---

President's Message
Gail Brittingham, CLU, ChFC

PARTICIPATION, COMMITMENT AND DEVELOPMENT in 2005!!!

Starting the New Year, always gives me the sense of new opportunities. Focusing on the future brings hope and optimism. I wish all our members a healthy and prosperous 2005. Your Board welcomes your participation and commitment to SFSP, which results in broadening your career and personal development.

I am pleased to announce two new Board members to start the New Year. Tim Malarkey, CLU, ChFC, ASA, MAAA of Lee Burke & Malarkey LLP, Berwyn, PA and Joseph Little, CLU, LUTCF of John Hancock Financial Services, Conshohocken, PA. We will all benefit from the expertise of Tim and Joe. I thank Frank Lazarus and Art Bavelas for their contributions over the past few years. Due to conflicting responsibilities, both have left the Board.

Member participation is our measure of success. We have comprehensive continuing education and Section Forum meetings planned for 2005. Please follow our Calendar of Events. We strive to provide timely topics to keep you abreast of the newest regulations and sales concepts that are being presented in our industry.

We continue to evaluate opportunities for joint meetings with other financial services professional organizations. We most recently co-sponsored a meeting with the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of PA Institute of CPA’s with great success. We will be co-sponsoring with NAIFA-GP the annual "View from the Top" on January 27, 2005 at the Gregg Center and an April 21^st continuing education meeting.  We are pleased to be co-sponsoring our first meeting with the Philadelphia Estate Planning Council scheduled for April 28, 2005. These joint meetings provide a broader networking opportunity for our members and allow for expense sharing, which provides high quality programs.

Please take advantage of the GP-SFSP member discount on the American Red Cross Lifeline program.  This is a great gift for family or clients.  Thank you to Paul Velho, PR Chair, for putting together this discount with the American Red Cross.

Emerging from the ongoing discussions on mutually-beneficial collaboration between the Society and the College, a new volunteer position has been created – the American College Coordinator. Your board is planning to fill this role with a chair and committee. The committee will coordinate the "Horizons Program" – a series of CFP preparatory modules, assist our Chapter honoring American College new designees at Chapter Recognition Events and coordinate American College fund raising activities. If you have an interest in being a part of this important committee, please contact us at GP-SFSP@association-cba.org.

In addition, all of our Board Chairs form committees to achieve their goals. Please let us know if you would like to commit to your Chapter a couple of hours a month. We welcome your ideas.

It is my honor to recognize the significant milestone of William T. Walsh, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, JD of Wayne, PA, in becoming an Emeritus Member of our Chapter. We will be honoring Bill at our "View from the Top" Program. Please be there to recognize his achievement.

I look forward to seeing you at our events in 2005.

---

Mark Your Calendar!

For more information or to register, visit www.gpsfsp.org


Section Forum: Transitioning Qualified Plans - The Fiduciary Responsibility
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 8:30 to 10 AM
Fee: $15 SFSP member; $25 non-member
Location: Bryn Mawr Trust Building, Lancaster and Bryn Mawr Aves, Bryn Mawr, PA 
Facilitator: Kit McCarty, CEBS, REBC, Securian Retirement Services

GP-SFSP and NAIFA-GP  Program:  A View from the Top
Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 8:30  to  10 AM
Fee:  FREE for members; $15 Non-members
Location:  Gregg Conference Center at The American College, 270 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Moderator:  Maury Stewart, CLU, ChFC, CLF, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
Panelists:   Edward Tippetts, J.D., CLU,  ChFC, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network; Robert Chappell, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company; Robert Turner, Turner Investment Partners

DVD Meeting:  Making the Suitable Sale: The NASD Requirements for Variable Annuities
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - Registration 12:30PM, Program 1 to 4 PM (3 C.E. Credits) 
or
Thursday, February 17, 2005 - Registration 8:30 AM, Program 9 to 12 Noon (3 C.E. Credits) 
Location: Karr Barth Associates, 40 Monument Rd, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Fees: SFSP Member $40; non-member $55    CE Credit
Facilitators:  Jonathan Corle, CLU, CPC, CFP ,  Tycor Benefit Administrators, Inc.; Robert McClure, CLU, ChFC, AXA Advisors, LLC

Section Forum: Defining Consumer Healthcare Options - HRA/HSA/FSA
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 8:30 to 10AM
Location: Model Consulting, Inc., 3160  Tremont Avenue, Trevose, PA
Fees: $15 SFSP member; $25 non-member
Facilitator: Neil J. Model, President, Model Consulting, Inc.

