Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Including Pets in Your Estate Plan for Peace of Mind
  • Summary of the Article
  • Benefits and Potential Risks of Including Pets in Estate Planning
  • Factors to Consider When Deciding How Much Money to Allocate for Pet Care
  • Lack of Legal Oversight for Pet Guardians
  • Pet Trusts vs. Pet Directives
  • Ethical Considerations
  • Importance of Backup Plans for Pet Guardianship
• Interview with Michael Silverman from Silver Lining Insurance Agency
  • His Journey in the Insurance Industry
  • Importance of Personalized Insurance Portfolios
  • Breaking Down Complex Financial Concepts
  • Relationships with Insurance Carriers
  • Risk Management Strategies
  • Impact of Certifications (CLU, CHFC, CIC)
  • Challenging Cases
  • Advice for Entering the Insurance Industry
  • How to Learn More about Silver Lining
• Conclusion

Introduction

Madison: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Not Just Numbers, Honest Conversations with a Financial Advisor and Lawyer. I am Madison Demora, and I am here with Mike Garry. Mike is a financial advisor and a CFP practitioner and the founder and the CEO of Yardley Wealth Management. He is also an estate planning lawyer and his law firm is Yardley Estate Planning. Hey, Mike.

Mike: Hey, Maddie. How are you?

Madison: I’m good. How are you today?

Mike: Good. It’s not a Monday. We usually record on Mondays.

Madison: That’s true. That’s true. Happy Thursday.

Mike: Happy Thursday.

Including Pets in Your Estate Plan for Peace of Mind

Introduction to the Article

Madison: All right, so today we are going to discuss an article from the Wall Street Journal. It is titled, “Some Pet Owners Now Include Their Animals in Their Wills.” And this is by Ashlea Ebeling.

Summary of the Article

Madison: All right, so here is the summary. The article highlights the growing trend of including pets in estate planning, which was mostly for the wealthy. Nowadays, many pet owners are using pet directives in their wills to name guardians and allocate funds for their pet’s care. Online estate planning services like Trust & Will have made this easier, with many clients designating pet guardians. Estate lawyers stress the importance of planning for pets, as they are considered personal property and can’t directly inherit money. Without a plan, pets could end up in the shelter or cause family disputes. While pet trusts offer more security, they are costlier and more complex to set up, ensuring legal oversight for the pet’s care.

Benefits and Potential Risks of Including Pets in Estate Planning

Madison: All right, Mike, what are the benefits and potential risks of including pets in estate planning?

Mike: Well, first, you know, the reason this article resonated was, you know, five or 10 years ago, we never did this. Never. And now I’d say maybe a third to 40% of people designate a guardian in their wills for their pets. You know, how we treat pets in America has changed drastically in a generation or two. You know, my grandparents had outside dogs. Now people our age or younger often have their pets, like, sleep in their beds with them. You know, we don’t do that, but they sleep in our bedroom. Yeah, so people really treat pets like family. And so it makes sense, right, that there’s been this push towards putting taking care of pets because people are concerned. They don’t want, you know, to just send the pet to a shelter or be euthanized. So people now take the time, think about who should take care of them, think about how much money they should set aside. Yeah, it’s a big thing now, and it’s good. You know, they treat them not quite the same they would treat their minor children with thinking about naming guardians, but they do spend a lot of time thinking about it, and, yeah, it’s pretty cool.

Factors to Consider When Deciding How Much Money to Allocate for Pet Care

Madison: Yeah, What factors should pet owners consider when deciding how much money to allocate for their pet’s care in their wills?

Mike: Well, if they could afford it, they should figure out how much they think their pet will need, you know, how much they spend on pets, what’s their pet’s life expectancy, and then maybe bump it up a little bit for potential emergencies like expanded healthcare. Generally, people put, like a round figure on it, like five or ten or $15,000, and I think they just throw a ballpark number out there. I don’t think people are doing net present value of unfunded future liabilities to figure out how much to leave. Although they could.

Madison: Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. No problem. So how might the lack of legal oversight for pet guardians impact the care pets receive after their owner’s death?

