Ed Dressel  0:09 
Welcome to another RetireReady Solutions "Grow RetireReady Clients." I'm excited to be with Lindsay Waltower from Atlanta, Georgia. He's almost 25 years in the industry and focused on 403(b) mostly. But it's going to be a fun interview. Lindsey, great to have you here.

Lindsay Waltower  0:23 
Ed it is awesome to be here with you. I'm so honored.

Ed Dressel  0:28 
Tell the audience--I kind of give them a little highlights of your experience. Tell them a little about who you are, and then also a little bit about your passions.

Lindsay Waltower  0:35  
Sure, I am currently CEO and founder of Sovereign Retirement Group, and since about 2000 we've been helping teachers, state and public and government employees, with their retirement planning needs, and we primarily do that through conducting pension reviews. We come back with a Gap Analysis, and then we make recommendations based upon their situation. So we built a nice niche market in that area. My passion is, I am a former educator on several levels. I've taught at the college level. I've taught as an adult education practitioner back in the day, which means I sat with a lot of adults who were looking to get their GEDs build those skills up so they could get back into the workforce. So that helps me in my current role in our current business, because in a lot of ways, I've been on both sides of the table. And I'm definitely passionate about education. I'm passionate about serving other people and helping them get their financial house in order. You'll be amazed. The middle America is the most underserved segment of America when it comes to not having a financial advisor or anyone that they can rely on to give them sound advice. So that's a lot of what I hear, and you can always help them with a rollover or setting up an account or some sort of insurance policy, but if they walk away better than you met them, I'm okay with that.

Ed Dressel  2:13 
Well, that's cool. I appreciate that. Tell me a little bit about teachers. You're working in a niche. They're underserved middle income America. I'll pull that apart a little bit. But tell me the world of teachers. What do you find unique about that niche that you're working in?

Lindsay Waltower  2:29 
They typically earn between 60 and $90,000. They're married. They've been in their jobs, either elementary, high school for about 15 to 20 to 30 years of service, and they're just, they just have servant hearts. Man they they go way beyond what their job descriptions require. I mean, they were coming out of their own pockets to help their students. They're staying after school. They're in the community. So we come along with them, so that they can continue to do that and not have to worry about the financial thing. "Oh, Lindsay, when can I retire? Oh, Lindsey, am I going to have enough money to retire? Lindsay, I don't know if I can retire." So a lot of that enables me to come in to their world, not just as a service provider, but a lot of these teachers have become friends now. They rely on me for non financial stuff as well.

Ed Dressel  3:34 
Your work in a sweet world of middle income America. A lot of advisors would say I can't make a living there.

Lindsay Waltower  3:41 
Well--and it could be tough. It can be tough because, again, you're you're not dealing with high salaried employees, so you have to work smart Ed. You really do. You have to understand there are typically five scenarios, I find. They're going to have a pension. That pension will pay them half of what they're going to earn. How do we set up a supplemental plan to fill in that income gap? So that's one scenario. The second scenario is they'll have their pension. They are saving in a 403(b) or in the 457 plan. But they don't know how that money works. So sometimes it's in the market directly. They have no idea--fees, etc. So when I start peeling back the onion and look at their statement and walk them through what that actual quarterly statement is, they're amazed. They don't they don't even realize it. So my pushback with advisors that there's not any money in that. Well, my average rollover is about $150,000.

Ed Dressel  4:46  
Wow.

Lindsay Waltower  4:47  
So you have to have a game plan when you work in this market. If you're looking at it from 30,000 feet, comparing it to ultra high net worth or the affluent-- yeah, it's it's going to like, why waste your time? But you get more volume, better referrals, and a book of business that's sticky. And what do I mean by sticky? These people are contributing monthly, between two $300 a month, free, pretax, or in a Roth. And when you start getting 2, 3, 4, 500 clients like that, that's not a bad residual income. So before I open the doors every year, you're looking at about 50-60, grand before you even turn the lights on. Again. So I'm not in it for the money, but the money is nice, but I also know what my heart and my heart and where, where I would be most effective. Yeah, I could go up and go to Morgan Stanley, and I get, trust me, I get recruited every other day, people trying to pull me to the dark side, as I say. But I'm independent. I get to work with who I want to work with. And when I found RetireReady. Oh, my goodness, that was a game changer. And it's more educating. Let's go back to that. I do a lot of educating. What is a defined benefit plan versus a defined contribution plan. They have no idea what the difference is. Some people don't even understand what their deductions are. They look at their pay stub, they're like, "I just pay it. I don't know what that, what it's for." So I get the pay stubs and I do an analysis. There's a lot of opportunity if you have patience, have a game plan and have an infrastructure that serves this community. That's the key.

