Business Innovators Radio - Sheryl J. Moore is President and CEO of Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc.

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

Sheryl J. Moore is president and CEO of Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc.. She is also the founder and creator of several competitive intelligence tools, including Wink’s AnnuitySpecs and LifeSpecs tools as well as Wink’s Sales & Market Report and Wink’s Index Intelligence Report.Moore Market Intelligence specializes in providing competitive intelligence tools to the insurance industry, particularly the life insurance and annuity markets. Ms. Moore provides competitive intelligence, market research, product development, consulting services, and insight to select financial services companies. She has authored books on indexed products, and her articles are featured in dozens of industry trade publications. She works closely with regulators and legislators in the insurance market.She has a degree in Political Science from Grand View University and holds numerous designations in the field of insurance services. Neither Sheryl J. Moore nor Moore Market Intelligence sells or endorses any financial services products.Learn more: http://www.mooremarketintelligence.com/Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/sheryl-j-moore-is-president-and-ceo-of-moore-market-intelligence-and-wink-inc

Welcome to Influential Entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of Influential Entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have with us Cheryl J. Moore, who's president and CEO of Moore Market Intelligence and Wink Incorporated. Cheryl, welcome to the program. Thanks for having me, Mike. Hey, I'm looking forward to chatting with you because you know a thing or two about

annuities and life insurance, and I know that that's something that a lot of times people get some type of misconceptions about. So I'm excited to learn from your perspectives in the industry, but give us a little bit of your story and background before we dive into talking about your book. You bet. So I've been in the life insurance industry for 26 years. I started working for an insurance. company that was a big seller of life insurance and annuities. And I had a personal experience with

annuities when I invested money in this thing called a 401k. I did not know that you could lose money in a 401k. I was very young at that time in my 20s. And when I did lose money, I complained to my boss and said, you know, what can I do with my money? I don't like losing money. And he said, well, why didn't you buy an indexed annuity? And that kind of started as a snowball for me learning about these products and becoming very passionate about them and wanting to educate the masses about the good, bad, and indifferent about annuities so that people can make a decision on whether or not they're right for them. Today, I run my own market research firm, as well as a insurance consulting firm. You know, it's funny when your boss asked that question, it reminds me of that old

statement you don't know what you don't know and it's interesting that sometimes when people bring up a topic um like that well why didn't you buy this like as a matter of fact um then you had to go out and do some investigating you probably did not google fixed index annuity purchase you know because it's a whole world so you wrote a book called i bought fixed annuities from your perspective and your personal experience um what did you find out what did you start that research process because you owning a research firm is probably just ingrained in your DNA to not just go out and buy something. You had to research it first, right? You're not wrong, Mike. You know, I headed to the very first place I could think of where I thought they must have great information about

annuities, and that was the library. Unfortunately, I did not find. That was a minute or two ago. Yes, it was. Well, I didn't find much information about annuities there, to be honest with you. So I tried this new thing called the internet and all that I could find was negative and inaccurate information about these products and that's really what got me passionate about educating people was looking for more information during my own buying process and when I found out so much of the information is really biased because of the media outlets advertisers and their agendas that really put a fire under my feet to do something to make sure that people could gain access to credible information about these products. Yeah. And I'm a wordsmith and I love when I hear certain words

and credible is a huge one because there's too many times that people hear some information. They don't check the source and they assume that it's credible and it's not. So that lends itself to what I feel like a lot of consumers misunderstand fixed annuities. So from your research, search and your personal experience, what do you feel is one of the biggest misconceptions that people have about annuities? The biggest misconception I run against is that annuities are illiquid. That couldn't be further from the truth. There's a lot of features that allow people to take money out of their annuity. And there's even a provision where you can take up to typically 10% every year without paying any penalties on the contract. But that's just one example of a liquidity

feature on annuities. The second biggest thing I would say is that people don't know this is a product that will guarantee them a paycheck for the rest of their lives. So we see a lot of negative and accurate information being published, but none of the merits or value proposition of the annuities are being publicized. You know, I think that when you think of, you know, like I mentioned words. A lot of times people just love that word guarantee. You know, when someone goes, oh, you're guaranteed, whatever it is. But when you're guaranteed not to lose money and you're guaranteed consistent returns, that kind of makes people sit up and take notice and go, you know, that feels good. Talk a little bit more about some of the guarantees that comes with the fixed annuities.

because I think that when we're talking about fixed anything, you know, like fixed annuities, what's it fixed too? So let's talk about guarantees and then what's that fixed portion? What's the significance there? Yeah, fixed annuities actually credit a guaranteed interest rate. And that's credited every year for a certain number of years. So, for example, if I bought a five-year fixed annuity with a credited rate of five and a half percent, I'm guaranteed to receive five and a half percent every year for five years on that contract.