Lack of Legal Oversight for Pet Guardians

Mike: Sure. If you name a guardian in your will, there’s not really going to be any oversight of that. Right. So, you have to put your trust in that guardian because your estate is going to be probated, the will is going to be settled, the person is going to have the money, and then they’re going to have the pet. And so, it’s really nothing stopping someone from taking the pet to the shelter and then going on a fancy vacation with that money. But, you know, I mean, that’s true in a lot of ways. Like, people are vulnerable to people that they leave responsibility with. Right. So, there’s nothing special about that, but there really isn’t court oversight of it, like there would be with an actual trust.

Pet Trusts vs. Pet Directives

Madison: So, do you think pet trusts, like the one Leona Helmsley created, are necessary for ensuring a pets well-being, or are simpler pet directive sufficient? And just for background in the article, Leona is a billionaire who set aside $12 million for her pet dog.

Mike: Yes. And so she was famous Maddie, before you were born. She was the queen of mean, who said taxes are for the little people. She had a shoe collection that was talked about a lot. So, she was not necessarily like, the paragon of virtue. She was a tough cookie. So, the difference between the pet directive and your will and the trust is that the trust, you would name a trustee, you would get a trust bank account, the money would go into the trust, the executor would make sure that the money went into the trust and the trust was set up correctly. And then the trustee who would be taking care of your pet would be a fiduciary to you and would have to, you would have more court oversight, and there are more safeguards for the pet. Now, most people don’t leave $12 million for a pet. And so the question of whether you want to go through the extra steps and make your, the person taking care of your pet go through the extra steps of having, you know, a separate account for your pet, it really depends on how much money and how important it is to you that they follow your wishes. So if it’s really important, put it in a trust. Or if it’s a lot of money, maybe, and it’s really important, put it in a trust. Otherwise, most people will be fine with just the directive in their will.

Ethical Considerations

Madison: Okay. What are the ethical considerations involved in leaving large sums of money for pet care, especially when there are other potential heirs?

Mike: Well, sure. You know, I guess it really depends on the matter of scope, right? If you have minor children that you’re not leaving enough money to or for their care, and you leave it to the pet instead. I mean, I could see a big issue with that. Leona Helmsley was a billionaire, so it’s hard to see an ethical problem of somebody getting the $12 million less than whatever they would have gotten. So I think a lot, like, in situations like these, in a lot of situations, it really is a matter of degree and scope. You know, it is funny. Like, what was she expecting that the pet would need the $12 million for?

Madison: What do you mean? His filet every night, his filet dinner.

Mike: Right. Is he flying to Paris for the filet dinner every night?

Madison: You never know. You never know.

Mike: You don’t know.

Importance of Backup Plans for Pet Guardianship

Madison: All right, Mike, so my last question here. How important is it for pet owners to have backup plans for pet guardianship, and what challenges might arise if those plans fail?

Mike: Sure. I think if you name anybody to have a position in your will, it generally makes sense to have a backup. What if something happens? There are unfortunate untimely deaths or disabilities all the time. It’s a good idea to have a backup, just like you would for any other designation in your will.

Interview with Michael Silverman from Silver Lining Insurance Agency

Madison: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Not Just Numbers, Honest Conversations with a Financial Advisor and Lawyer. Typically, we dive into stories of local entrepreneurs here in Yardley, but today we are switching things up with a special guest from outside of our usual circle. We’re thrilled to be sitting down with Michael Silverman, the president and CEO of Silver Lining Insurance Agency. He is a committed advisor and helps their clients make educated choices on what or service best suits their wants. Over the years, his practical experience and proactive approach have allowed him to advise both individuals and businesses on how to identify and manage their level of risk. Michael, welcome to Not Just Numbers.

Michael Silverman: Well, thank you for having me. That was a fabulous introduction. Can you call my wife? And just read that on a daily basis?

Mike: We’ll send her a link to the podcast and the YouTube.

Michael Silverman: Thank you for having me.

Madison: Yes. Awesome.

His Journey in the Insurance Industry

Madison: All right, so we’ll start with our questions. So your journey in the insurance industry began in 1988. What initially drew you to this field, and how have you seen the industry evolve over the past 30 plus years?

Michael Silverman: Well, what drew me to the industry is I’m actually third generation, which is really kind of cool. Now, I did not know I was going into the insurance business. I have always loved being a salesperson. I’ve always loved helping people. That’s really where it comes from. And I remember, like, it was yesterday, the Thursday before Thanksgiving, my senior year in college. So if you say I started in 1988, it was Thanksgiving, 87. I called my dad on a Thursday morning. I said, I’m ready. And his response is, “for what?” And I said, to come into the business. He goes, “That’s great, let me get you an interview.” A what? So at 20 – 21 years old I didn’t know just how valuable that was because, and as he said, you’re not starting with me. So he sent me actually to a life insurance carrier. I was taught how to prospect, how to sell, how to explain things, explain concepts to people by people who have been doing it for years. And then a couple years later, I came in with him and we just exploded our then family business. Silver Lining is only four years old.

