17 Jul 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
Many argue that the best Super Bowl halftime show took place in Jacksonville, FL, ten years ago. In a forum known for mediocre performances that fail to meet the hype and fulfill the expectations, the lights and fireworks opened on a band named Wings, led by one of the last vestiges of an earlier rock...
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03 Jul 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
The poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, once described a cynic as someone who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. A good friend of mine has sold residential real estate for years. Describing some of her non-cynical clients, she tells many stories of long-time homeowners who struggle...
Read more → 22 Jun 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
How much does an insurance company think that your client is worth? Many times it is much more than your client does, and you have their underwriting guidelines to prove it! Insurance companies don’t want to over-insure someone. Too much coverage can often result in someone falling down a flight...
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19 Jun 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
What’s the best way to attract and retain key people in the face of a government that does, and continues to do, all it can to proscribe or eliminate the advantages of selective benefits? The non-discrimination and other limitations on qualified plans often make them ineffective for the purpose. Deferred...
Read more → 12 Jun 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
A man in Clearwater, FL, claimed to have grown a grapefruit that looked exactly like an orange - except that it was bigger and yellow. The attempt at comparison is understandable given other features characteristic of both. What if clients: 1) don’t have access to a qualified retirement plan, or 2) have...
Read more → 05 Jun 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I remember reading an IRS Private Letter Ruling that had about it the worst method an insured/grantor could use to pay premiums on a policy inside an irrevocable trust. He was the sole owner of a business that each year cut a check directly to the carrier...
Read more → 29 May 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
One ancient source alluded to a basic agrarian principle to illustrate a point: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Maybe financial advisors could take a lesson from it as well. Most clients would rather do something with...
Read more → 22 May 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
It wasn’t too long after I turned my face from home and toward the world that I bumped into the reality of having to fend for myself at mealtime. With few culinary skills and less patience I quickly adopted the philosophy that if something took longer to make that it did to eat, then the dish wouldn’t...
Read more → 01 May 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
Why is it that the most important item on an insurance application is allocated so little space? Why is it that the second most important item gets equally parsimonious treatment? All that other stuff is necessary from either a practical or a legal standpoint, but when the dust of policy issue and underwriting...
Read more → 27 Apr 2018
Posted by Tom Virkler 
A simple coin toss is the most popular form of settling disputes or making decisions. Subterfuge is often used to improve a participant’s odds. If the caller sees through the “heads-I-win/tails-you-lose” ploy then the flipper can introduce a GMO known as a two-headed coin, usually a Washington...
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