Executive TLDR
Use the Financial Needs Analysis to truly solve client problems.
Securities reps earn a disproportionate share of commissions.
Investment licensing can significantly increase income.
Market downturns create long-term opportunity.
You can build major income even without being a master recruiter.
Video Summary
Give God The Glory And Focus On What Matters
The speaker opens by giving glory to God and grounding the audience in perspective:
The greatest fear isn’t running out of money — it’s running out of life.
But within that reality, financial stewardship still matters deeply.
The FNA Is The Foundation
He emphasizes one core principle:
He is not “the mortgage guy” or “the investment guy.”
He is the FNA guy.
The Financial Needs Analysis separates order takers from true financial professionals.
Instead of selling:
Quick $250,000 term policies
Easy, surface-level solutions
He urges representatives to:
Write the correct coverage amounts
Protect the family properly
Solve the real financial gap
Without the FNA, you cannot confidently say you solved the problem.
Buy Term And Invest The Difference
The core philosophy of Primerica remains:
Buy term.
Invest the difference.
Life insurance protects the family.
Investments build the future.
Doing both correctly changes lives.
The Securities Opportunity Most Ignore
He highlights a powerful statistic:
~142,000 life-licensed reps
~26,000 securities-licensed reps
Roughly half of company commissions come from securities
That means a small fraction of reps earn a massive share of the income pool.
His challenge:
Why exclude yourself?
The securities exam is no more complicated than the life exam — and often more common-sense based.
Income Proof Over Time
He walks through decades of income growth:
$39,000 in 1999
Steady increases through market crashes
Never dropped below $100,000 after breaking it
$350,000+ annually since 2018
$5.5 million career earnings
Approximately three-quarters of his income came from securities.
Not because he focused only on investments — but because he consistently did the FNA and solved problems.
Thriving During Market Downturns
During the early 2000s market crash:
The market fell over 50%
Millions lost jobs
His income remained stable and then grew
Why?
He stayed active.
He kept serving clients.
He positioned money properly.
The Power Of One Rollover
He shares a story of a client forced to retire with an $840,000 pension rollover.
By conducting a proper analysis and presenting alternatives:
The client secured lifetime income
Preserved legacy value for family
The advisor earned a five-figure commission
Helping one family well can equal months of income.
Don’t Take Time Off After A Big Win
A major mistake reps make:
They close a large case — then coast.
Instead, he treated large commissions as bonuses.
He kept prospecting.
He kept building.
That consistency created long-term growth.
You Don’t Have To Be A Master Builder
He openly admits:
He was never the strongest recruiter.
Yet he still built significant income through:
Proper financial analysis
Investment licensing
Consistent client service
There are multiple paths to success.
Core Themes
Use the FNA
Get securities licensed
Solve real problems
Stay consistent during downturns
Play long-term
His final encouragement:
Don’t wait.
Get licensed.
Help families properly.
Increase your income while doing what’s right.
FAQs
Q: What does FNA stand for?
Financial Needs Analysis.
Q: Why is the FNA important?
It ensures clients receive appropriate coverage and investment solutions instead of quick sales.
Q: What is the core philosophy mentioned?
Buy term and invest the difference.
Q: How many Primerica reps are life licensed versus securities licensed?
Approximately 142,000 life reps and 26,000 securities reps.
Q: What percentage of company commissions come from securities?
Roughly half.
Q: Why should reps get securities licensed?
It opens access to a major income stream with less competition.
Q: Is the securities exam harder than life insurance?
According to the speaker, it is largely common-sense based and manageable.
Q: How did the speaker perform during the early 2000s crash?
His income remained stable and then increased.
Q: What was the value of the pension rollover example?
$840,000.
Q: Why was the annuity solution appealing to the client?
It provided lifetime income plus legacy protection for the family.
Q: What mistake do many reps make after a big commission?
They slow down or take time off.
Q: What portion of the speaker’s income came from securities?
Approximately three-quarters.
Q: Can you earn strong income without being a top recruiter?
Yes, by focusing on proper financial analysis and investments.
Q: What mindset is required for long-term success?
Consistency, professionalism, and commitment to solving problems.
Glossary
Financial Needs Analysis FNA
A structured assessment tool used to determine proper insurance coverage and investment planning for clients.
Buy Term And Invest The Difference
A strategy advocating affordable term life insurance combined with investing remaining funds for growth.
Securities License
Certification allowing representatives to offer and manage regulated investment products.
Annuity
A financial product that can provide guaranteed income, often used in retirement planning.
Pension Rollover
Transferring retirement funds from a pension or employer plan into another qualified account.
