Protect Your Principal - Retain Your GainsMitigate Tax - Guarantee Your Income

Our GoalTo create a substantial,

sustainable, structural advantage

for your financial portfolio.

Disclosure and Disclaimer

Any yield or return figures or examples appearing in or referred to in this presentation, are for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to represent, predict or guarantee the future or past performance of any financial product. Brian Singer is not licensed to render any advice about purchasing, selling, liquidating, surrendering, replacing, or withdrawing securities; including tax consequences and any possible related fees or charges associated with such securities transactions.

Singer Financial Group

480 E Northfield Dr – Suite 300

Brownsburg, IN 46112

317-852-9153

www.singerfinancialgroup.com

Email: bsinger@singerfinancialgroup.com

FINANCIAL NEWS ALERT!

If what you believed to be true about your money wasn’t, when

would you want to know??

There is a huge financial service industry that ignores the need to protect principal, when it comes to retirement and income planning.

John Bogle – Founded Vanguard in 1974 His research found the financial system costs $600 billion per year

Institutions, mutual fund managers, hedge fund managers, stock brokers, investment bankers (what we call loosely, Wall Street)

“Wall Street has become a casino with the only winners being the croupiers—the traders, the brokers, the investment bankers, and the money managers who facilitate the trades [bets]. Wall Street creates a whole lot of ‘innovation’ products that are designed to enrich the marketers and not the buyers, and that’s what the industry is all about. There is too much cost in this industry and not nearly enough value; too much speculation and too much complexity.”

“Entrepreneurs or international conglomerateurs, or large financial institutions buy or create mutual fund management companies to create a return on their own capital. It's capitalism at work, where the rewards tend to go to the managers rather than the investors”.

The average mutual fund returns 2% less per year than the stock market returns in general. So, what are the chances of an investment advisor picking the winning funds for his/her client?

Mutual fund investors are hit with annual management fees as well as 12b-1 “marketing” fees ranging from .25 to 1.00%.

Every time a mutual fund manager sells a stock at a profit, you may get hit with the tax bill, even if the fund or your account lost money for the year.

Most mutual fund stock positions can represent no more than 5% of the entire portfolio; therefore when a stock starts to soar, the manager has to sell the “winners”, creating capital gains taxes for investors whether you’ve been invested for years or days.

When another investor wants to bail out of your fund, the cash redemption comes from cash on hand and the sale of stocks.  Cash on hand drives down performance, while the sell off of stocks increases the tax bill of those investors who stay in the fund.  A dollar set aside for redemption requests is a dollar not invested. 

Paul Farrell, PhD has been a MW columnist since 1997 and has published more than 1,400 columns plus nine books. Previously he was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley; Executive Vice President of the Financial News Network; and head of the Crisis Management Group.

Peter Morici, former chief economist at the International Trade Commission: America’s divided into two stock markets: one for Wall Street’s rich insiders, another for Main Street’s suckers. (FT – 12-17-10) FBI arrests 4 people in connection with its long-running investigation into insider trading on Wall Street.

New ‘big short’ dead ahead: Derivatives con game will crash again. In a Bloomberg story, “Big Short” author Michael Lewis says; WS insiders have no intention of ceasing their prop trading, They are merely disguising the activity, by giving it some other name.

Morici goes on to say, J.P.M. and BoA went through the entire third quarter without a negative trading day, no losing days on proprietary trades. Unless you believe in perfection, something stinks…. If someone is winning all the time, then someone else is losing. That’s the ordinary investor. Stocks have become a rigged game.

Farrell – Stocks are a sucker bet at Wall Street’s rigged casino. Buy stocks and lose. In fact, you’ll probably lose more that 20% when the third meltdown of the 21st century explodes. Bigger losses than in 2000 and 2008 combined.

Dec 7, 2010

“Do not buy stocks. Not for retirement. Not in the coming decade. Don’t! Huge risks!”

We live in perilous times!

• Every 3 years we have a bear market.

• Every 8 years we have a significant bear market.

• We’re in the “M” times.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Real Historical Returns

Dow Jones S&P 500

40 Year – 6.65%20 Year – 7.27%15 Year – 5.15%10 Year – 1.85% 5 Year - 1.32%

40 Year – 6.58%20 Year – 7.34%15 Year – 4.66%10 Year – 0.98% 5 Year - -0.25%

* Source: financial.yahoo.com, as of 3/20/2011. Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends.

Our financial system is complex, complicated, inter-connected, and fragile. You haven’t seen

your last “Crisis”.

“The Crisis”Who or what can we blame?

Wall Street’s financial alchemy fueled the financial

meltdown.

Synthetic CDOs spread the sub-prime mortgage problem to thousands of institutions that bought “fantasy” financial derivatives based on those mortgages. It’s possible we would have avoided the economic meltdown were it not for synthetic derivatives that also crashed along with housing prices.

