June 8, 2021 • 15 mins
Alberto Gaglianese is a financial planner for Lincoln Investment, based out of Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. He has had a successful practice in the 403(b) and the 457 marketplace since 1986. Listen in as Alberto shares his experience on helping clients reach their retirement goals and growing a thriving practice.
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Episode Transcript
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Ed Dressel (00:06):
This is Edward Dressel of RetireReady
Solutions. I'm excited to haveanother podcast. Today we're
joined by Alberto Gaglianese.
Welcome, Alberto. Glad you'rehere.
Alberto Gaglianese (00:14):
Hi, how are you doing? Glad to be here.
Ed Dressel (00:16):
Tell the audience a little bit about yourself.
Alberto Gaglianese (00:19):
I'm a financial advisor for Lincoln
Investment, which is based outof Fort Washington,
Pennsylvania. I started in thebusiness back in 1986, and have
had tremendous practice runningin the 403(b) and the 457
marketplace.
Ed Dressel (00:34):
What's your role in your company?
Alberto Gaglianese (00:36):
I'm a financial advisor, and I'm a
financial planner. I've mergedfrom being just a financial
advisor to being a planner. AndI enjoy that aspect much better
than just being an advisor.
Ed Dressel (00:50):
And how would you define the two differences?
Alberto Gaglianese (00:52):
As financial advisor, I think I was out there
just getting clients and runningaround and doing my thing, but I
really wasn't doing planning andsitting down with what was good
for the client. Not that itwasn't good for the client. But
as I got through having a numberof clients, they kind of pointed
me in the direction of planningand now I do more planning, and
(01:12):
I don't really do selling. Ithink the plans do the selling
for you. So I really enjoy it. Itry to do what's right for the
client every day of every week,I work.
Ed Dressel (01:22):
So when you say the plans sell for you, how's that
working for you?
Alberto Gaglianese (01:26):
Basically, I use the TRAK program, and I try
to get an end result from aclient and back end like how
much they want for retirement.
Your program has pensions formunicipal employees and
educators alike. And, you know,if they need 80% of their income
I back into it and it tells themthey need to do $200 a pay for
their career. If they can'tstart there, we start with what
(01:49):
we can and then we--every timewe meet--we update their plan
and try to get to that goal. SoI really believe that I try to
help people every day andgetting to that goal is a way of
doing it.
Ed Dressel (02:02):
How does doing planning help grow your
business?
Alberto Gaglianese (02:05):
I mean, I think clients--think clients
know. I'm in the industry. Andat least in the area that I'm
in, my competition just sells asell as many as they can. They
don't go back and talk to theclient, they don't review. I
don't see a lot of that. And myclients end up leaving them and
come to me because I'm doingplanning. I give them a plan,
they get a report that isupdated every year. Some people
(02:27):
like it emailed, and some peoplelike it in paper, so I have the
option to do either one. And Ithink that's what really sells
them because I always ask them,you know, "is somebody next to
you in this classroom, nextyear, we're in the hall across
from you that would benefit fromthis?" And nine times out of 10
the answers "Yes, I knownobody's doing that for that
person." So, again, I've beendoing it 35 years. And it's
(02:50):
growing my businesstremendously.
Ed Dressel (02:51):
So when I think planning, I think of 250-300
pages of paperwork, whereclients sitting down and looking
at a pretty detailed plan.
That's my concept of planning.
If you're doing that every yearwith a client, obviously, you're
not providing two to 300 piecesof paper. Tell me a little bit
about the process you'reproviding.
Alberto Gaglianese (03:09):
So, I do have financial planning
software. it's very cumbersometo go through and enter every
detail. When I through gothrough the TRAK program, it's
very concise. It gets to theirgoal, and they're really getting
a 15 page printout. And thatshows what they need to catch up
(03:30):
as well. I think that's one ofthe things that really gets
people in the nonprofit fieldbecause they know they have a
pension and they know they mayget social security. And what's
the difference and this tellsthem what that difference is.