Annual Professional's Dinner
with The Capitol Steps -- "The only group in America that attempts to be funnier than the Congress."
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 5:30-9:30 PM
Location:  Presidential Caterers, 2910 DeKalb Pike, East Norriton, PA
Sponsor Fees:  $3,000 Platinum; $2,000 Gold; $1,000 Silver -- Sponsorship deadline is January 15, 2005!

---

 Greater Philadelphia Chapter Wins National Achievement Award

The Society of Financial Service Professionals announced the winners in the Excellence in Chapter Achievement program for 2003-2004.  Our own Greater Philadelphia Chapter was awarded a Gold Medal of Honor in the Chapter "A" Flight, comprised of the 30 largest SFSP chapters.  Thanks to all of our members and board for helping to make ours a Gold Medal Chapter.  Congratulations all around!

---

Many Thanks to the Panelists for Making the GP-SFSP/PICPA Seminar a Success

The GP-SFSP and PICPA jointly sponsored a seminar on "Comprehensive Analysis of Business Succession Planning" was held on November 3, 2004 at the Adams Mark Hotel on City Avenue.  Investment expert and commentator Susan Springsteen (new associate member of GP-SFSP) of Morgan Stanley put the seminar into high gear with thought provoking questions for the panelists and audience. The panelists included:

Mark Blaskey, Esq., CPA, of Pepper Hamilton LLP – Maximizing the Value of Your Business for Your Heirs
Dennis Reardon, Esq., LL.M, of Reardon and Associates, LLC – Business Succession Planning
Ted Kirchner, CLU, JD, of Penn Mutual Life Insurance – Funding for Buy Sell Agreements
Nancy Drozdow, principal and founder of the Center for Applied Research (CFAR) – The Legacy of Leaving: Leading with the Exit in Mind

The panelists performed at a high level, covering important aspects of business succession planning for clients of financial services professionals. Special trusts, the proper structuring of insurance contracts and suggested leading questions to assist business owners focus on succession planning proved to be helpful to those in attendance.

---

November DVD Program Gets High Marks From Attendees
Jonathan S. Corle, CLU, CPC, CFP

 

The Chapter sponsored a national DVD program, The Dynamics of Trusts in Response to Legislation, on November 16 and 17.  The three hour program presented by a team of nationally recognized experts via DVD was timely and very thorough.  Participants received a 150 plus page workbook and 3 CE credits.  Thanks to Karr Barth Associates for providing the meeting space.

The next DVD Meeting will be held February 16-17, 2005, again at Karr Barth Associates.  See the GP-SFSP calendar above for information, and be on the lookout for registration details, coming soon!

---

Guest Columnist: Chuck Martin
Urgent vs. Important

Executives and managers spend a lot of their work time under the gun.

We’ve written in the past about slowing down at work to do things right the first time, primarily to avoid mistakes that can cost dearly later. But it is not only doing it right the first time that matters, but also identifying whether what you’re doing under pressure is the most urgent thing or if it is the most important.

Urgent is defined as calling for immediate attention, while important is defined as marked by significant worth or consequence. Another way to look at it is that urgent is the issue that was unexpected today when you left work yesterday, while important is that task that will help your business still succeed a year or two from now. So while the crisis of the moment at work always appears urgent, it may not be the most important issue. 

 To read this article in its entirety, follow this LINK.

---

Articles of Interest 

Redefining Retirement in the 21st Century

The demographics of today’s workforce, employee expectations about retirement and the types of retirement options offered are all in a state of flux, making retirement policy a moving target for those charged with researching and administering pension plans. That was the message at a recent Wharton conference titled "Reinventing the Retirement Paradigm," hosted by Olivia Mitchell, executive director of The Pension Research Council at Wharton, and Robert L. Clark, professor of business management and economics at North Carolina State University.

This article is the second of two; the first article, published in our last issue, covered retirement policy issues ranging from pension fund management to accounting reform to transparency. This article focuses on pension planning as it relates to employment trends among both younger and older workers.