1) Banks create CDO’s from RMBS

2) Banks often retain the “Super Senior” (highest rated) top tranche

3) The bottom portion “Equity” is often sold off to hedge funds, pension funds, other banks

4) The middle portion or “Mezzanine” often goes into new CDOs The main buyers of those new CDOs are often the same banks

A CDS would pay off as these CDOs

defaulted

Wall Street innovation is not designed to help mainstreet. Dominoes that were ready to fall….

03/24/08 – The NY Fed provides $29 billion for JPMC to save Bear Sterns

09/15/08 – BoA buys Merrill Lynch for $50 billion. For the previous four quarters, ML has posted losses totaling $17 billion.

09/15/08 – Lehman Brothers declares the largest bankruptcy ($600 billion) in American history

09/16/08 – The NY Fed lends $85 billion to save AIGFP

09/21/08 – The Federal Reserve Board approves applications of investment banking companies Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to become bank holding companies.

10/12/08 – Wells Fargo acquires Wachovia for $15.1 billion

11/23/08 – The Fed saves Citigroup with an injection of $326 billion

MNL Annuity Division located in West Des Moines, Iowa and its Life Operations located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Midland National was founded in 1906 and is part of the Sammons Financial Group (one of the largest ESOPs in the US)

October 7, 2008: Midland National Life field memo

….in September 2005….[our]Chief Strategist stated that we were going to see a residential real estate crisis of “Biblical Proportions”.

For us, this became a call to action and is the reason that we have less than one-half of one percent of our assets in subprime mortgages.

….we have absolutely no loss exposure to Fannie Mae, National City, or WaMu in our investment portfolio. For AIG, Bear sterns, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers, Midland has realized losses and taken impairment write-downs of less than 0.1%.

Not “On the Brink”

In the midst of the turmoil, “who isn’t” going under?

In a financial collapse, it is likely that the Life Insurance Industry would be second only to the U.S. Government to fold.

The Five Pillars of Safety:

1. Legal Reserve System (solvency ratio)

2. State Guaranty Funds

3. Reinsurance

4. Holding companies

5. Strict regulatory investment practices

Reality Check!!

Center for Retirement Research at Boston College – October 2010 Report

The National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI)(Measures the share of American households ‘at risk’ of being un able to maintain their

pre-retirement standard of living in retirement) To achieve real security in retirement, households need to get as much as possible

out of their nest eggs in the drawdown period.

Annuities guarantee that households do not outlive their money.

An inflation-indexed annuity protects a household’s purchasing power.

Annuities provide more monthly income than other approaches, such as the

“4-percent rule” or living off the interest on assets.

The Ultimate Roth StrategyCan you name a principal protected asset class that beats this over the

last 1, 3, 5, or 10 years? Tax free?!?!

Index Growth & Index Credits for Month Ending 02/28/2011

Above data is for illustration only, and does not guarantee future or past performance

S&P 500 Average Annualized Value

Year-To-Date 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year

- Index Growth (Market) 5.53% 18.96% -0.09% 0.72% 0.68%

- Index Credit* (XL-CV3) 15% Annual Cap N/A 15.00% 9.77% 7.76% 6.35%

- Index Credit* (XL-EC2, DB, LGSIUL) 65% Participation Rate

N/A 12.32% 15.86% 10.60% 8.21%

- Index Credit* (XL-CV3) 70% Participation Rate N/A 13.27% 17.01% 11.36% 8.80%

What if you retire at the wrong time?!?

Consider the following hypothetical “Sequence of Returns” example: John and Bob both had the same $100,000 when they retired and planned to withdraw the same 5% amount, with annual adjustments for inflation. 

What’s luck have to do with it?

1) Protect Your Principal2) Retain Your Gains3) Guarantee Your Income Planning

How will we create and maintain a substantial, sustainable, structural advantage for YOUR financial portfolio??

Finsurance"It's the triumph of financial engineering"

Moshe Milevsky (Executive Director of the IFID Centre in Toronto) is likely the world’s leading authority on the interplay between financial risk management and personal wealth management AND sustainability of retirement income.

Moshe Milevsky On The Role of Downside Protection…

… it makes sense to seek out financial products that provide downside protection…In effect, this allows you…. to increase your sustainable spending rate, but without taking on additional risk.

The "probability of retirement ruin" when drawing 5% on a 50% equity portfolio is about 89%.

"Finsurance"-- a blend of finance and insurance-- is emerging to provide innovative solutions for retirement income needs.

Downside Protection is Critical!Wharton School of Business study, directed by

Professor David Babbel PhD, with a team of six PhD economists and two senior actuaries.

“Since 1995, these [equity-indexed] annuities have easily outpaced the S&P 500 and bond indexes alike. ‘There is no asset category that outperformed them. We were extremely surprised, really just amazed,’ says David Babbel, professor emeritus of insurance and risk management, …(at the Wharton School of Business…) who conducted a study of equity-index annuity returns beginning in

1995…(through January 1, 2009). 

Dr. Babbel has worked for the World Bank as their Senior Financial Economist and has taught finance, investments, risk management, and economics at the undergraduate, graduate, and the

doctorial levels for 25 years at the University of California, Berkley and the Wharton School of Business. He is not paid for research, appearances or articles published on these instruments.

