Daryl Diamond Presentation to Life Insurance Brokers

November 6th, 2011 | Author: Mitch Reynolds

Daryl Diamond Presents Lessons from the Vancouver Olympics

10 lessons we can learn about business and life, from Daryl Diamond

I had the great pleasure to hear Daryl Diamond of Diamond Retirement Planning Ltd. speak on October 25, 2011 at the PPI Solutions Business Builder Workshop in Kananaskis, Alberta. He shared with us 10 important lessons about life and business that he learned from watching the Vancouver Olympics.

Daryl Diamond: 10 lessons on life and business The Vancouver Olympics was a defining moment in Canada’s growth towards national identity. The games were so much more for Canadians than winning medals. It was our stage, our opportunity to show the world what Canada really is, what we stand for, and the friendly, polite yet strong and determined people we are. It was lessons springing from these Olympics, one of the best Winter Olympics of all time, that Daryl Diamond derived his presentation.

I will not try and recreate the spirit of the presentation, which used video, poetry, news articles and personal letters from athletes, coaches and the press. Daryl Diamond was able to capture the spirit of our Canadian nationalism and pride. If I try and recreate that here I will fail terrible. If you ever get the opportunity to hear this speech from Mr. Diamond, I urge you to go. So, I will just present his 10 lessons on business and life.

Lesson 1: Emotion is the most powerful factor in decision making.

Emotional anchoring is the psychological phenomenon that highly stressful and negative experiences will anchor themselves in our brains and create panic reactions when faced with a similar situation in the future. It is the basis of why a negative experience is four times more powerful than a positive one. In terms of financial planning, a person would have to earn four times more money for their positive emotions to offset the negative experience of a single loss. People are looking for direction and want to feel safe and secure. With a lack of education, direction and advice, people can easily let negative emotions overtake them. As a financial advisor, you never want these negative emotions to cloud your client’s judgement or worse yet, have a negative situation be anchored on you and your performance as an advisor.

But, as advisors, we can all control or at least influence our clients emotions by keeping in contact with them, being available to council them and living up to our role of trusted advisor.

Lesson 2: If your client feels that someone else can do a better job for them, you could be replaced.

Your clients will not remember what happened 5 years ago, when they made lots of money in the markets from your advice. They likely won’t even remember one year ago, if you help protect their portfolio from downside losses. Clients will focus on the here and now: What have you done for me lately?

This is where the importance of having a written plan comes into play. It is surprising how few financial advisors develop a written financial plan with their clients, including both investment planning and risk management. Having that written plan is your #1 reference source to go back to annually with clients, review what has taken place in the last year, how the plan is performing, what changes have taken place, etc. The written financial plan will help your clients see that you are constantly on track with them and they know what you are doing from them, year over year.

3. We are only held back by the limits we place on ourselves.

A research study was conducted with aging Canadians, and they asked what 3 things you would change in your life if you had it to do over again. The top three answers were:

Spend more time with children and family
Take more risks
Leave a legacy for the next generation

It is interesting that Take more risks was the #2 answer. Most people are unwilling to take risks in their life when they perceive that financial responsibility to their family means they should have a secure job and stable income. This, however, is the time in life they should take a risk, and strike out on their own, start a business, become a consultant, etc. Once children are grown up people have often fallen into the routine of being an employee, and the creative spark and entrepreneurial energy has gone out of them.

So, if you feel you have it in you to do something incredible go out and do it. Write a book, start a business, travel the world. We only live once, and at the end it would be nice to look back with few regrets and say, I took a risk.

4. Commitment to purpose will carry you through the worst of times.

Do you have a clear purpose in life that you are committed to? With your financial plan, do you have a clear roadmap that makes sense and you are staying the course? These commitments to purpose can be a guiding light through the worst times in life. Having a moral compass, a clear life plan, business goals, and a written financial plan will help us through the difficult times in our lives.

In life we make decisions now so that we don’t regret them later. Hopefully this is true for you. Make an informed decision NOW. Avoiding making a decision on important issues in your life, business and your finances is as bad as making the wrong decision. Ultimately we are never sure that the decisions we make are the right ones until we can look back on them over time. What we can do is get expert advice, become knowledgeable on the topic, and make the best informed decision we can, today. We can then re-evaluate that decision on a regular basis as circumstances change, and hopefully only need to make minor adjustments to our plan, and remain committed to our purpose.

5. The magic of 5.

This life lesson is purely a financial planning strategy. In his practice, Daryl Diamond has found that a withdrawal rate of about 5 to 5.5% of his clients’ savings in retirement is the magic number to provide life-long income. Any more than that and the nest egg could run out before his clients do (plan to live into your 90s). Less than that and clients are limiting their income and lifestyle, and creating a tax liability for their estate.