Mike: Okay.

Michael Silverman: Okay. In 2019, before the pandemic, my dad had been retired about eight, nine years already. We sold the agency. Okay. The right thing came along and away we went. And then the pandemic came around. And I love what I do for a living. I love being the one who has information and knowledge or knows where to get it to help people. So we started again, and that’s what we’re doing. You know, the name Silver Lining came from just having a conversation with some friends. “You know, everything you do, it always seems to come out with a silver lining.” Whoa. We may have something here. And that’s how Silver Lining was born.

Mike: Oh wow, I just figured that was from your name. Like, it kind of makes sense.

Michael Silverman: That was just added benefit. Actually, my former agency name was Gloron agency. G l o r o n. That stood for Gloria, my mother, and Aaron, my father. And we had a one liner on our website. The running family joke was, had my mother’s name been Maureen, we would have been the moron agency, you know? But I’m doing this 38 years, and I will tell you, the business has changed, pro and con, you know? And I’m not talking about numbers. Numbers will always change. It’s what’s important to people that I care about. I never asked someone how much insurance they need or what kind of planning they need. No one knows. What’s your dream? What are your goals? Where do you envision you, your family, 5, 10, 20 years from now? Let’s shoot for the moon. We may not get there, but if you shoot for shorter, you never get to the moon. So we’re always looking for that with people.

Mike: Alright.

Importance of Personalized Insurance Portfolios

Madison: Beautiful. So, Silver Lining Insurance Agency focuses on personalized insurance portfolios. Can you discuss why tailoring insurance solutions to individual needs is so crucial, especially for high visibility clients or those with specialized requirements?

Michael Silverman: You know, that that is really easy because everybody is different. Everybody, even twins are different, you know, so that’s what that, again, going back to what do you want? What’s your goal? What’s your dream? What’s your desire? Let’s work to that. You know, two people may have the same home, similar homes, next door neighbors, different cars, same cars, different job. It’s all about them. There is no true cookie cutter set up in the insurance world for us simply because, as I said, everybody is different. Everybody has a different want. So, when we talk to people, that’s really where we’re going. One of the favorite questions I have is, what is important to you? And now it depends upon what our topic is. It may be what is important to you about money, what is important to you about protection? You know, Silver Lining, our tagline is we protect what you value most. Not what we think you should value most, what you value most. Sometimes, you know, for single people, we have found, what do they value most? Their income, the ability to earn an income. We talk about disability protection. People who have collectibles, whether it be pictures of sports stadiums or any, any other collectibles. I had to throw it in.

Mike: He says that while we could see Shea Stadium behind him, and the Phillies lost to the Mets in the series last night. If I had one of those eject buttons, this guest would be gone.

Michael Silverman: I am a collector of sports stuff, but stuff that means something to me. I am not collecting things from the Pittsburgh Steelers or, you know, that kind of, you talk Mets, Giants, Knicks, Rangers. I’m collecting that stuff. I want to make sure that if something should happen to my home, fire, theft, vandalism, there’s coverage. That’s important to me. My wife, not so much, you know, she could care less if that stuff burned to the ground. If there’s a flood, she may even throw it in. But personalizing a portfolio is imperative because I don’t know what the person I’m sitting with, what’s important to them, what they own, what they have, what they wish for, until I ask. That’s why personalized. And, you know, we do work with people of all socioeconomic levels. We do. We will work with the 22 year old who just graduated college and is renting their first apartment. You can imagine how big and intense that insurance policy is. It’s not. It’s not. But who knows. And then we deal with those that have multimillion dollar homes. Not one home, homes throughout the world. Do they care differently? No, they care numbers differently. 22 year old cares about his iPhone or her iPhone, computer, clothes. What else I got. So, it’s about conversations. It’s about wanting to know what is important to you. That’s why we specialize in specialization of a portfolio for a client.

Mike: Got it.