8.60% APY

What goes up doesn’t have to come down!What if every year the market went down, you could demand your money back, and then reinvest at the lower price?

How an FIA functions

1000

1100

1210

660

Year 1

$110,000

Year 3

$121,000

Year 4

$133,100

600

Day 1

$100,000

Year 2

$121,000

How Do They Do It?

Heads I win! Tails I don’t lose!

Spread

Insurance Company expenses & PROFIT

Initial Premium Deposit

10%

Minimum Contract Value

The Insurance Co purchasesT-bills & investment grade bonds

to provide the principalguarantees in the FIA contract.

Index Return Insurers purchase Call Options on a

market index, such as the S&P 500 (at a negotiated price due to the high volume).

When the index value is higher at the expiration of the strategy term, market

linked interest is credited to the FIA. If the index price is lower at expiration, the

option expires with no negative impact to the Insurance Co or FIA owner.

85% 5%

Finsurance"It's the triumph of financial engineering”

A Fortress Balance SheetFive Keys To Financial Longevity

“We have got to have a fortress balance sheet! Every five years or so…something bad will happen.” Jamie Dimon – CEO , JPMC

1) Protect your money – lock out losses 2) Grow your money – lock in gains

3) Turbo-charge the growth

4) Re-insure the growth

5) Mitigate the tax

Finsurance provides a substantial, sustainable, structuraladvantage for your financial portfolio

“Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.”

– Warren Buffett

Eight critical lessons from the crisis…. 1. Be ready for the next one – “Fortress Balance Sheet” – you haven’t seen

your last serious financial crisis.2. Choose to know. Be your own lifeguard!3. Know that hubris kills judgment.4. Volatility doesn’t have to be a bad word, IF you have a strategy/process

to capture the good market volatility and avoid the bad.5. Your retirement plan must include a personal pension plan that will

protect your principal, retain your gains, and guarantee your income.6. Identify someone or something you can put your faith in, then trust, but

verify.7. Validate and then act! Change isn’t always better, but better always

means change.8. Risks, both hidden & disclosed, are an inherent component of any

financial instrument or advice offered through Wall Street.

The need for….“Guarantees” and “Safety”

Use heads I win, tails I don’t lose strategies!Protect Your Principal – Retain Your Gains – Guarantee Your Income

NAME: DOB: Age: Spouse: DOB: Age:

Date: 0 0Address: Email:Home Phone: Cell Phone:

I. ASSETSA) Real Estate Owner Market Value Income Total

Work $0

SS $0

Pension $0

$0 Total Income $0

Brokerage Company Owner/Tax Status Investment Avenue Amount Statement Date High Risk Medium Risk Low Risk

$0

Brokerage Company Owner Type of Investment Amount Statement Date

$0 $0 $0 $0 $0

#DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

TOTAL ASSETS $0

II. LIABILITIES Life Ins. CV DBPercentage Length / Type Amount

MortgageHELOC/HELoanAuto Loan

$0

$0

$0 Total $0 $0Net Worth (Excluding Primary Home)

C) Non-Qualified Assets

B) Qualified Assets (IRA, 401K, 403B, Roth, TSA, SEP, other)

Total Qualified Assets

Total Non-Qualified Assets

TOTAL LIABILITIES

BALANCE SHEET

Net Worth (Assets - Liabilities)

Primary Home 2nd HomeRental Property

Total Real Estate Assets

?

NAME: DOB: Age: Spouse: DOB: Age:

Date: 0 0Address: Email:Home Phone: Cell Phone:

I. ASSETSA) Real Estate Owner Market Value Income Total

Work $0

SS $0

Pension $0

$0 Total Income $0

Brokerage Company Owner/Tax Status Investment Avenue Amount Statement Date High Risk Medium Risk Low Risk

$0

Brokerage Company Owner Type of Investment Amount Statement Date

$0 $0 $0 $0 $0

#DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

TOTAL ASSETS $0

II. LIABILITIES Life Ins. CV DBPercentage Length / Type Amount

MortgageHELOC/HELoanAuto Loan

$0

$0

$0 Total $0 $0Net Worth (Excluding Primary Home)

C) Non-Qualified Assets

B) Qualified Assets (IRA, 401K, 403B, Roth, TSA, SEP, other)

Total Qualified Assets

Total Non-Qualified Assets

TOTAL LIABILITIES

BALANCE SHEET

Net Worth (Assets - Liabilities)

Primary Home 2nd HomeRental Property

Total Real Estate Assets

A B C

How Much of Your Income & Assets Do You Want To Protect?

Implement your plan with someone you can trust!

• Are you ready to take the guesswork out of Retirement & Income Planning?

• Does a Fortress Balance Sheet concept make sense to you?

A properly designed ABC Plan will assure you never lose money, and never run out of money in retirement!

Protect Your Principal – Retain Your Gains – Guarantee Your Income

We help successful people and their families, enjoy the journey to, and through retirement!

Email bsinger@singerfinancialgroup.com or call 317-852-9153

www.singerfinancialgroup.com