Ed Dressel  6:45 
Let's go back to teachers and pensions. One of the aspects and one of the problems of the industry is that a significant part of their wealth is tied up into their pensions. How do you help them with their pension? Help them understand it and then complement their pension with savings?

Lindsay Waltower  7:03 
Sure. Each state has its own formula for determining how a state employee teacher gets their pension. Typically, it's the final average salary times the state multiplier times the years of service. That formula is set by the state and the employee and I have not, you know, there's nothing we can do. The General Assembly of that state has to make the change. So once I explain that to them, they say, "Okay, oh, okay. So okay, great." Now that formula is going to give you a certain amount of money, but it's not going to be your entire salary. How do we solve that? Well, we set up a voluntary supplemental plan such as a 403(b) or 401(k) or a 457, and you know, one of those plans will help you fill in the income gap when you are fully in retirement. Does that make sense? They say yes. So at that first appointment, I'm gathering all this information, I'm doing a Fact Finder. I'm getting the income, I'm getting the assets, I'm getting the insurance information, and I'm getting the debt. That is another big piece that I think some of the advisors step over. But debt--that is a pressure going into retirement that can really zap their income as well. So that's how we help them on that first appointment. We gather all that information, and then I put it into the RetireReady software. Now, typically in the past, we would do it ourselves, do those formulas and calculations, but with RetireReady now, I love it. The system, the software set up for every state in the country. I just simply put in the client's name, date of birth, their employment information, select the state and boom. That gives me a report that's going to give them that pension, what the income gap is and what a single life payout would pay out versus a joint life payout if they're married.

Ed Dressel  9:19 
When you show a teacher an integrated benefit analysis where all of their assets are working together, their pensions, maybe their Social Security, if they have it in their 403(b) and other DC accounts. What's their response when they see that?

Lindsay Waltower  9:33 
They're amazed they could see their whole life in one place. It's powerful, and now it's time to educate them on what they have. And one of the most powerful slides is the retirement income chart, where it actually shows their pension. So let's say that's the aqua blue color, and then the income gap is red. Yeah. And so you start at year one. Let's say they're retiring at age 60. That chart goes all the way out to 100 years old, but it's adjusted to inflation, so yeah, their income is going their pension is but that red is getting bigger and bigger too, and that that really brings it home.

Ed Dressel  10:19 
We've talked about the DC side and we've talked about the pension. How do you incorporate the Social Security into your conversations?

Lindsay Waltower  10:28 
I'm a National Social Security Advisor, which gives me access to specialized software to help individuals maximize their Social Security. The pension is a guaranteed income stream, but that Social Security is also a guaranteed income stream. And it's very important that they understand when and how to access Social Security. Some people think 62 is the best age. Some people think full retirement at 67, case by case. But I incorporate that number into the RetireReady software, and then it fills in that it reduces that income gap there. So they'll see their pension. They'll see their Social Security at various ages too. So I could stack it, for example. I could show them one report where they start Social Security early. I could show them another report, where I could show them starting Social Security at full retirement, typically 67. So that's a that's another way we integrate Social Security in the pension using RetireReady software. And it's really impactful. It gives us an opportunity to plan. If you don't take it at 62 and wait until 67 that's five years of income we need to make up. Where are we going to get it from? And that's where the planning comes in. Do we need to set up an additional account? Are you going to be working? So those kind of conversations, when you see that data, that hard data, that picture, generates that kind of dialog with with the client. And there can you talking about value? We're not charging these teachers a dime for this advice. And that's what I think a lot of advisors miss. It's called reciprocity. If you bring value and don't ask for anything, people trust you more and are willing to do business with you at that point. If I said, "Okay, in order for me in Sovereign Retirement Group to help you with your pension, blah, blah, blah, you have to pay a fee first." The walls go up. The trust level goes down. He just wants our money. But I think the more I grow, and the more I give, the more we--the more I educate, the better results we get, basically. And your software hass really helped with that.