Breaking Down Complex Financial Concepts

Madison: Right. Got it. All right. With your extensive expertise in both insurance and financial planning, how do you break down complex financial concepts for your clients? And could you share an example where simplifying a concept made a significant difference for a client?

Michael Silverman: Well, really, you know, what’s the definition of a complex situation once again, for anybody? It’s different for everyone. You know, I try to provide people with visuals. I tell stories. What happens if. What happened to so and so? So, we tell silly stories about real life claims. Now, we sell jewelry, insurance, engagement rings, things like that. A number of years ago, we had, and I use this story when someone doesn’t understand why they need certain types of insurance for the jewelry. A number of years ago, we had a young woman go to the Bronx Zoo with her then three year old little girl. And I’ll date myself here. They put a quarter into the machine and got the duck food. It’s probably $5 now. Okay. And beautiful picture. They lean over, they’re feeding the duck. Lovely. The duck ate the center stone out of her ring.

Madison: Oh, my.

Michael Silverman: She screamed. They quarantined the duck. And the joke is, this was the ultimate passing of a stone. They got the stone the next morning. And what did the insurance company say? That’s gross. Send us the stone. We will pay her for the ring. That’s why you need the proper types of insurance on your jewelry. You know, we’ve had people lose their entire home due to fire, water damage, and we talk about what are the steps that people have gone through? How do we assist them? Now, are these complex situations? Mathematically, no. They’re complex because they are affecting one’s entire life. We had a client, owned a brownstone in lower Manhattan, went away for president’s week, went skiing up in Vermont, came home, a pipe had broken in the building. It was an ice skating rink in their entire place. It was February. It was husband, wife, two children in elementary school, and two of the largest, wettest dogs you’ve ever seen. The slobbery kind. They couldn’t live there. We had to work with them and their insurance company, forget the house. We had to get them situated because the children had to go to school the next day.

Mike: Right.

Michael Silverman: So, with the insurance company, with them, we got them into a hotel a long term. Well, how long are we going to be here? Remember we had two dogs, too, so we had to find the right hotel near the school. They ended up living for 19 months in the Ritz Carlton, downtown Manhattan, that hotel doesn’t exist anymore. For 19 months. And they were out of pocket zero for that because their policy had unlimited loss of use coverage. If they had a dollar amount, which many policies do. And sometimes that’s the only thing you could get. There may be a timeline that we couldn’t go past. But we have conversations about it, you know, whether we’re doing life insurance planning, again, there are many, many complex issues around life insurance planning, investment planning, whether it be for estate planning, etcetera, etcetera. I don’t want my client, my prospect, the person I’m talking to, to worry about the language. That’s why we bring in the lawyers. That’s why we bring in the estate attorneys, etcetera. They’ll handle all the paperwork. Mister and misses client, I want you to understand. Let’s talk numbers. Let’s talk what it’s going to. What’s the end goal? We don’t have to talk complexity. Obviously we do, we have to, but that’s down the road. If we can make it so that someone understands what we’re looking to do with them, it takes away a lot of the complexity, you know, the language of, oh, you know, estate planning, you know, multi generational planning, estate tax, you know, generation skipping. Come on. That’s very nice. That’s language. That’s just language. We all pay lawyers for that stuff. I want to make sure that my prospects, my clients are able to express to me and to the advisors that we bring in what their dreams are. So, we try not to have the complex discussions because there’s no need to initially. We always get there, you know. Mister and Misses prospect. Mister and misses client. Who are we looking to protect here? I want to make sure that my mom and dad are taken care of if something should happen to me early, but my children as well. Great. We’ll let the lawyers do the language. Let’s figure out the right way to handle it. We tell stories. That’s what I love to do. You know, I’ve been in so many different situations, both professionally and personally, with charities, and, you know, I was a public official for a number of years. You know, if you just talk to people and have conversations, everything is much easier. Tell my children the same thing, but I’m still waiting for that.

Mike: They’ll have to get to get to a certain age for that to really kick in and for them to come back to you with that.

Michael Silverman: You know, I am very fortunate. I am very fortunate. I have two grown daughters. One is married. And, you know, I’m very fortunate. They get it. They get it. They understand that yes, I’m their father. I might have a clue about some things.

Mike: Maybe.

Michael Silverman: I might. Now, I also know that I don’t have a clue about many things. By the way, this is not going public? Right? They’ll never hear this? Because they can’t know that.

Mike: Well, they might not listen to it.

Michael Silverman: I know all.

