Bryan W. Adams

Copyright © 2013 Legacy Safeguard, LLC All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2013

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This book is dedicated to:

My parents, Allan and Gail Adams, for dedicating over 50 years

of their lives to helping people plan for the inevitable and giving dig-

nified service to the families they served through their funeral homes.

They taught me the principles of hard work, ethics, integrity and how

to put others ahead of myself. They also taught me that anything is

possible, and that I could accomplish anything in the world if I set my

mind to it. That’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever received, and I can’t

wait to pass it on to my kids.

To my miracle son, Asher, you inspire me every day! And, to my

wife, Robyn, who supports my dreams more than anyone else. I defi-

nitely out punted my coverage when I married her!

I would like to extend my appreciation and thanks to our team at

Legacy Safeguard and Integrity Marketing Group for making this pro-

ject a reality. You have supported me through all the blood, sweat,

and tears and keep striving to be the best you can every day.

I want to personally thank Steven Prince, who takes all of my

crazy ideas and makes them become a reality. You’re the smartest and

most gifted person I’ve ever met. Thank you for all that you do! I

thank the Lord that He placed you in my life and lets us do all of these

things together!

I would also specifically like to thank Allen Pauley, Lisa Cooke,

Kendall Spence, Katy Barr, Aaron Livingston, Mike Froseth, my

business partners and all of our marketing team for all of your hard

work you put into this project. Without you, this would have never

have happened.

In addition, I would like to thank all of the incredible insurance

companies, and all of our dedicated marketing partners that work with

us. I also want to thank all of the tens of thousands of insurance

agents that use our service and marketing systems. You are the reason

we work so hard to provide tools such as this to help you better serve

your clients. You inspire us every day to push harder and stretch far-

ther than I ever thought possible. Please keep letting us know how we

can better serve you as you provide these products and services to the

community you serve. You make all of this worthwhile!

Bryan W. Adams is the founder and CEO of Legacy Safeguard,

LLC a company dedicated with helping members leave a lasting lega-

cy and be remembered long after they’re gone. Bryan is also the

Managing Partner for Integrity Marketing Group, LLC which is one

of the leading insurance marketing organizations (IMO) with over 35

member IMOs and 105,000 combined insurance agents serving the

Senior Market. Bryan is considered one of the nation’s leading ex-

perts on final expense planning. His marketing systems have helped

thousands of agents successfully provide their clients with over $1

Billion USD of life insurance coverage to help cover their final ex-

penses. He also speaks frequently across the country about the

importance of leaving a lasting legacy and final expense planning, and

consults with some of the leading insurance companies to help them

offer the best products to this market.

For speaking requests please email info@legacysafeguard.org.

Introduction ....................................................................................... 13

1. Preseason – Begin with the End in Mind ........................................ 17

2. Be a Star Player – Serve Your Clients with Another Major Need . 19

3. Don’t Be One Dimensional – Final Expense Planning is Not Just Funeral Planning .................................................................... 24

4. A Name Everyone Remembers – Don’t Let Your Clients Become a Faceless Name on a Family Tree ................................... 26

5. Regular Season Game Plan – Focus on One Game at a Time ..... 31

6. Preparing to Become a Senior Market Champion – Do This One Thing and Advance to the Postseason ..................................... 34

7. The Postseason Begins – First Round Bye Weeks are Not an Advantage for a “Hot” Team ......................................................... 37

8. Get in the Game – Offer Legacy Safeguard to Your Clients ......... 39

9. Run the Option – The Final Expense Life Insurance Products You Need in Your Game Plan ......................................................... 44

10. How to Make Every Day “Game Day” – A Proven Marketing System to Help You be Successful ................................................. 47

11. Unlimited Draft Picks – Legacy Safeguard’s Referral System ... 50

12. Senior Market Champion – Now Get Ready for Next Season ... 56

13. Build a Dynasty – Repeat this Plan Year After Year and Become a Dynasty .......................................................................... 58

14. Postseason Playbook – Your Key to Postseason Success ............ 61

13

Growing up I learned two things…we’re all going to die and I

love football. Let me explain.

I grew up in a small town in West Texas where my parents

owned and operated funeral homes. With Adams as a last name and

our family owning a chain of funeral homes called Adams Funeral

Homes, you have to become accustomed to the “Adams Family”

jokes. And yes, I’ve heard them all!