And it's done quickly andeasily. It doesn't take me three
hours to enter the informationand go through that information
with a fine tooth comb. I'mreally doing that goal and they
(03:53):
love it.
Ed Dressel (03:54):
So when you say you go through that quickly, what
does that mean in time? How longwill you be sit with a client?
Alberto Gaglianese (03:59):
I mean I sit with the client for an hour
gathering the information andentering the information and
getting it out. I'm done in anhour.
Ed Dressel (04:06):
And they're not overwhelmed by the technology
and the sophistication of thetools?
Alberto Gaglianese (04:11):
No, not at all. No, no. Even even when I do
the life insurance analysis thatyou have in the social security
analysis. It's a couple of stepsin each of those. And you know,
yes, I'm entering theappropriate information by
asking the questions from theclient, but it certainly comes
out and they get even smallerreport for those little detailed
(04:31):
ones. But no, it's not a longprocess at all. It's very
simple.
Ed Dressel (04:35):
Excellent. Tell me what obstacles--you know, we
live in an interesting time withCOVID. And hopefully we're
unwinding from that. Tell me alittle bit about the obstacles
you're facing and how you'veovercome them in this last year.
Alberto Gaglianese (04:47):
Well, to tell you the truth, we switched
our financial planning software,our three hour entry software
and it took--if it wasn't forCOVID I'm not sure I would have
relearned another programbecause it was just forever.
Whereas--which I find verycumbersome. And it really slows
down me getting clients andhelping clients. So I like to
work with a client, and thenmove on. We have a follow up
(05:10):
process so we stay connected tothat client. And then it's not
as cumbersome using the TRAKprogram, and then using some of
the other programs that I useout there for financial
planning. So it's again, it'ssimple, and I find it really
cumbersome, almost the reason Ididn't want to do it. But if it
wasn't for COVID and beinglocked in my basement, I don't
think I would ever done it. Butyours is easy, concise, quick.
(05:33):
Clients understand the graphsand all the details that you
see. And it works out for themas well as it does for me,
Ed Dressel (05:40):
How do you engage your clients towards retirement
readiness?
Alberto Gaglianese (05:44):
Well there's more than one aspect of the
retirement process. I think,most of the clients when they
tell me their goal is to retireat 55 or 60, whatever that goal
is, or somewhere in between,because the numbers work out, we
work towards the financialsolution. And I just had a
conversation with a client lastnight. And she wasn't sure what
(06:04):
she wanted to do. So by usingyour program, I was able to show
her pension or social securityand what her investments would
provide her. And it came outthat she was working for $1.18
an hour. And she was astoundedby that. And she said I am
retiring June of this year. So Iwas really able to use those
(06:25):
numbers and tell her what thatnumber was, and her making $1.18
an hour for all the aggravationshe had to go through at work
was not exciting to her at all.
So she was--she checked out. Shesaid "I'm putting in my papers
now." And it's a conversation Ihad just last night. So that's
how I engage them. I mean,financially, hers was a trigger,
but other people they're notpsychologically ready. They
(06:46):
don't know. I've had a lot ofclients tell me or tell my other
clients, they told me I wouldknow, when the old teacher told
me, I would just know when I wasready to retire. And that's what
ends up happening. They justknow it's time for me to leave.
And some of it I mean, themajority of its financial but
the other part is psychological.
So I'm not a therapist, so Ihelp them with just the
(07:06):
financial numbers.
Ed Dressel (07:10):
Yes, that can be a shock when you tell them you're
ready to retire now financially,but emotionally, are you ready?
But there's a difference betweenhaving to go to work and wanting
to go to work.
Alberto Gaglianese (07:20):
Yes, Yep.
Yep. And a lot of teachers tellme that they don't want to go
through the motions. I don'twant to go through--I don't want
to be there and go through themotions if I don't have to. So I
said, "Well, that's an indicatorto me that it's time. If you're
just going through the motion.
