Retiring Agents – We’ll help you with succession planning
Coming up with a succession plan is one of the hardest decisions you’ll make in your life. Often times, an agent’s book of business represents 40 years of hard work and relationships. It’s your identity, and letting that go isn’t easy.
We all care about the individuals we service. They’re more than just a paycheck. That’s why taking the time to explore the options and come up with a plan is so important. Don’t stress – we can help.
Meet John Hockaday and Jeff Sams
John Hockaday, Principal and Co-Founder of New Horizons, and Jeff Sams, CEO and Co-Founder of New Horizons, have firsthand experience with the succession planning process. They’ve worked with an attorney to iron out the details of passing on their business to their sons.
However, they realize that not every independent agent out there has such an obvious transition. In fact, we estimate that about 90% of agents don’t have children that want to get into the business. That’s why in 2017, John and Jeff began an initiative to help independent agents and grow their existing agency by buying books of business.
There are a lot of guys in this business who are 55+ – with absolutely no succession plan. The average age of a US insurance agent is 59 – well within the range of average retirement age.
And when I think about our own agent base, we still have a lot of guys and gals that are 70+ and still very active.
There are multiple reports showing that too many agents don’t have a succession plan in place. The statistics fluctuate a bit depending on the specific study, but according to LIMRA, 50% of financial professionals don’t have a plan, and according to a Nationwide survey, that figure is 66%.
Regardless of whether you want to retire or not, sometimes life can force you to come up with a succession plan.
For my guys and gals who have narrowed down the retirement possibilities and want to sell, we need to talk about something really important: your book's value.
So, today we're going to help you figure out what your book is worth. I'm going to share a bit about some books we have bought, the variables that go into a book's valuation, and what you can do to increase the value of your book.
Steve Hughes just turned 72 and has sold insurance for over 45 years. As of 2019, he is officially retired and has sold his book of business to his FMO, New Horizons Insurance Marketing. "You can't do it all your life. It was just time," he says.
We sat down with Hughes and talked about everything from the decision to finally sell, to the valuation, to what he'd do differently if he could go back.
When you've been building your book of business for years, or even decades, it's really hard to know when it's time to sell. You have relationships with your clients, and you've invested everything you have in making this thing successful.
However, if you don't have an obvious successor, you should consider selling your insurance business. That sounds easier said than done, so here are 7 sure signs it's time to sell. If any of these resonate with you, I encourage you to get in touch with us.
It sounds like the popular opinion on the street is that letting your book of business die out and then living off the renewals is the best way to retire.
This is the worst advice I've ever heard about retiring from insurance for three reasons: there's no guarantee, there's no clean break, and you're not leaving a legacy.
Jeff and I have purchased two books of business within the last year and a half or so, and we've also planned out our personal succession plans. Retirement planning is something that's on our minds quite a bit, and we want to help you by answering as many tough questions as we can.
Our team has put together 12 common questions, and I'm going to do my best to answer these for you.
