Over the past few weeks, Sandy and I have been reorganizing our living space to create a client friendly home office where clients can discuss personal finances in comfort and privacy.  I did much of the work for this project on our front patio where the American flag flies 24/7/365.

As I was painting, sanding, unpacking, and doing other tasks on the patio, the ever-present Colorado sun distracted me by waving a shadow of the flag over the patio.  I would stop work to see who or what—unnoticed except for the shadow—was annoyingly approaching me.
As the days went by, it dawned on me that I have lived my entire life in the protective shadow of the American flag…

• From birth, through WWII, Korea, the turmoil of the ’60s–the assassinations of John, Bobbie, and Martin–the financial and social trauma of the ’70s, Vietnam—during which I served behind a desk in Dayton, OH—the inflation ravaged Carter years, the rebirth of the American spirit during the Reagan Presidency, the extraordinary boom of the ’90s and the equally extraordinary financial failures of the 2k0s, the terror of 9/11, the historic election of a black American President in 2008, and the failure of that President to fulfill the promise his election held for America.
• During the thirty-seven years that I have been a licensed life insurance agent, The Shadow of the American Flag has also protected the thousands of insurance and financial advisory practices that ethically and honestly serve American families and small businesses.  (The financial services industry has brought both credit and discredit to the American entrepreneurial spirit.  It has produced some of the greatest models of American ingenuity and some of its most infamous frauds.  You can fill in the names.  Regardless, ethical advisors and their clients survive and thrive.)

Now, it’s time for insurance agents, financial advisors, and their clients to assure that the Shadow of the American Flag continues to protect every American’s personal finances in the decades to come.  It is not enough to make a living or make a killing in our business and for our clients.  Insurance and financial advisors and their clients are in a unique position to raise their voices and employ their resources to revitalize America and restore the promise of the American Flag—in whose shadow we and our clients have all lived, survived, and thrived.

We can only make this real by…

• becoming actively involved in the political process
• supporting candidates and issues that…
  • empower individual Americans and diminish the power of bureaucrats and politicians
  • reduce the intrusion into the lives of individuals and the workings of small business by government takeovers, over-regulation, healthcare that interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and imposes an impossible burden on small business, and special treatment for large financial institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their Wall Street cronies

Let’s get to work.

PS – If you are not an insurance agent or financial advisor, you are likely the client of one.  Join us and pass this on.  Ask your agent/advisor to join in the effort to restore America.

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