Mike: I think as grown daughters are quite aware of what we’re good at and not good at. We have three daughters in their twenties, one’s marriage and yeah. They’ll ask me financial questions and their mother everything else.

Michael Silverman: I’ve always said, mom talks to the girls 3, 4, 5, 7 times a day, whether text or call. I get the call about the visa bill or the insurance or the this or the that. And I always like to start the conversation. Hi. Oh, you want to talk money? Okay.

Mike: How about that? Been there.

Relationships with Insurance Carriers

Madison: So, moving on. Silver Lining has developed strong relationships with leading national and regional insurance carriers. How do these relationships benefit your clients? And what role does this network play in providing tailored solutions?

Michael Silverman: Everything. Everything. And, you know, I like this phrase, relationships are everything. It’s not about money. It’s about, I need your help. Great. Great. People want to help other people. So if I go to a carrier that I do business with, and I have a fabulous friendship relationship with an underwriter, I might get some favors, you know, a little gray area. We go this way rather than that way. We had a claim a number of years ago. A friend of mine, a neighbor, house, burned to the ground. Terrible. Thankfully, no one was hurt. He was stuck in Atlanta on business. He couldn’t get a commercial flight to get home. He chartered a plane from what was then Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, stadium, airport, where the Braves play. For those who are listening. They lost to the Mets, too, but that’s okay. And flew into Morristown, New Jersey. It was just shy of $10,000.

Madison: Wow.

Michael Silverman: Someone asked me, how do you go about chartering a plane that quickly? I said, you go to the charter desk, you put your American Express card on the table, say, I need to go home. That’s how you charter a plane.

Mike: Okay.

Michael Silverman: Now, why do I tell you the story? His insurance company, who was handling the claim for the fire. I said to the adjuster, who I know and we have a relationship with, I said, we got to do something for this guy. He goes, we’ll take care of the plane. They paid $10,000 for the plane. That’s not in the policy. That’s being a human being worrying about the life of our clients, more so than just their burned out house. Relationships are everything. When we have a situation where a client may not qualify for elite or super preferred underwriting on a life insurance policy, and we have a relationship with an underwriter, we can have a conversation. We may not always get the super elite level, but we’re able to have that conversation about why it’s important. What else is it? It’s not just what’s on the application. There are people behind the application. So when you ask, how does my relationships with national or regional carriers matter? It matters so much. And I love that. I love that.

Mike: Yeah. That’s great.

Risk Management Strategies

Madison: All right, so risk management is a key part of your advisory services. What are some common risks that individuals and businesses often overlook, and how do you help your clients identify and mitigate these risks?

Michael Silverman: Well, mitigation of risk is everything what we do. You know, that’s insurance. You know, put the risk, put the exposure on the big, bad insurance company, if you will. We talk to our clients. So, not sure when people will see this podcast down the road, etcetera, etcetera. But yesterday, last night, there was a terrible storm. Hurricane Milton came through the west coast of Florida. Last week, we had Hurricane Helene coming through. We have clients in Florida. We have clients in Tampa. How did we prepare them on the insurance side for what could occur? We had conversations, we had webinars for our clients to join us to discuss what should they be doing and when they leave, how do they communicate with us if need be, etcetera, etcetera. So that’s risk management. It’s always easier to risk manage before the problem.

Mike: Right.

Michael Silverman: Now there are times we have to risk manage after the problem.

Mike: Sure.

Michael Silverman: Just not as easy.

Mike: Right. You can’t anticipate everything, but, yeah, if you can anticipate storm that’s coming for a week, that’s great.