But, you know, the other thing that I think people need to be aware of is that the guarantees in an annuity contract are only as good as the claims paying ability of the insurance company, which basically means the insurance company has to be financially healthy in order for them to make good on those guarantees. Now, in my career in the life insurance industry, only a handful of insurance companies have become insolvent and been able to pay their own claims before being acquired by another insurance company that made good on their guarantees. But that's something that everybody needs to be aware of. But these products are chock full of guarantees. And again, my favorite guarantee is the guaranteed paycheck for life. Because the number one fear of a

Americans as running out of retirement money, Mike, and that ranks higher than fear of death or public speaking. Wow. Now, I mean, if you were to say, do you think people fear running out of money in retirement? Of course, I would say, and most people say, yeah, yeah, yeah, but ranking above the fear of public speaking and those kind of things, that's pretty huge. But like you said, the guarantee of having that annuity tied to a reputable company, that's huge. And also having some of those features inside the annuity to make sure that the guaranteed income for life makes me think, this is not something you just buy off the shelf. So is it there something that you need to make sure that you're, you know, like you can't

just go to your homeowners and auto agent and go, oh yeah, he told me about this annuity. I should get it from there because. maybe they're not an expert. Well, that's a good point, Mike. I like to draw attention to the fact that there are a lot of different kinds of financial services professionals. And most consumers do not know that the person who sells you auto and homeowners insurance likely does not sell life insurance or annuities.

And likewise, the guy that sells them their mutual funds and stocks likely is not going to talk with them about annuities or life insurance, even if they express. that those products are in their best interests. And it has a lot to do with politics and the way that these financial professionals get paid. But the bottom line is that if a consumer decides that an annuity is what's in their best interests, they need to make sure and put their foot down and say, this is what I need until they find the right person to help them with that purchase. Yeah. You know, I think that it reminds me, too, of like the old saying, I think Stephen Covey made it famous begin with the end in mind so where do you want to be so when when advisors are talking to

their clients it's they're sitting down with a client going what does retirement look like to you do you want to sit around and do nothing or do you want to travel the world once a month you know so you know on those two ends of the spectrum people are going to fall somewhere in between and how much money do you need in retirement and how much do you have now we need to close the gap but I think that a lot of times people that are preparing for retirement assume like what we were saying earlier about like, oh, well, just just do that 401K. They assume that their money in the market is the way that it should go, but market volatility is a killer. So talk a little bit about market volatility for retirement in security and then how fixed annuities helps to address

that. Yeah. So, I mean, I think that our society has been conditioned to believe. that you should have money in the market and that eventually, even if you suffer some losses, the market will rebound and you'll get your money back. And that may be a fact. I'm not an expert on the stock market by any means, much less 401Ks, but I can tell you that for me, it feels uncomfortable to lose money. I don't like that feeling. And therefore, I'm not really comfortable with putting all of my money in the market and hoping that it comes back. So, you know, there is a certain floor or level of income that I feel I need to protect in my retirement so that I have enough to, you know, pay my mortgage, pay a car payment,

pay my credit cards, pay my health insurance costs, all those things that are guaranteed to exist in retirement. And for those expenses, I want to be guaranteed that income floor. And that's where an annuity comes in really great. As far as market volatility, you know, there are annuities that can allow you to take advantage of when the market goes up, up, up. But those products have the potential to lose money as well. And a great product, if you're intolerant to market volatility, is fixed annuities because they do offer that guaranteed interest rate for a specified number of years. And even an indexed annuity is a great alternative for some people who say,

you know, I'm comfortable with the prospect of getting zero percent if the market goes down, but I want to earn a little bit more than a fixed annuity, which is more like a certificate of deposit. So there are choices here, regardless of the purchasers risk tolerance, but I think that really what some people need to realize is that the narrative of keeping all your money into securities or stocks or the market is not really right for everybody, Mike. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and you can ask 10 financial advisors and get 42 opinions. So I know that everyone has an opinion on what percentage you should leave in the market

and then put in these other products. But let's think about the everyday person listening right now that's trying to evaluate whether a fixed annuity really belongs in their plan. And what are maybe two or three questions they should be asking their advisor to make sure that it's a right fit for them? Well, I think the first question is, you know, what are the features in this annuity that made you think that this may be appropriate for me? I think that that's the most important question. And really, it's not a question, but you need to be asking yourself, do I trust this person that I'm working with who's advising this annuity because, you know, this is a very important purchase decision. The typical