If you're financially set, thenthat's to me, it will be a
trigger, but I'm not them.
Ed Dressel (07:39):
Sure. How do you define success for the client?
Alberto Gaglianese (09:14):
I think defining success is really
having clients--me helping themget to their goals. One of my
goals I have for my clients--andthey may not have it for
themselves until I pointed itout--is not to have any debt in
retirement--credit card debt andall those types of debt. I even
have some who retire and havestudent loan debt still, after
25 years, because they went backout for grad, got their master's
(09:36):
and went to graduate schoolthings, of that nature. So they
budget along and they want topay it off even through
retirement. I think one of thethings I tell them to do is
you'll have a better retirementand you'll be able to do a lot
more things if you don't oweanybody anything. So I try to
have them with no more than afive year mortgage when they're
done left and then all theirother bills just taken care of
(09:56):
by their pension and socialsecurity and they're savings. So
I mean, getting them to get totheir goals. I'm pointing things
out that they may not see, iswhat I would define as success.
Ed Dressel (10:08):
What's the best way to help a client?
Alberto Gaglianese (10:11):
Help them accumulate assets to their
goals, keeping them on track,holding their hand when the
market is crazy going down 40%like last March. I had a bunch
of clients call me wanting toget out and thank God they
didn't. And I'll always tell thestory back in '08 that I had
three clients pull out. One ofthem and went back in and the
other two will never make up forlosses in their lifetime. And
they're still sitting in themoney market today. That bothers
(10:32):
me. I remember that storysometimes more than the people
who get to their goals, becauseit's just--it's a very
frustrating thing for me. And Itry my best to get them to get
to their goals. But in thatcase, they're still sitting in
cash because they wereoverwhelmingly fearful of the
market.
Ed Dressel (10:48):
You work with a group of advisors, right and
oversee a team.
Alberto Gaglianese (10:52):
I do. I work with a team. I have a partner,
Rian. She--I actually mentoredher for five years when she
first started in the business.
Now we're partners. She's mysuccession plan. On top of that,
I have two, what we call junioragents. And they help us go in
and do presentations at schoolswhen, after COVID we can, and
they help grow the business. Andthen I have one more coming on
(11:13):
board, which is actually my son.
He's got to his last test, Ithink is in June, and then he'll
be on board. And that'll bethree junior agents. And we
actually are looking for onemore. So we are--we do plan on
growing. And I do plan onretiring probably within the
next 10 years and have them takeover everything while I go to
the B phase and send thempostcards.
Ed Dressel (11:36):
Yes. When you bring on junior agents, and there's
always a risk when you bringthem on, rather than just
selling product, selling a need.
In an analyst, how much doesTRAK help you in that context?
Alberto Gaglianese (11:49):
One of the things that the junior agents
need is a process. And I thinkyou make it easy enough in your
TRAK program for them to followthe process. The client answers
the questions and of course, wedo some training, but at the
end, they see the result, theysee what their, what their goals
going to be. And it really keepsthem on track. And when you save
(12:10):
that, you come back the nextyear, or the next six months
when you go back to review withthe client, and there it is
again. And you're talking aboutincreasing another $100 per pay
and what that'll do, and itkeeps them on track. And it
keeps my staff on track. Itkeeps the juniors on track. And,
you know, when they asked mequestions, I go back to TRAK.
TRAK answers that question.
Let's go back and look at whereit answered that question so
(12:32):
that they can learn how to doand explain to the client. But
it really does. It's a real goodsales format for getting the
client to their goal and how toget there. I think we've kept
more clients since I've got TRAKthan I had before. It's just
--it's a great tool. I mean, itreally does do its--and really
does do its job as far as I'mconcerned.
Ed Dressel (12:54):
And I'm listening to you and I are you using TRAK in
front of the clientinteractively?
