About five years ago, a couple called me to have a meeting, so I met them at their place. The husband was about 50 years old. They had one son, a teenager. We were talking about many different plans including life insurance as part of an income replacement solution planning. And he said, “OK, Sunny, I want to buy life insurance because if something happens to me, I want my wife and my only son well taken care of.”

So we got it started right away. Then I asked him, “What about retirement planning? I know you have a 401(k) and pension from your company, but do you want to focus more on retirement planning?” He said, “I’m going to live to 100 and take good care of my wife and my son, don’t worry about it.” So we just started with life insurance at the time.

Three days prior to the approval of life insurance, he got into a car accident and died immediately. It was such a heartbreaking moment for me. Because of that experience, his wife learned the lesson that life is very unpredictable. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. When I can do something right now, I’d better do it.

So she bought two life insurance policies for her son. That was a big wake-up call for her, and to me it was a really, really heartbreaking experience.

Sometimes when I push too much with a client, I have this fear they might think I’m a salesperson instead of an advisor. Because I want to position myself as an advisor not a salesperson, I try to give them options. I pick the best three options, and then I let them choose what they want. Ultimately though, once I've given my recommendations, they have the ownership for making the right decision. 

Sunny Jae Lee is a nine-year MDRT member from Los Angeles, California.

Contact: Sunny Jae Lee totalplanner365@yahoo.com