I was raised in a really small community where you know every-

one and everyone knows you. I was also raised in a time where kids

worked. So for my sister and me, we worked in our family funeral

home from the time we could open the door and say, “Welcome to

Adams Funeral Home.”

My time spent in and around the funeral home taught me a lot of

valuable life lessons and opened my eyes to the reality of death at a

very early age. Most kids don’t have to deal with death very often,

other than the death of a pet goldfish, a family dog, or maybe the

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passing of a grandparent, but for me I saw death literally every day. I

was always amazed by how many families came into the funeral

home and didn’t have any plans in place, leaving a huge burden on

their families when the surviving spouse or children had to pay for

their mom or dad’s funeral.

While I never really wanted to become a funeral director, I did

want to help people address this major need that is going to affect all

of us one day. Therefore, I got into the final expense life insurance

business to help people plan for the inevitable and take care of their

final expenses. Along the way, I’ve been fortunate enough to help de-

velop some of the best final expense products in the market and some

of the most successful marketing systems with many of the leading

life insurance companies in America.

Being raised in Texas taught me something else that has also be-

come a lifelong passion of mine. You see, in Texas, FOOTBALL IS

KING! For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved all sports. I’ve

loved playing them, I love watching them, and I love studying the

strategies it takes to become a champion. I really don’t care what

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sport it is. I’ll watch anything…well, except soccer. I’ve never figured

that one out, and I hope my kids don’t ever figure it out either because

in Texas, there’s only one football. While I really enjoy watching dif-

ferent sports, there’s just something special about football. My

favorite time of year is the start of football season! There’s really

nothing like it!

When I was in high school I did what most young men in Texas

do…I played football. Unfortunately, I played on a team that for dec-

ades had a tradition of losing. We were the laughing stock of our

district, and no one ever took us seriously. We were the team other

schools booked for their annual Homecoming game, because those

schools knew they would at least get a “W” if they played us. We

were perennial losers!

By the time I made the varsity team, my teammates and I decided

we had had enough! Even though we weren’t the biggest, fastest or

the strongest, we had decided that we would do whatever it took to

become successful and win our District that year and make it to the

Postseason playoffs. This may not sound like a big deal for you, but

for Ralls, Texas this had not been done in over 30 years. Plus, our cur-

rent team wasn’t anything special athletically, so the expectations

outside of our locker room were pretty low.

That offseason we had a player-only meeting where we discussed

what we wanted to be remembered for and what it would take to

achieve all of our goals. Our motto became What Ever It Takes! We

had T-Shirts made, and we had signs hung all around our weight room

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and locker room to remind us that we would do What Ever It Takes to

become champions and make it to the Postseason.

That season we went undefeated throughout the entire regular

season and went on to win our District, and even our Regional Cham-

pionship. We pushed into the playoffs where we eventually lost a

heart breaker before we could make it to the State Championship

game. Along the way, five of us were named to the All-State Team (I

was Honorable Mention All-State but I still count it!) and we changed

the way our fans expected our team to play. This experience taught

me some great life lessons that have helped me throughout my life,

including setting goals that stretch you to be more than you can ever

imagine. I learned how to follow a game plan, as well as, how to do

What Ever It Takes to get you to where you want to be.

Now that I’m working in the Senior Market, I realize that there’s

a similar need for a successful game plan. I hope this book helps you

better understand the need for helping your clients plan for their final

expenses. I also hope it helps you develop a successful game plan to

get you through the Regular Season, into the Postseason, and on to

becoming a Senior Market Champion!

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Begin with the End in Mind

Before each season starts, every sports team prepares and practic-

es to make sure that they are ready to do everything they can to be

successful during the upcoming season. The coaches meet for months

to outline strategies, the players workout to make sure that they are in

good shape going into training camp and ready to play at their highest

level, and the fans follow their favorite team’s preparation in anxious

anticipation for the upcoming season. Everyone is also thinking about

what it will take to win a championship this year!

Successful people always begin with the end in mind as Ste-

phen R. Covey outlined in his book The Seven Habits of Highly

Effective People. As Covey described, “Beginning with the end in

mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of

your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing

your proactive muscles to make things happen.”

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Beginning with the end in mind

for Medicare agents is thinking about

what you’re going to do after the

Medicare Season ends, so that you can

leverage all of the new clients you

have served this season and maximize

your potential in the Senior Market.

As you gear up for this Medicare Season, you need to begin with

the end in mind and think not only about the Regular Season (Medi-

care Advantage Season), but also the Postseason where real

champions are crowned! This game plan is all about helping you be-

come a champion in the Senior Market and will focus on how you

achieve that once the Regular Season ends and the Postseason begins.