Alberto Gaglianese (12:59):
Yes. Yep. I will ask the questions. And I'll
turn my computer around my, Ihave a laptop and I go through
the whole process. And then Iturn to them and I say, "Here,
see the red? We got to erase thered in that bar graph." And go
to another page, and it tellsthem how much you need to put
away per pay to do that. Andthen they hand me a paycheck
stub and I can do paycheckanalysis for them and how much
(13:21):
you're going to lose in taxesand how much it doesn't cost
them--it won't cost them thewhole $100 out of their
paycheck. And we go through thatprocess too. So some people are
a little easier. Okay, I'll dothat. Because I can afford to do
that. Some people are on a tightbudget. So it takes a little bit
more using the programs and thetools you have. Using the
Paycheck Analysis does that. Andit tells them that if they wait
two years or three years or fiveyears how much more they're
(13:43):
gonna have to put away. Andthat's a real telltale also,
because it lets a client knowthat that number is not going to
grow. It's going to grow becauseevery year you got to make up
for what you didn't put in. Sothat's another part of the
program that we utilize.
Ed Dressel (13:56):
So you're talking about showing the client the red
in the chart, and then getting agraph. They need to do
something. A lot of people aretrying to get clients off their
heels and activity and helpingthem engage. Do you find that
engaging for clients? And if itis, why does that engage your
client versus handing them astatic report?
Alberto Gaglianese (14:15):
Well, I think it's it's interactive,
because I can actually say,"Listen, if I change it, if you
started at $300 a pay, you wouldhave this much at the end of
retirement." Or to do $300dollars of pay, you don't have
to retire at 60. You couldretire at 57. So what--which
which way appeals to you.
Though, some clients whenthey're 25 years old, 28 years
old, are coming in, theydon't--they're not thinking
(14:36):
about retirement. The reasonthey start the 403(b) and 457
plan is because somebody aroundthem is saying get this started
early because it'll make a bigdifference later. I call them
the cheerleaders. Thecheerleaders are telling them do
it. They have no idea why. Andthen I answer the why question.
This is why you're doing this.
And to get to your goal, you'regoing to need to do X Y Z. Now,
(15:00):
a lot of my clients don't reallyget serious until they get
married or have a family ordecide they're not going to get
married and not have a family.
Then I think they get realserious because now they're not
in it alone. Or if they are init alone, they have to step
up--step it up because they gotto take care of themselves. So,
I mean, it works for eithermarried or not married
individuals, and it really doeshit home and it does show them
(15:21):
that process. And I have--I usethe "what if's" by changing it
quickly, and they can see thisis what it will be if you did
this. And they get it. It's areal number to them. And it--I
think it encourages them. I havea secretary at one of my schools
and I said, "Listen, justincrease three or four dollars
every time, every year you get araise." She says, "I don't make
(15:42):
that much money." I said "No,you did the minimum 25. Like
increase it two or three or fourdollars every year just a little
bit." I know--I mean, she's upto about $80 pay, and she's got
a nice little pot of money andshe never knew--and I told
her--you'll never know how yougot to $80 a pay or how, you
know, how you increased it. Butshe's $5 here $3 there. She's
been doing it for 20 years.
(16:04):
She's got a nice little tiny sumthat she thought she'd never had
by just increasing it a coupledollars. So you don't have to go
from $25 to $300, but in hercase, she was just trying to
accumulate money so she couldenjoy retirement to some degree.
And she wasn't, she doesn't makea lot of money today. She didn't
make a lot of money then but shefound a way to make a couple
bucks every time she got a raisein September.
Ed Dressel (16:24):
And those are the retirement success stories I
hear from advisors like you thatI really enjoy hearing. Helping
the people put a little bit ofmoney away and increase it over
time. And in retirement theyhave a smile on their face. And
everybody goes, "How did you dothat?" And they had a great
advisor helping them day by day.
Persistent, consistent. Well,Alberto, I really appreciate you
(16:45):
taking the time to share alittle bit about your business
today. I wish you the best asyou move forward and your son
the best as he comes on board.
And in 10 years as you moveforward towards retirement. I
wish you all the luck.
Alberto Gaglianese (16:57):
Well, I appreciate it. Thanks Ed
Ed Dressel (16:59):
Thanks for taking the time.
This is Edward Dressel of RetireReady
Solutions. I'm excited to haveanother podcast. Today we're
joined by Alberto Gaglianese.
Welcome, Alberto. Glad you'rehere.
Alberto Gaglianese (00:14):
Hi, how are you doing? Glad to be here.
Ed Dressel (00:16):
Tell the audience a little bit about yourself.
Alberto Gaglianese (00:19):
I'm a financial advisor for Lincoln
Investment, which is based outof Fort Washington,
Pennsylvania. I started in thebusiness back in 1986, and have
had tremendous practice runningin the 403(b) and the 457
marketplace.
Ed Dressel (00:34):
What's your role in your company?
Alberto Gaglianese (00:36):
I'm a financial advisor, and I'm a
financial planner. I've mergedfrom being just a financial
advisor to being a planner. AndI enjoy that aspect much better
than just being an advisor.
Ed Dressel (00:50):
And how would you define the two differences?
Alberto Gaglianese (00:52):
As financial advisor, I think I was out there
just getting clients and runningaround and doing my thing, but I
really wasn't doing planning andsitting down with what was good
for the client. Not that itwasn't good for the client. But
as I got through having a numberof clients, they kind of pointed
me in the direction of planningand now I do more planning, and
(01:12):
I don't really do selling. Ithink the plans do the selling
for you. So I really enjoy it. Itry to do what's right for the
client every day of every week,I work.
Ed Dressel (01:22):
So when you say the plans sell for you, how's that
working for you?
Alberto Gaglianese (01:26):
Basically, I use the TRAK program, and I try
to get an end result from aclient and back end like how
much they want for retirement.
Your program has pensions formunicipal employees and
educators alike. And, you know,if they need 80% of their income
I back into it and it tells themthey need to do $200 a pay for
their career. If they can'tstart there, we start with what
(01:49):
we can and then we--every timewe meet--we update their plan
and try to get to that goal. SoI really believe that I try to
help people every day andgetting to that goal is a way of
doing it.
Ed Dressel (02:02):
How does doing planning help grow your
business?
Alberto Gaglianese (02:05):
I mean, I think clients--think clients
know. I'm in the industry. Andat least in the area that I'm
in, my competition just sells asell as many as they can. They
don't go back and talk to theclient, they don't review. I
don't see a lot of that. And myclients end up leaving them and
come to me because I'm doingplanning. I give them a plan,
they get a report that isupdated every year. Some people
(02:27):
like it emailed, and some peoplelike it in paper, so I have the
option to do either one. And Ithink that's what really sells
them because I always ask them,you know, "is somebody next to
you in this classroom, nextyear, we're in the hall across
from you that would benefit fromthis?" And nine times out of 10
the answers "Yes, I knownobody's doing that for that
person." So, again, I've beendoing it 35 years. And it's
(02:50):
growing my businesstremendously.
Ed Dressel (02:51):
So when I think planning, I think of 250-300
pages of paperwork, whereclients sitting down and looking
at a pretty detailed plan.
That's my concept of planning.
If you're doing that every yearwith a client, obviously, you're
not providing two to 300 piecesof paper. Tell me a little bit
about the process you'reproviding.
Alberto Gaglianese (03:09):
So, I do have financial planning
software. it's very cumbersometo go through and enter every
detail. When I through gothrough the TRAK program, it's
very concise. It gets to theirgoal, and they're really getting
a 15 page printout. And thatshows what they need to catch up
(03:30):
as well. I think that's one ofthe things that really gets
people in the nonprofit fieldbecause they know they have a
pension and they know they mayget social security. And what's
the difference and this tellsthem what that difference is.
And it's done quickly andeasily. It doesn't take me three
hours to enter the informationand go through that information
with a fine tooth comb. I'mreally doing that goal and they
(03:53):
love it.
Ed Dressel (03:54):
So when you say you go through that quickly, what
does that mean in time? How longwill you be sit with a client?
Alberto Gaglianese (03:59):
I mean I sit with the client for an hour
gathering the information andentering the information and
getting it out. I'm done in anhour.
Ed Dressel (04:06):
And they're not overwhelmed by the technology
and the sophistication of thetools?
Alberto Gaglianese (04:11):
No, not at all. No, no. Even even when I do
the life insurance analysis thatyou have in the social security
analysis. It's a couple of stepsin each of those. And you know,
yes, I'm entering theappropriate information by
asking the questions from theclient, but it certainly comes
out and they get even smallerreport for those little detailed
(04:31):
ones. But no, it's not a longprocess at all. It's very
simple.
Ed Dressel (04:35):
Excellent. Tell me what obstacles--you know, we
live in an interesting time withCOVID. And hopefully we're
unwinding from that. Tell me alittle bit about the obstacles
you're facing and how you'veovercome them in this last year.
Alberto Gaglianese (04:47):
Well, to tell you the truth, we switched
our financial planning software,our three hour entry software
and it took--if it wasn't forCOVID I'm not sure I would have
relearned another programbecause it was just forever.
Whereas--which I find verycumbersome. And it really slows
down me getting clients andhelping clients. So I like to
work with a client, and thenmove on. We have a follow up
(05:10):
process so we stay connected tothat client. And then it's not
as cumbersome using the TRAKprogram, and then using some of
the other programs that I useout there for financial
planning. So it's again, it'ssimple, and I find it really
cumbersome, almost the reason Ididn't want to do it. But if it
wasn't for COVID and beinglocked in my basement, I don't
think I would ever done it. Butyours is easy, concise, quick.
(05:33):
Clients understand the graphsand all the details that you
see. And it works out for themas well as it does for me,
Ed Dressel (05:40):
How do you engage your clients towards retirement
readiness?
Alberto Gaglianese (05:44):
Well there's more than one aspect of the
retirement process. I think,most of the clients when they
tell me their goal is to retireat 55 or 60, whatever that goal
is, or somewhere in between,because the numbers work out, we
work towards the financialsolution. And I just had a
conversation with a client lastnight. And she wasn't sure what
(06:04):
she wanted to do. So by usingyour program, I was able to show
her pension or social securityand what her investments would
provide her. And it came outthat she was working for $1.18
an hour. And she was astoundedby that. And she said I am
retiring June of this year. So Iwas really able to use those
(06:25):
numbers and tell her what thatnumber was, and her making $1.18
an hour for all the aggravationshe had to go through at work
was not exciting to her at all.
So she was--she checked out. Shesaid "I'm putting in my papers
now." And it's a conversation Ihad just last night. So that's
how I engage them. I mean,financially, hers was a trigger,
but other people they're notpsychologically ready. They
(06:46):
don't know. I've had a lot ofclients tell me or tell my other
clients, they told me I wouldknow, when the old teacher told
me, I would just know when I wasready to retire. And that's what
ends up happening. They justknow it's time for me to leave.
And some of it I mean, themajority of its financial but
the other part is psychological.
So I'm not a therapist, so Ihelp them with just the
(07:06):
financial numbers.
Ed Dressel (07:10):
Yes, that can be a shock when you tell them you're
ready to retire now financially,but emotionally, are you ready?
But there's a difference betweenhaving to go to work and wanting
to go to work.
Alberto Gaglianese (07:20):
Yes, Yep.
Yep. And a lot of teachers tellme that they don't want to go
through the motions. I don'twant to go through--I don't want
to be there and go through themotions if I don't have to. So I
said, "Well, that's an indicatorto me that it's time. If you're
just going through the motion.
If you're financially set, thenthat's to me, it will be a
trigger, but I'm not them.
Ed Dressel (07:39):
Sure. How do you define success for the client?