consumer is putting a $175,000 nest egg into this contract. So you want to make sure that the person that you're working with is not only reputable, but somebody who you can trust. And then I think that the other question you need to be asking yourself is, do I feel comfortable with the insurance company that's offering this annuity, just again because of those reasons we already mentioned about the financial stability of the life insurance company, because annuities are considered long-term contracts. Yeah, for sure. You know, I think that that's, sometimes it's, you read these personal development books and it's like, you know, you need to ask yourself these questions that make you think and make you second guess, and second guess in a good way, but second guess that

decision. Sometimes we need to sleep on it like our grandparents told us and that's a great thing. So now it's shipped over to, you know, the same kinds of mindset. But what do you wish more financial advisors understood about how to communicate the value of fixed index annuities? Because I would venture to say if we asked a hundred financial advisors, there's a large percentage of them that are not up to speed the way that they should be on annuities. Well, I think that for those advisors who incorporate annuities into their practice when appropriate for the client, it's important to understand that consumers will often have a bad taste in their mouth when you say the A word annuity. But if you explain what annuities do and say, you know,

even if you live to be 150 years old, you're going to continue to receive a check from the insurance company every month. Now, that's something that people are really interested in and respond very positively to. So I think if you have that conversation and you first talk about what an annuity does, rather than mention the annuity word and say what it is, then that opens up the consumer's feelings and their acceptance of being able to listen to the story about annuities and not just write it off because they hear the A word. You know, and it kind of like, it reminds me, too, of everyone's favorite radio station, W-I-I-F-M. Do you know that analogy? What's in it for me? Yep. And that's the way that consumers think. You know, here's this

advisor starting their wind-up to the pitch. And they're like, okay, well, I'm listening, but what's in it for me? And they don't care about this, you know, nuance or this feature. They want to hear those, you know, comforting words of guarantee and stream of income for life so that you don't run out of money, that's what they're thinking. And I think that your point there is so strong that advisors need to realize that and then learn how to communicate the value of the annuities without saying annuity because when the client hears, oh, yeah, you're going to have this and this and this benefit. They're like, yes, that's great. Well, the one tool that we use is an annuity. There's many types. Let me show you some options. Absolutely, Mike. And unfortunately,

it's easier said than done. So it takes some practice. So I know that you do a lot of advocacy work in the industry and it's made a real impact on how consumers think about annuities. What if you learned about human behavior that makes the retirement income conversation really emotionally charged because it's not just, yeah, I'm going to order my groceries online and go pick them up tomorrow. This becomes an emotionally charged conversation for consumers. Yeah. Well, you know, Mike, most everyone knows somebody who's lived beyond their 80s. And, you know, we even see people on the news who live past 100. And when you talk with consumers about the prospect of potentially running out of money in retirement or living too long, that's something that really resounds with consumers because this is a relevant conversation for most people today. Most consumers in the U.S. don't even know what is that magic number that I need to have saved for my retirement. So it is an emotionally charged conversation. And I think that by having a financial professional that is an educator rather

than a salesperson is really key, they can help the consumer to understand what their options are and the costs and benefits of any retirement income product and really help the consumer to discern whether or not these products are a right purchase for them. Yeah, 100%. I resonate with your education comment because I've heard it said many times people like to buy, but they don't like to be sold. And the only way you can get people to the point of making a buying decision is for them to understand and to teach them and educate them and be that advocate and go, you know,

here's your outcome you just described. Here's some options. It really doesn't matter to me what you choose. But let me show you some pros and cons and things like that. think that education aspect is so huge. Too many times, salespeople, advisors want to go, here's this, buy it, sign here. Not necessarily in that order, but that's the feeling that consumers get. So where do you feel like is that first step that advisors need to start that process of learning how to properly educate? I think the key is to first ask the prospect,

what does retirement look like for you? I mean, and then just sit and listen, Mike. be quiet, don't interrupt, don't suggest, just listen. And that's really going to open up the floodgates for the client to divulge all the information, their hopes, their dreams, their concerns, so that it can be a great process for both the insurance agent and the prospect. Listening is such a huge opportunity because if you make assumptions, you think that the prospect said this and meant that, and you go off down that trail, but they're like, well, I kind of meant this, and you're like, oh, I guess I should have just listened.

So that is just powerful. Well, Cheryl, this has been some really great insights. If someone is interested in learning more about picking up a copy of your book or your market research, what's the best way that they can reach out, learn more, and connect with you? Yeah, the best way is just to hit more market intelligence.com. and that's M-O-O-O-R-E, Market Intelligence.com. That'll get you to my website, and all of our books that are available can be purchased right through the site.

Excellent. Cheryl, thank you so much for coming down. It's been a real pleasure chatting with you today. Thanks, Mike. I appreciate you. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, Visit www.

www. Influential EntrepreneursRadio.com.