If you will use the steps outlined in this game plan, you will not

only have a successful Regular Season, but you will also better serve

your clients in another major need that they have.

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Serve Your Clients with Another Major Need

If you want to be a star player in the Senior Market, then helping

your clients with just their Medicare plan is not enough. Seniors have

other major needs that need to be addressed, and one of the most ob-

vious needs is planning for their final expenses. Final expense

planning is one of the most overlooked pieces of the financial plan-

ning puzzle and one that seniors need help with understanding and

planning for. Let’s face it, 100% of humans (including your clients)

are going to die, and there needs to be a plan in place to help protect

their family from the unexpected cost and burden of their final ex-

penses.

According to research from the Life

Insurance Market Research Association

(LIMRA), a surprising number of Amer-

icans have no life insurance protection at

all and they don’t have an insurance

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agent to go to for help. The following is some interesting research

from LIMRA that will show you the opportunity in the final expense

market.

Only 44% of U.S. households have individual life insurance.

This is a 50 year low!

30% of U.S. households (35 Million households) have no life

insurance protection at all1

50% of households (58 million households) say they need

more life insurance – the highest level ever1

70% of women and 62% of men believe that life insurance is a

necessity and all people should have it2

60% of consumers don’t recall being approached to buy life

insurance in the last two years2

8 out of 10 households need basic insurance but do not have

an Agent1

A primary reason Americans purchase life insurance is to

cover burial and final expenses1

And, seniors are America’s fastest growing market, and they

need your help with final expense planning! 1. LIMRA – Facts about Life 2010 2. Facts from LIMRA – Life Insurance Awareness Month, September 2012

As an insurance agent who serves the Senior Market, you’re

probably scratching your head in disbelief that this is really happen-

ing. This research is from the life insurance industry’s leading

authority on market research, and it shows that there’s an incredible

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opportunity for agents to better serve their clients with life insur-

ance…especially since so many people need this coverage.

LIMRA’s research also found that 78% of life insurance shoppers

with previous relationships with their agent bought life insurance

when their agent presented it to them.2 According to this research,

there is a huge need for agents to present life insurance products to

seniors. And, since you’re the trusted advisor to your clients, they are

also more likely to buy life insurance from you. All you need to do is

present it to them!

In addition, we have discovered that when an individual has had

to plan for the funeral of a loved one, they realize how important it is

to have a plan in place to protect their family. Most of the time, they

are completely caught off guard when a death occurs, even if their

loved one had been very sick. The family goes down to the local fu-

neral home, and they are shocked at the costs associated with

planning a funeral. All too often, the kids are planning the funeral for

their parents, and they end up not agreeing on what to do and how to

pay for the funeral. Many times they are even forced to pass a hat for

everyone to pitch in to help pay the cost of the funeral because the

funeral home requires full payment of the funeral before the services

occur. This is on top of all the stress, confusion and grief that accom-

panies the loss of a loved one. Without proper planning, this can

really be devastating to a family!

22

So what are the chances that your clients have planned a funeral

before? Well, let’s do some simple math to figure this out. If your cli-

ent is 65 years old and their parents were let’s say 30 years old when

your client was born, then their parents would be 95 years old today.

With the U.S. life expectancy of around 78.3 years of age (U.S. Cen-

sus Bureau Life Expectancy Study 2010), chances are your clients’

parents have already passed away, and your clients would have been

responsible for making their parents’ funeral arrangements. It is just

as probable that they also have already planned for their in-laws fu-

neral and maybe even for a sibling or a spouse.

Therefore, there is almost a 100% chance that your Senior Mar-

ket clients have had to personally plan for a funeral before. Because

of this, your clients don’t want their family to go through the burden

of planning their funeral without the money to pay for it. They know

how difficult it was when they went through it themselves, and they

want to protect their family from it now. They just need you to bring

it up to them!

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In addition, most Americans don’t have adequate savings to pay

for retirement, much less their final expenses. Teresa Ghilarducci, a

professor of economics at the New School for Social Research, esti-

mates that 75% of Americans nearing retirement in 2010 had less than

$30,000 in their retirement accounts. This is a major issue, because

many kids think that mom and dad will have the funds to pay for their

funeral expenses when that day comes. Considering this research,

most people’s parents will be penniless and not have any money,

much less any funds to pay for their final expenses.