According to an ESPN report, over 40 million individuals residing in the United States played fantasy football in 2021. The next few weeks will consist of millions of fantasy football leagues drafting teams in hopes of winning their league trophies as the National Football League regular season kicks off after Labor Day weekend.

For those unfamiliar with fantasy football, a league is established with 10 or more teams where “owners” draft players from any NFL team for a starting lineup to compete against other owners in the league. A typical lineup has a quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, a kicker, and a defense plus bench players to cover NFL bye weeks.

Owners draft position players based on rankings and projections, with scoring happening on touchdowns scored, passing yards, rushing and receiving yards, and other statistics. Points are scored on how the players perform each week as fantasy football teams go head-to-head looking to have the highest point total weekly over a 17-game season.

The goal for each owner involves selecting players who provide consistency throughout the season where they score points through touchdowns and yardage while avoiding negative points from yards lost, fumbles, or interceptions.

Does this process sound familiar? When talking to clients about their retirement strategy, you discuss potential options that could provide them with consistent, positive performance throughout the year. You focus on what selected products could reduce any risks of loss and build potential gains to use throughout their retirement “seasons.”

AIP Marketing Alliance feels September is the perfect time to kick off the “new season” with your clients. Like some fantasy football teams, you may want to review the current “lineup” in their retirement portfolio to see if they want to swap out products to improve their strategy. They may have had some “off-season” life events that dictate moving from one product and checking out options to solidify that portion of their retirement planning.

Like most solid fantasy football teams, sometimes you want to have consistency and diversity at each position where the individual parts of the whole team contribute to its success. Taking a moment to review your clients’ life insurance, annuities, long-term care insurance, and other retirement pieces could open up some opportunities to strengthen their team when playing against opponents like inflation and a fluctuating economy.

Your clients are the owners of their retirement strategy, but even fantasy football coaches need help from outside forces (like Matthew Berry or Adam Schefter). That’s your role as their licensed agent by providing third-party options on how they can improve their “team” to make each year toward retirement end with positive gains.

Need some ideas to kick off the conversation? We have plenty of playbooks to start the annuities and life insurance conversation with your clients. Contact AIPMA’s Business Development team at (800) 783-5206 Press #2 or marketing@aipma.com.

Disclaimer: AIP Marketing Alliance is not supporting or endorsing online gambling or fantasy football in this piece, but we are using this blog as an educational way to talk to clients about their retirement strategy. This information should not be used to make a financial decision as each person’s situation is different.