Ed Dressel  12:55 
You talk about the volume, the ability to get lots of people in an underserved market so you don't have the competition or people trying to steal as much as you would at high net worth. The podcast I just did with an individual said many small rivers make a big river. Tell me about volume and working teachers and not having you know, five of you fighting for the same clients.

Lindsay Waltower  13:17 
Yeah, I have what we call preset appointments at these teachers, college, professors, administrators, they set an appointment that's placed onto my calendar so I could have 10 appointments, five days a week if I wanted to. That's how many people need help. Now It runs the gamut. You go. It goes from the bus driver, the manager in the cafeteria, right all the way up to the President of the University of Tennessee and everything in between. So it's a numbers game as well. So understand that, be prepared for that. And I don't live and die on every appointment. That's the critical piece. You cannot go into every appointment thinking you're going to be able to help everyone or everyone wants your help. Here's another big one that I come into. Do you work for the state? Do you work for my pension plan specific? And I say, "No, I don't we. We are a third party vendor licensed in the state that you live in to provide this education and knowledge about your benefits." But I'm upfront. Sovereign Retirement Group is not the Teachers Retirement System. We work closely in hand with them. We have access to the same information that they do. But the difference between working with us and working directly with the state, we're going to give you strategies and information to integrate everything, where they're just collecting your money, and give you that defined benefit plan information. And then I come back with the RetireReady report that just seals the deal, because it's backing up. It's backing up exactly what I said I was going to give them.

Ed Dressel  15:17 
It's funny about that. I was just sitting in an office yesterday, and we we have a product that goes directly to public employers. And we were at a benefits show, and the PERS people were right across the room. The Public Employee Retirement System was right across the room from u. And I was sitting with the HR director, and he said "I got a complaint from PERS. They were mad that you were there. They said we are the PERS experts." And I never tell them that I'm replacing the PERS experts. I tell them we're here to help them understand their benefit as a whole. And, you know, very different models. They'll explain PERS until you can't take it anymore, sort of like studying for your 65 it's like there's a lot of things you don't want to know about your pension system that they want to tell you. And I get that. And that's important. I'm glad they're there, but people need to know how their pension fits in with their other assets, and how it funds their retirement, and what the picture look like as a whole. And that HR person said, "I told PERS to back off. I said, we need to know how the PERS fits in with everything else that they have, and you're not doing that, and that's who they are." We actually--somebody came into the room and and asked a technical question about PERS to us, and we said, go talk to them. It was very detailed. And there's things that, yeah, we can't answer. We're--we're here to help, to work alongside them, to show how everything works together to fund a retirement or a lack thereof, if they need to make better decisions earlier. So I get that. We're working in the same area, complimenting it, and I see the need and know that. Tell me about marketing. You're in the 403(b) world. How do you get your marketing message out to the teachers that, "Hey, I'm a financial advisor here to help you in a meaningful way."

Lindsay Waltower  17:07 
We get it through the preset appointments. Those preset appointments, they come with their pay stubs, they come with their financial statements, they come with their investment statements.

Ed Dressel  17:18 
But let me interrupt you, and let me stop you there. You get the preset appointments. But how do they know to schedule an appointment? How do they know when to meet with me? So what are you doing for people to sign up for those?

