When I was just a teenager (yup, even yours unruly was a teenager), I was dorky. I was unpopular. I wasn’t a lady’s man.
I was everything the popular kids weren’t.
And they teased me relentlessly.
I was interested in art an music instead of sports, so I spent most of my time figuring out how to play the cornet (which is sort of like the trumpet), the piano, and so on.
I also spend an unusual amount of time in the music wing singing.
I spent hours and hours and hours at home banging on my craft…and went to many county and state competitions. At that time, I was one (out of about 100 people) of the best in the county…and eventually…the state.
No one really knew it though because the best singers in the state are kinda like the best yo-yo’ers. Unless you’re in that crowd, you’re not famous.
Anywho, I started composing a classical piece in 10th grade. A year later, my music teacher found out I could play piano (I kept that a secret for a while, too) and insisted I play at the spring concert…so I agreed.
I was so nervous. What if everyone hates it? What if I mess up and look like an idiot?
What if?
The night of.
I walk out on stage and sit down at the piano. My hands are shaking. I try to ignore the 300+ people in the auditorium. So many showed up that night, there weren’t enough seats for everyone.
Standing room only.
But…
It was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. I know people SAY that kind of thing for effect, but I think you could have actually heard a pin drop…
I start to play.
I finish.
There’s about 2 seconds of dead silence.
Oh great.
They hated it.
And then…
Someone starts clapping…
…which turns into a wave of people clapping…people stand….standing ovation. Yelling, screaming…
The crowd goes absolutely WILD.
Back stage someone approaches me. It didn’t “click” at first…
Then, I realize who it is.
My worst enemy. This guy had a master’s degree in bullying.
Time to take a beating…
He stops. Looks at me for a second and says,
“I can’t believe you can play like that…that was awesome.”
I will never forget it.
I had won the respect of my greatest enemy.
So, what’s this got to do with the price of tea in China?
That bully wasted a lot of years hating me for no reason. In the end, the person he spent years mocking turned out to be someone he admired and respected.
And I didn’t have to throw a single punch.
It’s the same in finance.
When I talk to younger folks, it’s (almost) always the same story. They hate how boring whole life insurance is. They don’t see the point. When I tell them this is a long-term product…they yawn and move on to something else…
Go online. Search for whole life insurance…you will see it mocked relentlessly. Mostly by a younger crowd.
But…almost without exception…as people get older, they want it. And, they wished they’d bought it years ago. And, the longer they put it off…the more interest they lose…
And…it stings…but it stings MORE every day they don’t have it. It’s like a constant reminder they’ve been dumping easy money for the past 30 or 40 years.
People they mocked? Suddenly they’re the smart ones. They respect them. They realize that these people knew what they were doing all along and they missed it.
Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it. Ask someone in their 20s or 30s what they think about whole life insurance. Then ask someone over the age of 60 what they think about their whole life policy.
You will get two VERY different answers.
Of course, that’s all foreplay. If you want the goods, you’ll have to sign up for my email list. I hand out cool stuff that will never be available on the blog: