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LEGACY BUILDER RETREAT
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2008 DATES

San Diego - Sept. 23-24

Orlando - Dec 4-5

TOOLS LIST

Testimonials

We would like to share with you comments made by people who have participated in the Legacy Builder Retreat.  We invite you to contact them to learn more about how SunBridge has helped them and how it can also help you.

"I just want to advise my professional colleagues that, in my opinion, it has been a long time since I have seen a program of such merit and substance.  The Legacy Builder Retreat was well organized, very thoughtful, and provided an overwhelming number of client tools that were actually ready to use with your clients!" 

John C. Holden - Bartlesville, Oklahoma - 918-336-1722 

“Thank you for creating this powerful experience!  I returned home with a renewed awareness of my individual significance and the confidence to guide my clients to a place of greater abundance and purpose. I can envision many ways to use these tools not only in our practice but in making a real difference in our community. By employing these skills, I am now having conversations on a much deeper level. I know this will change the way we serve our clients.”

John Bennett - Valdosta, Georgia - 229-333-0860

“For years I've helped clients with their estate planning, but the focus has usually been on money and taxes.  Rarely did a client show any interest in the overall legacy they would leave to the people they loved and the causes they supported.  During the recent Legacy Builders retreat I finally realized that I need to use appropriate and creative "tools" to help clients think through their true legacy.  I'm eager to start helping clients with a whole new approach to estate planning.  I know that the Legacy Builder tools will be well-received by clients in both individual and group settings.  Thank you, Scott, for "pioneering" a whole new way to do estate planning.” 

Jim Ostenson - Atlanta, Georgia - 770-392-3310

"The new tools complement and add a new depth to many of the planning techniques I previously used........We needed something to spice up and deepen our relationships with these folks and the Legacy Builder Program provided that substance.... If you are truly interested in working with your clients on a deep and significant level, I would strongly encourage you to attend the Legacy Builder Program.  More importantly, if you are really interested in actually implementing what you learn, I encourage you to bring a team member with you." 

Randy C. Bryan - Oviedo, Florida - 407-977-8080 f

 "I met Scott Farnsworth and SunBridge over 4 years ago and have participated in various SunBridge programs at different times since then. What got me to go to the Legacy Builder Retreat last week was the assurance that all the tools we had previously learned would be tied together in a cohesive fashion, and that some new tools would be introduced that would provide a new marketing focus to help us get opportunities to speak to groups of people who would come to a program on legacy building, but would probably not come to another estate planning workshop." 

Thomas P. Whitaker, Jr. - Bradenton, Florida - 941-755-9400  

 "I recently attended the Legacy Builder Retreat. This is a remarkable evolution of many of the core concepts of the SunBridge group. The Legacy Builder program will be a valuable adjunct to our planning and provides another important service for our clients. This Legacy Builder program may also become an effective marketing tool to build a basis of trust and a close relationship with prospective clients as well as strengthen our existing bonds with three-step clients and their families. This new marketing will not only serve to distinguish our approach from that of other providers offering living trusts, but will also build a good resource pool of better prospects and a good community reputation for being interested in clients.  In short, this was one of the best seminars I ever have attended." 
  Peter T. Dole - Fayetteville, Arkansas - 217-465-7666 

"In my years in SunBridge, literally all of the programs will bring this kind of response and enthusiasm, not just the Legacy Builders.  SunBridge strategies and concepts now form the basis for my entire estate/business planning practice and are providing me with a wonderful, fulfilling, working (40+hours), and remunerative retirement plan.  The National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys taught me there was a better way to live my professional life and how to do it; Esperti-Peterson Institute and the Masters Program taught me what was really important to people; SunBridge has taught me what is truly important to people that they don’t even know is important and how to teach them and do it.  My professional, and personal, life is far different than if these wonderful organizations and the people behind them had not entered in.  My hat is off, as always! "

 Steve Gammill - Fruita, Colorado - 970-858-9135

“Reputation—that for which we are known—is our most valuable resource as professionals.  The  Allianz Life Legacy Study found that baby boomers and their parents are ten times more interested in memories, lessons and values learned over a lifetime, and tangible personal property of emotional significance than they are interested in inherited money.  The SunBridge Legacy Builder Program does a superb job of providing specific tools to allow you, in your community and with individual clients, to build the reputation of helping people identify and preserve their Legacy, making you an obvious choice as a professional in your community.” 

David Kerr - Mt. Pleasant, Michigan - 989-773-7071

To learn more about our practical support system for the caring advisor, CLICK HERE.

To register for an upcoming SunBridge Legacy Builder Retreat, CLICK HERE.

ADDITIONAL TESTIMONIALS

"As you may know, more attention is being paid to the "legacy" that people want to leave behind and how best to do so.  This topic has excited me for several years and I am delighted to see it get more attention. 