To read this article in its entirety, follow this LINK.

---

New Membership Benefit:  American Red Cross Lifeline Program
Paul A. Velho, ChFC,CLU

If a member of your family or a client needs to become a subscriber of a personal emergency response program, you may refer them to the American Red Cross Lifeline program and they will receive 50% off the $72.50 installation fee (for a limited time).

The American Red Cross Lifeline personal response service is friendly, caring support to allow older adults to get immediate assistance in a medical emergency. During the past 15 years, American Red Cross Lifeline has helped tens of thousands of subscribers and their families have independence and peace of mind knowing that help is just the push of a button away. The service is simple to use. When help is needed, the subscriber just presses the waterproof Personal Help Button, worn around the neck as a pendant or on the wrist. Within seconds, a certified Lifeline monitor responds, assesses the situation and summons appropriate help.

Please see the GP-SFSP Web site for program details.

---

Editor's Comments:  Looking Forward
Robert M. Flood, III, CLU,ChFC,MSFS

 

It’s 2005 and all systems are go! The presidential election is behind us, and the new Congress will officially be installed in the coming days. With the United States' assistance and support, free elections are scheduled in Iraq for the end of the month. The Middle East will no doubt remain turbulent and will require the watchful eye and attention of our country’s leadership.

The following are two areas that may affect financial service professionals in 2005:

Spitzer and the Insurance Industry
Elliot Spitzer is running for the governor of New York, and he and his robust, talent-filled staff will press hard for changes in the insurance industry, just like the mutual fund industry. In a proactive measure, the NAIC, AALU, NAIFA and ACLI have jointly drafted proposed state disclosure legislation. It appears we are headed for full disclosure of producer compensation to our policyholder(s). This means that policyholders would acknowledge that the producer would receive compensation for the placement of insurance from the insurer. Lastly, the disclosure of any contingent compensation received from the insurance company in the transaction would be disclosed. This is revolutionary for the insurance industry.

Social Security
Privatizing a portion of social security is a priority in President Bush’s second-term agenda. The ability for working people to invest some of their social security money in the equity markets would allow them the possibility of earning higher returns. There is obvious risk in equities, but over the long haul, equities could provide more money at retirement than having the government invest their earnings for them.

Historically, Treasury bonds have yielded 3 percent contrasted with equities that have earned 6.5 percent - nominally. These assumptions prove crucial in the President’s position that private investment accounts could reduce the social security shortfall, which is estimated at $3 trillion. Most of the social security overhauling proposals call for reductions in benefits or extending the date benefits are received.

Social Security was created during the Great Depression to guarantee that no elderly citizen should live in poverty. This was a good idea at that time, but things change. When Social Security was developed, the number of workers paying into the system greatly outnumbered those receiving benefit payments. There is an ever-increasing burden on "younger workers"; the ratio of workers to elderly has shifted from 41-to-1 in the 1930s to 3-to-1 today, and this is projected to go to 2-to-1 in 2020.

Rebuilding Social Security is what is needed. Mandatory savings in an individual private retirement accounts are what is needed. Investment options would include several broad forms of indexed investment funds. Similar programs have worked in other countries. As an example, in 1980 Chile established a program that workers are allowed to opt out of the government's pension plan and contribute 10% of the their pre-tax wages to a personal private retirement account – the money grows tax-free until withdrawn.

Today 90 percent of the covered workers participate, and the program has created a pool of earnings of approximately $50 billion. This "savings-phenomenon" may be a strong reason for Chile’s 7 percent economic growth rate.

A change in policy is necessary to rebuild our unfunded pay-as-you go social security system to stimulate workers to save and invest a portion of their earnings for retirement.

-  Robert M. Flood, III, Westport Worldwide, 600 W. Germantown Pike, Suite 300, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462; rflood@westportworldwide.com

---

Another Membership Benefit of the
Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals
308 East Lancaster Avenue, Suite 110, Wynnewood, PA 19096
Tel.610-642-1685; Fax.610-642-0628; gp-sfsp@association-cba.org; www.gpsfsp.org
Editor: Robert Flood, CLU,ChFC,MSFS
Staff: Megan Garvey, Boylan & Associates, LLC

Back to KeyFacts Main Page