LLQP – What Does it Mean?

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The LLQP stands for the Life Licensing Qualification Program.  For the record, this is not some torture test made up to stress out new financial advisors, it is a requirement by the government in order to sell and service Life Insurance products and Segregated Funds.  Admittedly, it does have an intimidating name – but don’t be alarmed!  The process is streamlined and quite manageable, so take a deep breath, and I’ll share the low-down with you!

 In order to protect consumers from untrained, uneducated individuals that may sell the wrong product to the wrong consumer – and end up in a heap of trouble – the government decided it was in the consumers best interest (and for your peace of mind – your best interest as well!) to have people that knew what they were talking about when investing money.  Having a form of licensing helped pave the way for consistency and control of the industry. 

 The LLQP can be a home study course, it can be part of a college degree in Financial Services, it can be a course taken directly through a college – the options are all valid.  Having this solid foundation of understanding at the start of your career can really set the tone for your business. 

 Segregated Funds are an insurance based investment product.  These items reduce the risk clients may otherwise feel when the market dips suddenly.  FaithLife Financial has two guarantees with our Segregated Fund Investments.  The first being the death benefit guarantee.  If you are under the age of 65, every penny you put in (less withdrawals, if applicable) is guaranteed to be paid out upon your death to your beneficiary – regardless of what the markets are doing.  There is also a 75% maturity guarantee.  What this means is after 10 years, 75% of what you put in will be guaranteed to be there upon this anniversary.  Again, the markets could be well below this threshold, but it doesn’t affect your guarantee.  The client gets the advantage of competitive market gains, but reduces the risk of market losses.  When you compare this with its Mutual Fund cousin – which rides the roller-coaster of what the market dictates without any guarantees – the benefits are obvious. 

 At FaithLife Financial, we take your education seriously.  Our full time, in-house trainer is there to answer your questions and guide you through the course.  This alleviates some stress and apprehension that may come up when you find out you must complete a course!  The educating of our Representatives doesn’t stop at the beginning.  In various forms, we offer free training – weekly, monthly, and quarterly to encourage personal and professional growth.  There is no expert alive that would tell you they finished learning. 

 Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study.  Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.  ~Henry L. Doherty

 

Kathy

Filed Under: Becoming a Financial Advisor, LLQP Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to Keep Yourself Relevant

April 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

                                                                                                    Unlike our animal counRainbowterparts, humans work to earn an income.  We use money, rather than intimidation and control to survive and thrive.  This creates a definite conundrum when one loses this source of income to provide for their family.   In this day and age “living off the land” is not quite as common as it was in the times of our pioneering ancestors.  The other issue is that the majority of the population wouldn’t have enough land to live off of!  You are probably at the point of wondering what this has to do with finding a career…because you are researching what to do when you have lost your job.  Good.  Now you are ready to focus!

When you find yourself  “downsized” or laid off, you join a myriad of individuals trying to clamour back into the rat race and find some stability.  First thing is DO NOT PANIC!  Take a deep breath and reassess your strengths and weaknesses…what you enjoyed about your last job and what you did not.  Envision yourself in your ideal career, and write down the goals you would need to accomplish in order to get there.  One of the most impactful things you can do is keep busy with RELEVANT activities related to your desired career.  Side effects include unintentional networking with potential hiring managers, helping hands to get back on your feet, and sound advice on how to pursue your goal effectively.

I am going to refer you to this great article in Forbes, 10 Things You Need to do While you’re Unemployed.  It is filled with practical advice to keep you feeling confident, because when you unemployed it is easy to beat yourself down.  Stay positive.  Challenge yourself everyday to do something that takes you one step closer to your goal! 

At FaithLife Financial we encourage all of our Financial Representatives to re-visit their business goals weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually.  Your business plan has to be flexible.  If something is not working fix it immediately – don’t wait for it to “right itself” – because it won’t.   It feels great  to put a check mark beside an accomplished goal!

Upgrading your career can be as easy as asking questions, meeting people, and researching your targets. 

Kathy

Filed Under: Becoming a Financial Advisor, Featured Posts Tagged With: , , ,

One day at a time

December 16, 2011 By 1 Comment

One thing my father always said to me when I was presented with a particular challenge or opportunity was to “take it a day at a time”.  That’s very true of the business of being a financial representative – you need to take it a day at a time and not become overwhelmed with what you have to do, where you have to go, who you have to see, how you’re going to meet new people, how you’re going to follow-up on that case etc… etc…

Building a financial services practice does take a lot of hard work and you have to be organized.  There is a lot of rope and you don’t want to hang yourself with it.  The beauty is that it is within your control – after the initial period of two years or so of learning the basics – you make all the decisions as to how you handle each and every day.  Each and every opportunity.  Each and every challenge.

One of the initial challenges in the business is finding sufficient people to talk to.  At FaithLife Financial we have a number of partners that help with that.  In partnership with other leading ministries, World Vision, Promise Keepers, and Women Alive – we are able to talk to Christians who are connected with these ministries and tell them our story.  As well, we train on a referral model – adding the extra value that gives you the confidence to ask for introductions to people to further tell our story to friends, family and acquaintances of members.