Alberto Gaglianese (09:14):
I think defining success is really
having clients--me helping themget to their goals. One of my
goals I have for my clients--andthey may not have it for
themselves until I pointed itout--is not to have any debt in
retirement--credit card debt andall those types of debt. I even
have some who retire and havestudent loan debt still, after
25 years, because they went backout for grad, got their master's
(09:36):
and went to graduate schoolthings, of that nature. So they
budget along and they want topay it off even through
retirement. I think one of thethings I tell them to do is
you'll have a better retirementand you'll be able to do a lot
more things if you don't oweanybody anything. So I try to
have them with no more than afive year mortgage when they're
done left and then all theirother bills just taken care of
(09:56):
by their pension and socialsecurity and they're savings. So
I mean, getting them to get totheir goals. I'm pointing things
out that they may not see, iswhat I would define as success.
Ed Dressel (10:08):
What's the best way to help a client?
Alberto Gaglianese (10:11):
Help them accumulate assets to their
goals, keeping them on track,holding their hand when the
market is crazy going down 40%like last March. I had a bunch
of clients call me wanting toget out and thank God they
didn't. And I'll always tell thestory back in '08 that I had
three clients pull out. One ofthem and went back in and the
other two will never make up forlosses in their lifetime. And
they're still sitting in themoney market today. That bothers
(10:32):
me. I remember that storysometimes more than the people
who get to their goals, becauseit's just--it's a very
frustrating thing for me. And Itry my best to get them to get
to their goals. But in thatcase, they're still sitting in
cash because they wereoverwhelmingly fearful of the
market.
Ed Dressel (10:48):
You work with a group of advisors, right and
oversee a team.
Alberto Gaglianese (10:52):
I do. I work with a team. I have a partner,
Rian. She--I actually mentoredher for five years when she
first started in the business.
Now we're partners. She's mysuccession plan. On top of that,
I have two, what we call junioragents. And they help us go in
and do presentations at schoolswhen, after COVID we can, and
they help grow the business. Andthen I have one more coming on
(11:13):
board, which is actually my son.
He's got to his last test, Ithink is in June, and then he'll
be on board. And that'll bethree junior agents. And we
actually are looking for onemore. So we are--we do plan on
growing. And I do plan onretiring probably within the
next 10 years and have them takeover everything while I go to
the B phase and send thempostcards.
Ed Dressel (11:36):
Yes. When you bring on junior agents, and there's
always a risk when you bringthem on, rather than just
selling product, selling a need.
In an analyst, how much doesTRAK help you in that context?
Alberto Gaglianese (11:49):
One of the things that the junior agents
need is a process. And I thinkyou make it easy enough in your
TRAK program for them to followthe process. The client answers
the questions and of course, wedo some training, but at the
end, they see the result, theysee what their, what their goals
going to be. And it really keepsthem on track. And when you save
(12:10):
that, you come back the nextyear, or the next six months
when you go back to review withthe client, and there it is
again. And you're talking aboutincreasing another $100 per pay
and what that'll do, and itkeeps them on track. And it
keeps my staff on track. Itkeeps the juniors on track. And,
you know, when they asked mequestions, I go back to TRAK.
TRAK answers that question.
Let's go back and look at whereit answered that question so
(12:32):
that they can learn how to doand explain to the client. But
it really does. It's a real goodsales format for getting the
client to their goal and how toget there. I think we've kept
more clients since I've got TRAKthan I had before. It's just
--it's a great tool. I mean, itreally does do its--and really
does do its job as far as I'mconcerned.
Ed Dressel (12:54):
And I'm listening to you and I are you using TRAK in
front of the clientinteractively?