Michael Silverman: Right. And by the way, risk management is also about investment planning. It’s also about life insurance, about college planning. None of these things are done in a silo by themselves. We look at each one in a silo, but then we have to open the walls of the silo because they do interact tremendously. You know, if I’m looking to invest to save for tomorrow, what happens if x, y, or z happens along the way? You know, that the curveball, if you will. I was taught early on, what’s my job? On the life insurance side, I want to protect you and your family if you should live too long, die too soon, or get sick or disabled in between. That’s life insurance, that’s disability insurance, that’s medical insurance. That’s making sure your Social Security benefits are properly aligned, your retirement plan, that’s that stuff. But then, at the same time, if you’re in a horrific automobile accident that you cause, and the key word there is accident, you didn’t do it maliciously. The courts don’t know that. But you’re gonna get sued. How do we protect all your other assets? That’s with automobile insurance in this case, and an umbrella liability policy, God willing. But we’ve spoken about that. That’s risk management. Nothing. Nothing can be looked alone. Everything. You know, we use the word holistic planning. You know, years ago, I used to say there are people who do certain things and do them well. It’s an accountant. If I’m going to bring an accountant into our team for a meeting with a client. The accountant is coming in with their blinders on. We ask them simply to be looking at the taxes, the ramifications. But now the accountant has a conversation. We asked the accountant to do this. Take the blinders off. Oh, my goodness. There’s so much else going on out here. You know, it’s not just about taxes. We need the taxes taken care of, but we have to. How do the taxes affect life insurance? How do the taxes affect investments, generation planning? This is risk management, you know, like anything else. And I said this over and over. I probably sound like a broken record now. It’s all about having conversations because my risk management thinking may not be the way this person wants to go. We’ll get there. We’re going to touch all the parts, but they want to start. People ask me, you know, you do so many things. Where do you start? I start where a client or the prospect would like to start. But I always ask for permission that once we finish that section, we’re going to talk about everything else.

Impact of Certifications (CLU, CHFC, CIC)

Madison: All right. So your background includes designations like ClU, CHFC, and CIC. How have these certifications influenced your approach to advising clients, and would you recommend them to professionals entering the field today?

Michael Silverman: You know, would I recommend them? I recommend any education, any and all education, whether it’s CLU, chartered life underwriter, CHFC, charter financial consultant, CIC, certified insurance counselor, CFP, you know, any of them. Education is paramount because, you know, you can’t not continue learning. You know, has it changed how I do things? I don’t know. I’m sure it has. Because you take a class, you learn something, you don’t know when you’re going to use it. You know, we always talk about there’s, you know, you look at a tree and everything above the ground, you see, but you don’t see all the roots, which is usually larger than the tree. We always say what you learn in class is root knowledge. You don’t have to bring it out every time. So, do I think it’s important? I think it’s imperative. It’s imperative. Do people look at it say, oh, the guy went to a lot of school? Yes, okay. Yes, I took a lot of tests over time. Okay. But I love it.

Mike: That’s an interesting way of looking at that. And, you know, like, I did my CFP exam very early in my career, so in 2001. And so, like, I didn’t have a lot of experience before that. Right. I had, like, whatever the minimum three years of experience was. I passed the test and got the credential. You know, and you work in fields where you learn so much your whole life, right? Like, it’s still learning a lot all the time. And I joke with friends that it’s like the good and bad of what I do and that it’s great that it’s never boring. But then every once in a while, like, you know, it would be nice to have, like, a boring day and just go in and answer some emails and, like, not have to figure something new out or learn something new. You know, it’s mostly a good thing. You know, it’s easy to joke about that, but, yeah, it’s a good way of putting that. It’s hard to know where the education comes in. I front loaded most of my education. So, I got my MBA in law degree and then graduated from law school. Worked as a lawyer just briefly, a couple years. Hated every second. And then I joined Merrill. I worked there for three years and did the CFP at that point. And, yeah, it’s. Education is, I think, is so important.

Michael Silverman: I couldn’t agree with you more. And as I said, you just don’t know where it’s going to come about to matter, and it always matters.

Mike: Yeah. I didn’t intentionally take so many courses in law school that would help in my current career. Some of them were required, like tax, and then others were things that were interesting to me, like estate planning. And so if you looked at it after the fact, you would think that I took a course of study, like, to prepare me for this career. But it’s just what I was interested in, you know? And it was a good thing, but there was no grand plan with it. I have no problem saying that.

Michael Silverman: One of the issues I had with working from home during COVID was I wasn’t around a vast number of people. I learned more from just having conversations about stuff. And it doesn’t always have to be about business. It doesn’t have to be. It can be interpersonal. It can be how to make your iPhone work differently. You know, we got a younger, we have younger people in our office. You know, I’m very good at what I do. I know what I’m not good at.

Mike: Yeah. And that’s important.

Michael Silverman: Technology is not my area of expertise. But you know what? That’s okay, because we’re a team, you know? And there’s no difference between my office’s team and my office team being part of a client’s team.

Mike: Yeah. Great.

Michael Silverman: Education is everything.

Madison: Got it.

