According to a lead article on the CNBC website today, individual investors have huge amounts of money stashed in cash and cash equivalent accounts. This cash is on the sidelines largely because these investors, many of whom are aging Baby Boomers and seniors, are simply terrified of the equity markets.
“Estimates suggest that 130 million U.S. households have as much as $9 trillion sitting in savings accounts, certificates of deposit, Treasury bills and money market funds. All that cash may be earning next to nothing—CD rates are now well below 2 percent—but it’s a far sight better than losing 40 percent of their equity portfolio's value, as many did in 2008.”
That’s nine trillion—with a “T”—and it’s a lot of money, not to mention a huge opportunity.
It doesn’t take much insight to conclude that safer money products with principal guarantees as well as the potential for growth far beyond cash equivalent investments, such as fixed and fixed index annuities, offer outstanding value in this environment. You should be doing more prospecting and more marketing than ever before because the opportunity is so great.
Are you making the most of it?