Lindsay Waltower  17:30 
Okay, great. We have a third party vendor who does marketing at 14,000 school districts around the country. Colleges, hospitals, city, county. It's a service that we utilize to get those appointments. To your point, we're launching a new website. We're launching new marketing materials. I'm going to start doing webinars, in person, education. So I'm part of a mastermind group of financial advisors from all around the country. It's been an amazing opportunity, and I'm going to bring that high level, high touch service to this middle American market. And we're excited about that. I'm gonna treat these teachers and firemen and cafeteria workers like they got a million dollars of assets. And I think another thing is we help paint a picture for them of what retirement can be. I think that's a big part of what we do. I ask them, "What does retirement look like? What do you want your money to do for you end retirement?" And I just listen. People have not been asked that question in the 20, 30, years of working. It's just been head down, grinding it out, going to home, coming back. But these appointments allow them to spend time to really think and dream as well. And I'm really good at that. I'm a--I'm a kind of creative--my undergrad is in literature, so I've read books that, you know, free your mind, and when we get into those conversations, it's like a part of the job that I have to, like, okay, Lindsay, come back to the meeting here, that type of thing. So I enjoy that, and educators love that. You know, I love working with educators because people and getting information, because that's what they do all day long. And they're used to being--when you tell them to do things, Ed, they do it because they're used to telling people to do so and be accountable. I just think when they look at their money and they're like, I don't know if I can retire. I don't know if I can live the lifestyle we want. I say, "Well, what's your budget?" Say, what budget? I said, "Do you have a retirement plan?" You know, budget, spending plan for retirement? Well, no, we never really thought about it. So I helped them with that. I think that's a critical piece. Most people think you have to have an inordinate amount of money to live, but the most important thing is guaranteed income streams, not how much assets you've had built over your life. For example, you're going to have a half a million dollars in your 403(b). That's not guaranteed income. The pension is guaranteed income. Social Security is guaranteed income. Do you want this $500,000 to be guaranteed? Yes, okay, we can help you with that. My job as a risk mitigator, risk reduction is to help you do that. Help you transition from stage one, which is accumulation and growth, to stage two, which is pre retiree, retiree. What do I mean? You're no longer getting a paycheck. You're no longer contributing monthly to your accounts. You can no longer assume loss in your account, because you don't have time on your side. And when I make that clear distinction, stage one to stage two, now they're willing and open to take a portion of that 403(b) or or IRA, take a portion of that off the table, and let's create that guaranteed income, that third guaranteed income. Now their budget is set for retirement. And they thought they would never be able to retire and have enough money. Now they've got enough money that they can never outlive. I tell you, Ed, the sky opens for people. But no one's doing this for them.

Ed Dressel  21:32 
It's--I know it's a massive market. There's a lack of workers, and there's an opportunity to really help a lot of teachers. You talked earlier. Teachers love their job, and they're faithful. In the state of Arizona, teachers were well underpaid. I ran an illustration at making $5,000 a month, and they said nobody makes that. And I was working with business officers, and they said they had more like $3000. Teachers love what they do. They're passionate. They don't do it for the income. And it's fun to be serving them and helping them, and to help them well, because they're helping our kids, and they're focused on that. It's fun to say, "Let me show you how well you're taken care of by your pension, and let me show you what you need to do to complement that." And it's a joy to work with people like you who are helping teachers. So Lindsay, let's just you've talked about our software, and you mentioned a few times, but on the business side, I know it's healthy to your clients. How's it impacted your business?

Lindsay Waltower  22:31 
It's increased our revenue twofold, because it's enabled me to give clients a clear picture of where they are, the pension, the projected retirement date. It's given me the ability to show how much they're going to give--if they're going to take a single life payout, a joint life payout. It's showing me the income gap and what we need to do in terms of savings amount at various stages. And it's really allowed me to be more efficient as well with my clients. So I'm not spending as much time in the meetings, because the report has allowed me to condense that information into nice, bite sized bits, and people can clearly follow me. So that's been huge. The public sector retirement space--it's big, but it's also not as technology savvy. If you know what I mean, you have to bring it down to people's level of understanding. They're not financial advisors. You know they don't do this every day. So your software has also helped me to be more of an educator during our appointments and helping people as well. And third, it allows me to send them something that they can physically refer to in a year from now. So this is where we are today, and then we'll revisit this next year. So those are some of the ways that and I can go on and on and on about the reports and, you know, the pension maximization options and the various income strategies in there. But yeah, those are the three that stand out. And it really brings credibility to to our services as well put more value to our business. So, yeah, it's, it's been a great solution.

Ed Dressel  24:20 
Our passion is to help people exactly like you who are helping people. So I tell my employees, we're in the poverty alleviation business. We happen to be working through financial advisors. It's not as bad in the pension world, the 403(b), but in the 401(k) world where people who have to rely only on Social Security, it can be devastating. I really appreciate your time. Lindsay, it's been a delight to spend a few minutes with you this morning, interacting about the success you're having and helping individuals move towards retirement, and your passion and structure in the way you do that. Thank you for taking the time, and I wish you the best in today's market.

Lindsay Waltower  24:56  
Thank you very much for your time, Ed and thank you for allowing me to share what we do with your audience and thanks again.