Alberto Gaglianese (12:59):
Yes. Yep. I will ask the questions. And I'll
turn my computer around my, Ihave a laptop and I go through
the whole process. And then Iturn to them and I say, "Here,
see the red? We got to erase thered in that bar graph." And go
to another page, and it tellsthem how much you need to put
away per pay to do that. Andthen they hand me a paycheck
stub and I can do paycheckanalysis for them and how much
(13:21):
you're going to lose in taxesand how much it doesn't cost
them--it won't cost them thewhole $100 out of their
paycheck. And we go through thatprocess too. So some people are
a little easier. Okay, I'll dothat. Because I can afford to do
that. Some people are on a tightbudget. So it takes a little bit
more using the programs and thetools you have. Using the
Paycheck Analysis does that. Andit tells them that if they wait
two years or three years or fiveyears how much more they're
(13:43):
gonna have to put away. Andthat's a real telltale also,
because it lets a client knowthat that number is not going to
grow. It's going to grow becauseevery year you got to make up
for what you didn't put in. Sothat's another part of the
program that we utilize.
Ed Dressel (13:56):
So you're talking about showing the client the red
in the chart, and then getting agraph. They need to do
something. A lot of people aretrying to get clients off their
heels and activity and helpingthem engage. Do you find that
engaging for clients? And if itis, why does that engage your
client versus handing them astatic report?
Alberto Gaglianese (14:15):
Well, I think it's it's interactive,
because I can actually say,"Listen, if I change it, if you
started at $300 a pay, you wouldhave this much at the end of
retirement." Or to do $300dollars of pay, you don't have
to retire at 60. You couldretire at 57. So what--which
which way appeals to you.
Though, some clients whenthey're 25 years old, 28 years
old, are coming in, theydon't--they're not thinking
(14:36):
about retirement. The reasonthey start the 403(b) and 457
plan is because somebody aroundthem is saying get this started
early because it'll make a bigdifference later. I call them
the cheerleaders. Thecheerleaders are telling them do
it. They have no idea why. Andthen I answer the why question.
This is why you're doing this.
And to get to your goal, you'regoing to need to do X Y Z. Now,
(15:00):
a lot of my clients don't reallyget serious until they get
married or have a family ordecide they're not going to get
married and not have a family.
Then I think they get realserious because now they're not
in it alone. Or if they are init alone, they have to step
up--step it up because they gotto take care of themselves. So,
I mean, it works for eithermarried or not married
individuals, and it really doeshit home and it does show them
(15:21):
that process. And I have--I usethe "what if's" by changing it
quickly, and they can see thisis what it will be if you did
this. And they get it. It's areal number to them. And it--I
think it encourages them. I havea secretary at one of my schools
and I said, "Listen, justincrease three or four dollars
every time, every year you get araise." She says, "I don't make
(15:42):
that much money." I said "No,you did the minimum 25. Like
increase it two or three or fourdollars every year just a little
bit." I know--I mean, she's upto about $80 pay, and she's got
a nice little pot of money andshe never knew--and I told
her--you'll never know how yougot to $80 a pay or how, you
know, how you increased it. Butshe's $5 here $3 there. She's
been doing it for 20 years.
(16:04):
She's got a nice little tiny sumthat she thought she'd never had
by just increasing it a coupledollars. So you don't have to go
from $25 to $300, but in hercase, she was just trying to
accumulate money so she couldenjoy retirement to some degree.
And she wasn't, she doesn't makea lot of money today. She didn't
make a lot of money then but shefound a way to make a couple
bucks every time she got a raisein September.
Ed Dressel (16:24):
And those are the retirement success stories I
hear from advisors like you thatI really enjoy hearing. Helping
the people put a little bit ofmoney away and increase it over
time. And in retirement theyhave a smile on their face. And
everybody goes, "How did you dothat?" And they had a great
advisor helping them day by day.
Persistent, consistent. Well,Alberto, I really appreciate you
(16:45):
taking the time to share alittle bit about your business
today. I wish you the best asyou move forward and your son
the best as he comes on board.
And in 10 years as you moveforward towards retirement. I
wish you all the luck.
Alberto Gaglianese (16:57):
Well, I appreciate it. Thanks Ed
Ed Dressel (16:59):
Thanks for taking the time.
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