Challenging Cases

Madison: All right, so I know you shared a few stories, but can you share a story of a particularly challenging case you handled at Silver Lining and how your team’s approach led to a successful outcome for a client?

Michael Silverman: You know, what’s a good outcome to the client? You know, I may think it’s a good outcome. Okay. They may not. Usually we tend to agree that when they get paid for whatever event happened on the insurance side, if they get paid what they want, that’s a good outcome. You know, we’ve had a number over the years, and, you know, my number one issue with handling claims, whether it be today because of the Florida storms or fires or anything, it’s not about the stuff. I was taught very early on in my career things get replaced, people don’t. So it’s about making sure the family is protected, whether it be life insurance. So we lost a dear friend, longtime client, last week to ALS. Terrible. Terrible.

Mike: That’s a tough way to go.

Michael Silverman: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. But his children and grandchildren will be wonderfully protected because of the planning he did. But one story that really just, it warms my heart and I, you know, it just, 20 some odd years ago, we did life insurance planning. Husband and wife, one son. Number of millions of dollars of life insurance on husband and wife. Doesn’t matter the type, whether it was whole life or term or combination of them. Three days before the wife’s 50th birthday, she passed away. Cancer. It was terrible. The son at the time, an early teenager, had some learning disabilities. Mom and son were, they were one. I went to the funeral, went to the shiva, delivered a check to the husband a couple days later, high seven figures. It was about eight and a half, $9 million. Do you know what that eight and a half that $8 million did? The husband, who was a successful businessman, took four years off of his career and stayed home with his then teenage son. I am fortunate enough to say that x number of years after that, my wife and I were lucky enough to be invited to that boy’s wedding. You know, that’s what we do. That’s not a complex scenario. That’s family. That’s making sure that what husband and wife wanted to do, God forbid something happened to one of them, either one, it continues. The fact that dad, who traveled so much for business. That’s why the mom and the boy were so close. They were together all the time. He stopped. He always jokes, he goes, I put my suitcase away. You know, so that’s really what we do for a living. We protect what you value most. And that scenario is, it was the longevity of family. As I said, houses and cars, they get fixed or replaced.

Mike: Yep.

Michael Silverman: You know, unfortunately, personally, I am going through a very large automobile claim right now. Unfortunately, my wife was in an accident about a year and a half ago. She was hit by a very drunk driver and she was hurt and she’s been struggling ever since and she’s working through it. Thankfully, it’s not me that was injured because I’d be curled up in a ball. My wife is a tank. My wife is a monster. She is working it and she’s going to get there. But you know what? Relationships with insurance companies. You asked that earlier. It took five days for me to file the claim, not because I didn’t know how to do it, it was all emotional. So, who did I call? I didn’t call 1-800 claim. I called the, the senior VP of claims for that insurance company, saw my name come up on his, on his phone. And this is a direct quote, I’ll clean it up because they’re, you know, we’ll bring it down to pg. He goes, no hello, no nothing. “How’s your wife? And why have you not filed a claim yet?” And my question to him was, how do you know? He goes, “I’m paid to know.” Now, the insurance companies, we have relationships, not client side, this was interpersonal. That’s what we do for a living. That’s why I love what I do for a living. And you know, Mike, as you said earlier, you know, every once in a while, I wouldn’t mind a mellow day. I’m not so sure what I would do with it. I get excited when we help people, and it doesn’t have to be for millions of dollars. It could be for a few thousand dollars if we save someone money by looking at their policies and making some changes. And we get a thank you. Oh, that’s the cat’s meow. That’s everything. Because I don’t know what’s going on behind unless they tell me. So, if a few thousand dollars changes their lives, God blessed.

Madison: Yeah. Wonderful. Very nice story.

Advice for Entering the Insurance Industry

Madison: All right. So how does Silver Lining differentiate itself in a competitive market? And what advice would you give to someone looking to enter the insurance industry today?