This month, I attended the SunBridge Legacy Builder Retreat in Orlando.  SunBridge helps advisors "gracefully weave legacy building into your marketing and client services".  I wanted to evaluate whether SunBridge would be helpful to my brokers.

I am so very glad that I took the time to attend the SunBridge Legacy Builder Retreat.  Great session!  It exceeded my expectations.  My time was very well-spent.  As you know, I am a true believer and these legacy issues have been dear to my heart for a long time.  It was great to see the tools that SunBridge has developed and to see those tools work so effectively.  I will be doing more legacy things with my extended family. This is quite exciting!  Some of the highlights of my two days with SunBridge were:

1. I was exposed to a series of exercises and tools that draw out people's values and heritage and the legacy they want to leave behind.
2. The exercises and tools show them HOW to protect their family history and knowledge.  People not only make plans to record their legacy for their descendants, they actually proceed to do so.
3. I've wanted to do some of these things for many years, but I had never done so because I was not satisfied that I had planned them well enough.  During the two days, I did some planning and created a CD that explains some of my philosophy.  My family will appreciate it now and probably even more so after I am gone. I will do more over the holidays - including things that had not occurred to me previously.
4. I absorbed several pieces of advice that will make it easier for me to leave my legacy and to help others leave their legacies.
5. I also got to know some wonderful people very quickly because of the quality of our interactions as stimulated by our participation in these exercises.  I've emailed the participants telling them how exciting it was to meet such wonderful people, but I also observed that most any group of people would have seemed pretty wonderful when doing such exercises together.
6. I saw a great video: "The Turning Point".  It brought tears to my eyes in class and again that night when I showed it to my dear friends Bob and Joanne Lutz.  I also showed it to my wife Tina within 24 hours of getting home and plan to share it with the rest of my family during the holidays. 

My experiences and learning at the SunBridge seminar tie in very well with my goals in life.  They support my philanthropic goals, which are legacy-related in several ways.  My main current non-profit activity is trying to help grow future philanthropy.  I believe that philanthropists get as much out of their efforts as the people they benefit.  What more valuable contribution can we make to someone than helping them to make their life more meaningful?

If you help people define and document their legacy, are you not helping them to make their lives meaningful?  Do you think they won't value your contributions and refer other people to you?

Many of you know that I, an actuary of all people, don't trust long-term care statistics and am a staunch believer in the value of stories in educating people about long-term care issues.  The SunBridge approach uses stories heavily.  One take-away for me is that when you hear people's stories, they are not objects to you anymore.  You know them better, appreciate their unique qualities and are more likely to interact with them respectfully and honestly.  The flip side is also true --- when you listen to people, they will trust you and treat you respectfully and honestly.  Think about the compound impact on your prospect of sharing stories with them while eliciting their stories!  They'll treat you well because they know you better and because they appreciate that you got to know them!  Of course, you'll treat them the same way.  Bonding is good.

The first wave of SunBridge clients were attorneys, mostly estate-planning attorneys.  Increasingly, financial planners are involved.  (I recently happened to discover SunBridge material highlighted on the web-site of a financial planner who places long-term care insurance through me.  She, as well as the attorney who introduced me to SunBridge, encouraged me to follow through on attending the meeting.) Insurance agents are also likely candidates.

The SunBridge techniques could be a good way to differentiate your business.  I'd be interested in chatting with you about how SunBridge might be helpful to you personally and in your business.

Claude Thau, Overland Park, Kansas, 913-403-5824

"I recently attended the SunBridge Legacy Builder Retreat.  Additionally, I convinced my best referral source to attend with me.  In making my decision to attend, I was interested in learning more about the Allianz American Legacy Study and how I might apply its conclusions to my practice.  I also was interested in seeing if there was another way to approach people other than the usual "run of the mill" estate planning workshops.  This latter reason was based upon my concern and observation that so many individuals are motivated to do estate planning because of a fear of estate tax consequences rather than "doing the right thing" for their family.  I wanted to see if there might actually be another way to connect with potential clients. 

"I just want to advise my professional colleagues that, in my opinion, it has been a long time since I have seen a program of such merit and substance.  The Legacy Builder Retreat was well organized, very thoughtful, and provided an overwhelming number of client tools that were actually ready to use with your clients!" 

Scott  reserved a significant amount of time to walk us through each one of the legacy building tools and allowed us to practice using the tools with the other participants.  Finally, it was wonderful to participate in a workshop that was ready for me to take home and immediately implement.  The final portion of the program was exclusively dedicated to helping each one of the participants come up with a specific plan for implementation of the Legacy Builder program.

I would also like to encourage my professional colleagues to seriously consider inviting one of your best referral sources to participate with you.  One of the unintended consequences of my participation with my referral source at this conference was that we both became much more familiar with one another.  We both learned a great deal about each others background, one another’s family, as well as our values and core beliefs. 

Bottom line, you should definitely consider attending the Legacy Builders Retreat.  It is clearly the next big thing.  If anyone wants to call me to discuss the benefits of the program, please feel free to do so."

