. The “Then” is the anticipated safe landing. I think that is all there is to it. Not so fast.
No Such Thing as Autopilot in Financial Services
Aaron Vickar and C. Brant Steck, CFP, wrote: “Many who own permanent life insurance think of their policy as operating on autopilot, and they assume it will automatically take them to their desired destination. Unfortunately, unlike airplanes, there is no such thing as autopilot for life insurance, and permanent life insurance policies (whole life, universal life, variable universal, indexed universal, etc.) require regular monitoring to ensure that they are doing what you intended them to do.”1
This is true. The principle applies to term life insurance too. And disability income protection. And LTCI. And retirement plans.
As annoying as all the interruptions are on long flights, they are essential, or at least beneficial. I know IFPs who resist contacting existing clients because they sense that any contact with them is seen by the clients as an interruption. (They can imagine their clients, window shades drawn, sitting back with eye shades and noise-canceling headphones.) Why should they disturb their clients? After all, the policies are in place. Investments are growing nicely.
My advice? Get over it. Stay in touch! Keep everyone current on what they own, the track they are on, and keep an eye on the destination. Will it be reached? Give assurance. Thank them for the trust they placed in you. Let them know of new opportunities. Better options. Offer enhancements.
Point: Like a long flight, financial planning is for a great stretch of life. Checking in is respectful. Essential. (Too much checking in may be a little annoying.)
Summary:
Consider the wisdom calling to us from the First Century:
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”2
It is foolish to count exclusively on expectations we entertain for all our tomorrows.
Lesya Ukrainka, one of Ukraine’s best-known poets and playwrights, once wrote: “He who has not lived through a storm does not know the price of strength.” (Her face is on the 200 Ukrainian hryvnia paper currency.)
People generally plan for storms but many have not yet faced them.
We are in an industry that anticipates storms coming at uncertain times in unpredictable ways. Storms have happened on my flights.
- I have experienced fellow passengers dying on board.
- I have been on planes forced to land due to equipment failure.
- I have experienced nausea aboard the flight and needed assistance.
- I have trembled and been vexed regarding tight connections and sought reassurance from the flight attendants.
As an experienced IFP you have seen the “Then.” Clients have died. Death claims have been paid. People you served are living on income from the DI policies you sold. You have seen the price of strength because you were there when others suffered.
Point: Clients rely on you to use the experiences of other clients you have helped in times of crisis. They count on you to make sure they are really going to be okay—“Then.”
That is, “If” you are willing.
Footnotes:
- “Autopilot: Great for Airplanes, Not So Great for Your Permanent Life Insurance Policy,” by Aaron Vickar and C. Brant Steck, CFP, https://www.thestreet.com/retirement-daily/your-money/autopilot-great-for-airplanes-not-so-great-for-your-permanent-life-insurance-policy.
- James 4:13-14, The English Standard Version (ESV), published in 2001.