Michael Silverman: Well, the easy advice is, send me your resume. Happy to have you come aboard. It is the greatest business in the world. I love it. I tell people, we do God’s work. When does someone really, and here’s the word, need us? And there’s a problem. That’s why I truly believe we do God’s work. I know it sounds hokey. It’s silly, but it’s visceral to me. You know, you asked about people coming into the business. It is a great business. It changes lives. It will change one’s life when they come into the business. Because I have great freedom. I have great freedom. I can go away. My team is here. Now, again, I hope my wife doesn’t hear this, because we don’t go away. Because I’m more workaholic, because I love it. The advice is absolutely do it. Come into the business. I don’t care how. Get in. Cause once you’re in, you can move around if need be or desired. I love doing all different things. What differentiates us? Again, this is gonna be silly. Me and our team and our love of what we do and our love for the people we do it with. Not everybody does that. No one in our office asks what’s your, you know, when you call in, what’s your client number? What’s your account number? No, no. Hello Mrs. Smith. How is Robbie? How is school? How’s he doing? It’s personal. You know, and by the way, it doesn’t matter if it’s personal insurance or commercial insurance, law firms, accounting firms, manufacturing firms, it doesn’t matter. We’re all people. From a business standpoint I made a decision when we started Silver Lining, I wanted us to be a little bit different. And one of the things we have, when we write insurance for a client. Yes. We look to the phrase bundle their insurance with the same company to save premium. It doesn’t always make sense. So, if I have a client with four policies of four different insurance companies, that can get them crazy. You gotta go to this link. Yada. No. We created a Silver Lining app for your phone. Where everything is there in one spot. Now, can you still go to the insurance company apps? Of course you can. But what I have found is, this has helped me tremendously because I don’t get the 7:30 in the morning phone calls. “I’m at the dealership, I need to get a loan or I can’t find my id card.” It’s on your phone. Just click on the Silver Lining app. “Oh my God, I forgot all about that. Thank you. Bye.” I still get the call.

Mike: Just quicker.

Michael Silverman: This is much quicker. But I want everybody to be able to come to one place. Doesn’t mean we do everything in that place, but they have access to it. That allows us to do more things for people. You know, Silver Lining, we’re not a big team. We are much smaller than I was in my old firm, but we’re much larger in business because we’re doing it smarter. The differentiation is we will walk away if someone doesn’t want to do something correctly. I’m not talking about legally. That goes without saying. But we’re going to make presentations about we’re not the right thing for everybody. We’re not. And we know that. I don’t like it, but I get it. I want everybody to like me and my team. But I’m told regularly, you know, you’re not my cup of tea. You know, I’m still waiting for my wife to tell me that, but it’s been 35 years, so I figured I’m pretty safe.

Mike: Fingers crossed on that one.

Michael Silverman: Fingers, eyes, toes, everything. You know, the issue of what differentiates us really, is our caring. Anybody and anybody can sell you insurance. Anybody. I don’t care about the premium. I care about the coverage. The person who is on top of the food chain is the person that’s there when the insurance needs to be used. You know, I can sell you anything you want. I gotta be there when it’s claim time, when disaster strikes. Why was I in the office today at 6:30 in the morning in midtown Manhattan? Because disaster struck in Florida last night, and I didn’t want anybody getting voicemail. So my team was here at 6:30 this morning. It’s what we do.

Madison: Wonderful.

Michael Silverman: I hope they don’t leave early today.

Madison: Maybe an early lunch.

Michael Silverman: I’m sure I’ll be providing.

Madison: Perfect. There you go.

How to Learn More about Silver Lining

Madison: All right, so I am at my last question here. So, Michael, where can our listeners learn more about you and Silver Lining?

Michael Silverman: Well, always on the Internet. Our website is Slia.agency, and so we have our website. Very nice. You can find us on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Instagram. And as I said earlier, I’m not the tech guy, but I know we’re there. I know we post because I’m doing conversations with people. I’m writing. You know, if someone goes onto our website, there’s a place to get onto our newsletter. It goes out every month on different topics, some of which we don’t even get involved with. But it’s part of what people do, so we want them to have the availability to our experts. And that’s how you find us. Web, social media, by the way, call me. Unfortunately, in today’s day and age, we all know I’m online 24/7. It was funny, I was chatting with my mother this morning, as a matter of fact, she says, “these cell phones, anybody can find you anywhere.” I said, oh, yes, I know. And you seem to find me, mom.

Mike: Well, Michael, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Really appreciate it.

Madison: Yeah, thank you.

Michael Silverman: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Conclusion

Madison: For more information on Yardley Wealth Management or Yardley Estate Planning, you could visit our websites at yardleywealth.net and yardlyestate.net. You can also follow us on socials at Yardley Wealth Management. Don’t forget to smash the like button if you enjoyed this episode. This podcast has been produced by Madison Demora and Mike Garry with technical and artistic help from Poe Productions.