Good morning, TOT. My passion in life is sailing. When I asked to talk to you today for five minutes, I tried to compare what we are trying to do to sailing. How many of you here are sailors? OK. You will relate to what I’m going to talk about for the next five minutes.

We’re going to compare what we are trying to do as financial planners with sailing. The sail represents investment, real estate, annuities and the business. The hull represents the bank, the savings you have in your bank account, the cash you have in the money market. And insurance is the life preserver on the boat.

So now picture three different sailboats. Our first boat is designed by an equity salesperson. On this boat, you have a tremendous sail, a tiny hull and a small life preserver. Of course, in good weather with the right winds, this boat can really move against the tide of inflation. But it sure would be unstable in a bad economy where they it would be easily capsized.

Our second boat is designed by the person who, like a banker, wants safety in bad weather. With that huge hull, there is not much danger of capsizing as with the first boat. But how is it going to move against the tide of inflation with that tiny sail?

Our third boat is designed by a life insurance agent. Once the family sets sail, it will be safe. If the boat sinks, that tiny sail won’t make much headway against the tide of inflation. And that tiny hull is not going to be very safe in bad economic weather.

And now we have our fourth boat. Here we have large enough sails to move against the tide of inflation. We have a large enough hull to be safe in a storm. And we have adequate life preservers to save the participants in case the boat doesn’t make it to shore. Isn’t that the kind of sailboat you would buy and you put your family on?

But as Steve Jobs always says, “One more thing.” What is missing from the boat? A rudder. Absolutely. The rudder is equal to your financial plan. The best financial plan involves an ongoing relationship between the clients and the clients’ most trusted advisors. And just as vigilant attention to the rudder is necessary in sailing a boat, vigilant attention to the financial plan is necessary for plans to succeed.

A sailboat ability to move forward is in direct proportion to the amount of wind that sail is able to catch and properly harness. The skill then is turning the rudder and catching the winds at the right time. In other words, you must be in the proper position for the winds to benefit the sailboat. The same is true with a balanced financial plan. You must be in correct financial position and have your financial portfolio balanced so the financial and economic factors allow your investment portfolio to grow. So now, tell me about your plan.