Override
Income earned from production generated by team members in a leadership structure.
MIT Event
A company leadership recognition event for high-performing representatives.
Transcript:
All right. I do not have much time. I’ve got ten minutes. And so those of you that know me know that I am not a public speaker. So I told the people in back, I’m going to find out who suggested this and then thank them and then kill them.
Okay?
And then top it all off, David, they don’t have lapel mics, so you get to see me shake, okay? But listen, I do want to give God all the glory for where he’s brought our family. All right? And my savior, Jesus Christ, by the way, Tony, said something. I just want to adjust. He said, the biggest fear for older people is running out of money. The biggest fear of most people is running out of life. And we happen to be standing in a place where there’s probably people out there who taught you about that. That’s more important than all this, right? So anyway. All right, so at the last event or the one before, they had me speak about mortgages. Because we had success there. So all of a sudden, I’m the mortgage guy for a lot of years. Oh, Rob.
He’s the investment guy. Right. And I’m not. I’ve always, only ever been since the FNA guy.
Okay.
The financial needs analysis. It is what makes you sleep at night. Well, knowing that you’ve done what’s right for your client, you sold them the right amount of term insurance. Not 250 grand on term. What do they call it now? Power term. Because it was quick and easy. But maybe you got the 800,000 on the primary, 350 on the wife and 15 on the kids. It was more than they planned on spending, but it’s what they really needed. So I want to encourage you, first off, to use the FNA. Well, my team doesn’t use the FNA. That’s okay. It’s on pol. You can still get to it.
Okay.
Use the FNA. How many of you would love to be sitting with a spouse whose husband died? She’s got three little kids, mortgage debts and everything else. The husband was making 60,000 a year. And you were delivering a check for 250,000. How are you feeling about what their financial life is going to look like a few years later? So don’t be that person.
Okay?
We say in primerica, we have for years that we don’t sell products. We solve problems. But you can’t really solve the problem without the F-A-I firmly believe that. And I don’t apologize for saying it, but it is what buy term and invest the difference. So, since all the speakers this afternoon are about investments, I figured I’d focus on the opportunity with investments. By the way, as Lori just said, or Lori just said, there’s what, 142,000 life licenses? I believe 26,000 investment licenses. But does anybody know of the billion dollars paid in commissions last year by primerica? How much of it was securities commissions? Was it right at half. So think about it. There’s only 26,000 securities reps, 142,000 life reps.
So half of all the money that most of us brag to potential recruits, man, we paid a billion dollars last year, goes to one 6th of the reps. Why would you keep yourself out of that? Oh, it’s complicated. It is no more. Look, how many of you, when you came here, life insurance, your first day. Did not life insurance seem complicated when you went through your class? Oh, God, this is complicated. I’m not even going to pass that test. Securities is no more complicated. You did it with wife, you can do it with the securities in about as much time, but double your income on average.
Okay.
Let’S see. She said something about us. There it is.
Okay.
All right. So by the way, you’ve all seen the product wheel, right? All the different companies we represent. Okay, how much of that wheel is investment companies? Half of it. Right. So listen, all the products that Laura was talking about, all the non regulated products, the Medicare, the Vivint ID theft, all those are important, yes. Okay, but they pay you $60 or $80 or $100 or 250 for Vivint, right? 150 at least on Medicare. But all the big money comes from term insurance, which will pay you hundreds, maybe 1000. But securities pays in the hundreds or thousands or. Dave, tell me right or wrong in the. What I wanted to do here, if I can figure this out, okay, that you’re not going to be able to see it, probably. All right?
And I realize that I was doing this on a plane to Dallas and realized I didn’t have the tools to be able to clip it outright. But if you look, my cash flow, total cash, is in the far left column, okay? And it was 39,000 in 1999. I’m a regional leader. I’ve been full time for four years already. Tony said that you can be good at securities and good at building. I haven’t figured that last part out that great yet.
Okay.
But I figured out the other part, all right. Not by focusing on securities, but by doing the f a. I’d sit down with the family. They had money they had to do something with. So I guess what I’d call the Tonys of the world or the other folks. You’re going to hear talk today. Kevin from equitable. By the way, he was patting me on the back in the room back there for wearing his shirt, okay? And I told him, I’m going to tell him I don’t care if it’s equitable or Corbridge or Lake Mason or Franklin Templeton or. I don’t care. I just care about what’s best for my client. And what’s great is when I have a big client coming up, I’ll call all of them and ask them. I’m the customer. Here’s their situation.