John C. Holden, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 918-336-1722

"I attended the Legacy Builder Retreat and want to share what I experienced.  One of the core components of the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys has been the distinction between counseling and word processing.  We all spend a great deal of time talking with clients about the importance of leaving a well thought out estate plan that is customized to their specific planning goals.  We talk about the importance of leaving personal instructions and how much the little things can mean so much after someone dies.  We talk about preserving our family values along with our valuables.  I would submit that we do a better job of focusing on these issues than any other organization, period.

If you have read the recent study by Allianz, they have confirmed what we have known for years - it's not about the money, it is about the family.  The public is very interested in legacy planning and we are very interested in legacy planning.

The problem I have had for years is that while we all want to do it, we don't have the tools to effectively implement a legacy plan beyond the base revocable living trust document.  I struggled for a long time trying to add more meat on the counseling oriented estate planning - giving sample letters for health care instructions, instructions for minor children, trustee customizations, etc.  About five years ago I was introduced to Scott Farnsworth and SunBridge.  I started participating in the SunBridge program four years ago and found a plentiful source of legacy planning tools to discuss with my clients. 

Although I have been very involved with SunBridge, I decided to attend the Legacy Builder Program last weekend because Scott created several new tools and I wanted to participate in a program that combined all the different tools and techniques in one 2½- day session.  Although I used many of the tools in the past, the Legacy Builder Program showed me a new way of looking at the tools to see how they really work together to create wonderful opportunities to share stories and preserve legacies.  The new tools complement and add a new depth to many of the planning techniques I previously used.

We have a fairly well established three-step program with over 150 clients in our updating program.  We're about to enter our 7th year of the updating session and have found that the workshops we are offering the clients who have been with us the longest are getting a little stale.  We needed something to spice up and deepen our relationships with these folks and the Legacy Builder Program provided that substance.

If you are truly interested in working with your clients on a deep and significant level, I would strongly encourage you to attend the Legacy Builder Program. 

More importantly, if you are really interested in actually implementing what you learn, I encourage you to bring a team member with you.  If you are anything like me, you attend some wonderful programs, but then the "suck of reality" hits you when you get home and implementation hits the back-burner.  Scott has specific tools to help you implement, but a big key to that implementation is to have someone else with you who will be able to push the implementation and avoid the "suck of reality" pressures.

It can really change the way you practice and, if you are willing, change the way you live your life.  If you have any questions about the program don't hesitate to call."

Randy C. Bryan, Oviedo, Florida, 407-977-8080

"After attending the Legacy Builder Retreat, I wanted to share a few thoughts and observations about the experience with those out there who may be SunBridge alums or otherwise have an interest in developing the legacy building part of their practice to assist their clients in leaving more than their financial assets to their children and grandchildren.

First, I found it intriguing that the day before I left for the Legacy Builder Retreat I was given a copy of the June-July 2006 edition of the Journal of Practical Estate Planning (my partner has an article published in it), and three of the articles touch on the issue of advisors working with their clients in meaningful ways.  I showed Scott Farnsworth the journal, and the next morning he brought me a reprint of an article entitled “Living Legacy Planning that he published in the April-May 2000 issue of same journal.  (All of a sudden the song "He was Country Before Country Was Cool" starts playing in the background).

This emphasis bolsters the finding from the recent Allianz study that confirmed that the public is very interested in legacy planning--- it's not about the money, it's about the family. This insight is part of what fuels the passion of those who have been a part of our community of estate planning attorneys and the advisor colleagues we work with.

I met Scott Farnsworth and SunBridge over 4 years ago and have participated in various SunBridge programs at different times since then. What got me to go to the Legacy Builder Retreat last week was the assurance that all the tools we had previously learned would be tied together in a cohesive fashion, and that some new tools would be introduced that would provide a new marketing focus to help us get opportunities to speak to groups of people who would come to a program on legacy building, but would probably not come to another estate planning workshop.

With the current climate surrounding estate tax planning (e.g. IRS layoffs of estate tax auditing attorneys), having another available marketing focus is very timely. Especially when you consider the general public's documented interest in the topic of legacy building.

One take-away for me from the workshop was to work this into my annual updating workshops with my clients. Another will be to offer to churches to help their members get clarity on their conversion experience and the differences that experience has had in their lives (as part of recording the significant events and stories in their lives). It only makes sense that after working with someone in one of these settings where the potential clients open up and discuss what matters most to them with you, that they will want to explore other ways of working together-- including estate planning, business planning, asset protection, Medicaid asset protection/application, etc.

Because the participants will be part of a listserv, the time to learn what works and what doesn't work should be greatly reduced and the number of potential strategies to use this body of work should literally explode.  Please feel free to call me if you have any questions."

Thomas P. Whitaker, Jr., Bradenton, Florida, 941-755-9400