And if you take it a day at a time – you’ll find success.  Recently, I listened to a presentation by Guy Baker, MSFS, CFP, MBA.  Guy was named by Worth Magazine in 2009 as one of the Nation’s top 250 planners in the United States.  He was a founding Board member of the National Association of Family Wealth Counselors and of The Stewardship Alliance - a group of professionals dedicated to providing legacy and wealth planning to high net worth donors to Christian ministries.  He is an Elder at Grace Church also having served as Chairman of the Deacon Board. He is also the a Founding Trustee for Grace Classical Academy, a k-8 private school for families seeking a classical education.  His strategy for success is 2 a days.  Adding in two people each and every day that have a willingness to meet with you.  Simple.  2 a days, one day at a time.

Filed Under: Becoming a Financial Advisor

Opportunity knocks

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In 1996, I started my career as an advisor.  I loved my role, but needed to make some changes in my work hours to better meet some new family challenges.  Fortunately, I was able to use my current skills in a new position as a financial consultant for the employees of the same insurance company. A few years later, I was approached to consider taking on a development and training role for Long Term Care Insurance Specialists and I jumped at the opportunity.  As a risk taker, I was up for a new challenge.

I have always believed that the financial services industry is a relationship business.  In my experience I knew that my success was a result of building strong relationships.  Relationships are built as a result of your credibility, integrity, keeping your promises, being accountable and building trust. My role as a training manager allows me to help new Financial Representatives understand this as we teach them the sales process.

I believe that life is a series of stepping stones that take you from one area to the next if you are but willing and open to accept the challenges that are presented to you.

Helena Devries,

Training and Sales Manager, FaithLife Financial

Filed Under: Becoming a Financial Advisor

Passion: What we can learn from Steve Jobs

December 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle. – Steve Jobs, June 2005

Sadly, the world has lost Steve Jobs.  What has not been lost is his passion and vision.  He has propelled both of those into a realm of reality with gadgets that do what was once thought to be impossible!  When told it couldn’t be done, he found a way and he did it.  An interesting mention I heard on the radio today was a comment by president Obama, pointing to the fact that a lot of people had heard about Steve’s death on the very device he created…the i-phone.”   How is that for impact?

How does that correlate with a career at FaithLife Financial?  Passion.  You have to WANT to change the way people think about finances and their health by being an educator.  You have to have a drive that is fueled by the desire to help people and make a difference.  Not everyone has the bank account that Steve had, but with the help of a Financial Representative, they can have the finances they need in place to protect their family from creditors and the bank when a death occurs within that sanctuary.

Young families are most vulnerable to not being fully protected.  With all of the upheaval that goes along with the death of a parent, being forced out the house they have known and loved because the surviving parent can no longer make the required payments is heart-wrenching.  On the other hand, delivering the life insurance cheque that cements the financial stability of the family left behind is one of the most rewarding parts of our career.  In most instances it is the only bit of good news that walks through their front door.  Being a fraternal organization, our strength is in our compassion for individuals.

Passion is contagious.  It can spread to your friends, family – even to your clients.  Our Representatives have a passion for making a difference.  When you look at how Steve Jobs has impacted our world…the actual technology is just a piece of the whole puzzle.  It was the USE of that technology and the transfer of information that has really made a difference.  In the simplest sense, that is what we do.  We make pennies out of dollars.  A smart financial plan is using products like life insurance and investments to transfer and increase wealth and security for our clients.

Filed Under: Advice for Financial Advisors, Becoming a Financial Advisor

Is Being a Financial Advisor the Career For Me?

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You may be wondering about the career of a financial advisor.  Rated in the recent Best Careers of 2011 as one of the top choices, it seems interesting.  But, is it for you?

We have a very comprehensive, robust selection process that allows you to see if the career is a good match.  We tailor our career preview phase to do exactly that – determine how it fits.  We often use the analogy of trying on a suit when talking to candidates.

You go to the store and you see a suit that you like and you take it to a fitting room to try on. There are three possible outcomes;

  1. It doesn’t fit – you take it back out and leave it on the rack.  No recriminations we hope!
  2. It fits – but it just doesn’t feel right or look right.  You put it back on the rack and forget about it.
  3. It fits – and you feel & look terrific in it!

By following our process, which you can review at FaithLife Financial, we find out what YOU feel like in the advisor suit.  Any one of the three is OK – we only want you to move forward if it is #3 as of course, there is nothing wrong with the other two outcomes.  It just means it isn’t for you.

We welcome your willingness to enter our process.  Get in touch – we guarantee that we will work with you on “trying on” your FaithLife Financial Representative suit!

Filed Under: Becoming a Financial Advisor

How do I know this is for me?

November 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You may be wondering about the career of a financial advisor.  Rated in the recent Best Careers of 2011 as one of the top choices, it seems interesting.  But, is it for you?

We have a very comprehensive, robust selection process that allows you to see if the career is a good match.  We tailor our career preview phase to do exactly that – determine how it fits.  We often use the analogy of trying on a suit when talking to candidates.

You go to the store and you see a suit that you like and you take it to a fitting room to try on. There are three possible outcomes;

 

  1. It doesn’t fit – you take it back out and leave it on the rack.  No recriminations we hope!
  2. It fits – but it just doesn’t feel right or look right.  You put it back on the rack and forget about it.
  3. It fits – and you feel & look terrific in it!

 

By following our process, which you can review at FaithLife Financial, we find out what YOU feel like in the advisor suit.  Any one of the three is OK – we only want you to move forward if it is #3 as of course, there is nothing wrong with the other two outcomes.  It just means it isn’t for you.

We welcome your willingness to enter our process.  Get in touch – we guarantee that we will work with you on “trying on” your FaithLife Financial Representative suit.

Filed Under: Becoming a Financial Advisor