With 2021 quickly rolling to a close, AIP Marketing Alliance wanted to remind you about National Financial Planning Month, which occurs throughout October. During this month, AIPMA recommends you talk to your clients about their financial planning for retirement and give them some strategies to help them reach those goals.

In the last few months, AIPMA has shared some concepts to align with this strategy. A life insurance policy review is a good way to compare whether they have the “old” life insurance vs. the “new” life insurance. Today’s life insurance options provide riders designed to focus on long-term care and other “living” benefits of life insurance vs. just the standard leaving a legacy to your loved ones.

Another option involves talking to your clients about their retirement planning and whether an annuity fits within their strategy. An annuity is the only product that guarantees lifetime income (based on the claims paying ability of the carrier). Annuities provide a stable financial product that can focus on accumulation, income, or both and have a higher interest rate than most CDs.

You also may want to share some of the ideas below with your clients on how they can prepare for the holiday shopping season and have some extra dollars available with a couple of money-generating ideas.

• Ask them to create a budget. By establishing specific spending boundaries, you can have the extra income to place into retirement, use as an emergency fund, or even have a little spending money. Where can they cut expenses? Review going out to eat, daily expenditures like coffee/pop, unused memberships (gyms, stores, etc.), and anything else with monthly fees.
• Take care of those bills. Don’t miss any payments, and don’t pay your bills late to avoid those penalties. With online payments, you don’t have to rely on the mail service or worry about a payment being late. Late payments also could affect your credit rating.
• Start a change jar. What do your clients do with that extra change? Does it stick in the car? Do you give it away? Take that change and extra money to start a small savings fund. Once filled, you can take it to the local store to convert those coins into dollars. What’s next? Put those dollars into a separate savings account, as every cent counts in your budget.
• Online Garage Sale. The internet has made selling those useless items even easier to part with. Take some pictures and post clothes, electronics, sports cards, gym equipment, or other items collecting dust online for free. You can use Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace to sell items locally or nationally through their platforms.
• Donate. If you can’t sell your items online, take them to a local charity. With the pandemic, people are looking for affordable items, and your donation could help them out. Some donations are tax-deductible.

What’s another great suggestion? They should schedule an appointment with you to review their life insurance and annuities. Then, you can provide them with options that could help them generate retirement income and save money for later needs.