Sell me why I should do what you have, right? And in the process, I learn all kinds of stuff about it. And I also come to conclusion what’s best for my client. And I don’t care who it is. I don’t care which one of them just took me to lunch last week or gave me a polo shirt, okay? By the way, how many of you all like free lunch? Get your securities license, because no one from life is going to take you to lunch. All right? Is that not true? All right. Okay. Anyway, so look, it was $39,000 in 1999. It jumped to 50,000. I got my ring, my watch, rather. Actually, I got my watch in 97. This is full calendar years. As you know, we get rings and watches and diamonds by twelve early months, all right?
But it went to 50,000, 2000. Now, anyone older guys or gals, remember what happened in 2000 in the world? What happened? The world came to an end. All right? Y two K didn’t kill everything the way they thought, okay? Janet Reno did, starting a few months later, okay? Now, someone said, don’t get political, but I’m sorry, you can’t separate politics and money.
Okay?
So anyway, for two and a half years, the market went down 55%. Millions of people lost their jobs. Not just an investment business, all right? It was just a whole big mess. And in that amount of time, while most people were losing jobs or having their pay cut, mine stayed the same from 2000 to 2001, but went up 30% in two. And by the way, the end of that mess was until the very end of two, okay? And then 64, 75, 2004, we got the ring as regional leaders. But let me tell you what happened the month after we qualified for the ring, I had a client from probably a couple of years earlier that I had done an FNA for. So he didn’t see me as his insurance guy, he saw me as his financial guy.
And he calls me and says, rob, the doctor says, I have to retire. I said, oh, man, I’m sorry to hear that. Told me what’s going on? He said, yeah, I need to roll over my $840,000. When can you come over? Now, the comp on annuities was a little different back then, but he was letting go of a pension with a guaranteed paycheck. But if he died, his family doesn’t get anything. And he loved the idea of annuity that gave him a lifetime income, about as good as his pension. But if he died, his family got everything. That’s kind of a no brainer. The comp was a little different. I made $26,000 in 2 hours helping my client. It was as much as I normally made in three months. Okay, now, listen, they’ve changed comp a little bit.
That would only pay a district about 16,000 today. I know you’d hate that, right? But listen, one of the things I did that helped me get through all the rough patches is that when I’d get a trade like that, what most people do when the temptation is strong is to take three months off.
Okay?
What I did is I got that. And it was like, man, lord, thank you so much. Now, all the stuff I normally do the next three months is just extra. And it was extra, right? So we have been paid. I don’t know. We broke 400 grand in this year. I missed 500 grand by $318 a while back. I know, I know. And I don’t apologize, because we had arrived at my grandkids house. They have four little ones, five years old and younger. And when we got there, it’s like, okay, phone’s off. I don’t care what happens in the rest of the world. I don’t care. And then I realized two days before it was too late, that I was that close. And I cared suddenly. But I couldn’t think of where to get to anyway. But listen, this company has paid us.
I know it’s not the numbers like you’re going to hear some of the speakers, but for a guy who’s never been much of a builder, by the way, shout out to the financial freedom fighters that are here today. You can yell, all right, but we’ve been paid five and a half million in our career. And as you can see, I never broke 100 to low four. So really, it’s been about 5 million of that in just the last 20 years, and about 2 million of it just in the last five or six years. And I’m not saying that to boast, okay, the Lord’s been good to us, but he used primerica to do it. And three quarter. If you look at my income, the total securities is on the far right of the 109, paid in four. Three quarters was securities.
You go up to. Look, we never went below 100 grand. You see that? Never went below 100 grand. Broke 150 in 2007. I was the third highest paid guy at. What do they call that? MIT. Thank you. I was the third highest paid guy at MIT. All right. So I had to speak there. That was terrifying. All right, but how much of that was securities? 100,000 of the 169. All right, you keep going up. We broke 200 grand somewhere along the way. 300 grand. We’ve been at 350 or higher since 2018. But look how much of it was securities. And it’s not because I’m a securities guy. I still write tons of life and mortgage when it’s around. So don’t be afraid to get your securities license. It’s not hard. To me, it was the most commonsensical test that we take.
Life was a lot of memorization. Mortgage was a lot of memorization. Securities was a little bit, but most of it was common sense. Okay, so go for it. Don’t wait for it. Companies paying for it. I had to pay for my own dad, I don’t know what you paid. I had to pay $550 for my securities license in 1994. That’s like a grand a day.
Okay.
So my time is up. I hope you see some hope here for you. Whether you’re a builder or not, you can make great money here, and you can do great things for people, but get the license and help people by term. And thank you. Thank.