When you build your nest egg, look at a withdrawal rate around 5.5% annually. How much would that be? Is it enough to live on? If not you better try saving more today because to withdraw more than 5.5% annually and you could find yourself out of cash near the end of your life.

6. Even the smallest difference can have a huge impact on the end result.

When a client hands over their life savings to a financial advisor to look after, it is one of the greatest transfers of trust in our society today. They are trusting the advisor to help them save, invest and spend their money wisely. They are looking for safety, security, a good rate of return and ongoing advice on how to use their money and not lose it.

Financial advisors tend to have many of the same financial planning tools at their fingertips. They have the same or similar investment choices. They all use the same investment calculators. What can make the real difference is focusing on the smaller details. The big picture of a financial plan for a couple/family might be the same from one advisor to another. It is the little things, all added together, that make the real difference. Things like:

Reducing taxes via income splitting between spouses
Looking at future estate costs and planning for them now
Finding low cost investments that reduce fees for clients
Look for any and all tax deductions, no matter how small

When people trust you to look after their finances and their retirement income, it is our duty as advisors to look at all the issues, no matter how small.

7. There may be reasons why you need to take the longer road.

Not everything in life comes easily. Not every plan unfolds the way we expect. Sometimes it takes longer to achieve our goals, develop the plans or negotiate our business deals. With hindsight we see that the longer road taken often helps us find clarity in purpose, develop better plans and build stronger relationships. If everything in life was too easy we wouldn’t take such pride and a sense of achievement in accomplishing our goals.

So, don’t be scared to take more time in building your plans. Stop, reflect, get advice and approach your problem with fresh eyes.

8. Take ownership of what you do.

Do you own what you do? I mean really own it. If you are a financial advisor, do you take personal responsibility for the plans you put in place for your clients. Do you take action when things go wrong, keep in contact with clients through the bad times as well as the good, and continuously educate your clients?

When you own what you do you can really take it to the next level. A business owner who is engaged in the long-term vision of their business and not letting the business run them will grow it. This lesson goes back to #4: commitment to purpose. If you have a clear vision for where you are going, are committed to the plan do you take responsibility for making those plans become a reality? That is owning what you do.

9. You will never know how many people will be touched by your legacy.

In life we don’t know what cards we are going to be dealt, only how we chose to play them. How we each react to what life throws at us, and the choices we make, will determine the impact we have on our world. Are you doing something that will live on after you are gone? Have you chosen to leave a legacy to impact future generations?

We can all create a legacy, even if it is just to benefit our immediate family. Some people create knowledge, teach others, and discover new things that last for generations after they are gone. Others focus on family and give their loved ones the gift of an inheritance.

Leaving a legacy for others is the #1 goal of elderly Canadians. Unfortunately it is not a priority earlier in life when people have young families and just trying to raise their children and pay off the mortgage. The sooner we can start planning our legacy, the greater impact it will have. Look to the future and ask yourself, will I have a lasting impact on the lives of others once I am gone?

10. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

In the investment industry these infamous words are attached to ever investment projection based on a history of returns. These words are used to protect the investment company and the advisor from being liable for future “poor” performance that is unforeseen in the financial plan.

But there is another way to look at things. Future performance could be better than you ever expected. Before the Vancouver Olympics, the news reports focused on one main theme, Canada has never won gold on Canadian soil. Well, past performance was definitely NOT indicative of Canada’s results at the Vancouver Olympics. Not only did Canada win gold, it won the most gold medals by a host country in Olympic history.

If you follow the previous 9 lessons, you future performance could be better than you ever could have hoped for:

Don’t let negative emotions cloud your judgement
Become irreplaceable to those you advise and influence
Take risks in life
Have commitment to a purpose for your life
Be wise with money and spend less than you earn
Focus on the small things as they can make a huge difference
Take time to make the best decisions in life
Take ownership for what you do in life
Leave a legacy for future generations

Thank you to Daryl Diamond for a wonderful presentation

I hope you have enjoyed these 10 lessons on life and business. The presentation from Daryl Diamond was so much more than just these lessons. It filled my heart with pride to be a Canadian and our performance at the Vancouver Olympics. At the end of the presentation the entire crowd of 300 plus life insurance brokers stood and joined Daryl Diamond in singing Oh Canada.

The article was written by +Mitch Reynolds. If you found this article interesting or it made you think, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting this article about Daryl Diamond: 10 lessons on life and business would be very much appreciated.