A Moral Beacon through the Years

Charlotte Beckner, owner of Beckner Insurance Services in Redlands, California, has been in financial services for nearly 30 years. Even though her life has had its twists and turns, her ethical values have always kept her on the right path. To what does she attribute this? The wisdom of her mother, Rose.

Beckner grew up on a farm in rural Kentucky. Her Dad died when she was only seven. So life was tough. But Rose taught her daughter important values that have guided her ever since.

First, she learned about the importance of tenacity. “My mother always said you have to stick to it,” Charlotte says. “If you’re harvesting a crop, you work until that crop is finished. If an equipment part breaks, you keep working until it’s fixed.”

In addition to tenacity, Beckner credits her mother with imparting strong moral values. “We were fed a steady diet of ‘isms,’” Beckner explains. “Quotes from the Bible, Ben Franklin, and Shakespeare.” But the most important “ism” was the Golden Rule.

Living the Golden Rule

“Back then,” Beckner says, “the Golden Rule was a way of life. It was important to keep your word and to live with integrity. This applied especially to young ladies, who had a reputation to protect.”

With a strong moral foundation, Beckner headed off to the University of Michigan, where she majored in Spanish. She later moved to Florida and taught algebra for a while. But a large multi-line insurance company recruited her, and she decided to solve “different types of equations”.

“I happened to be female and spoke Spanish,” Beckner adds, “So they got two extra points for hiring me.” That was in the 1970s, when women were relatively uncommon in financial services.

Beckner remembers attending an agent conference in Hawaii. She was standing in the luau line and someone walked over and told her she was in the agent line and needed to move to the spouse line. Beckner answered, “I don’t have a spouse . . . I’m the agent.” Beckner admits those were trailblazing times.

One key decision early in her career was to go independent. She realized it was the only way she could meet her clients’ needs. So she hung her own shingle, which has stayed hung for nearly three decades.

Serving the Greatest Generation

Today, Beckner focuses on asset preservation and distribution strategies for the so-called “Greatest Generation” (The WWII Veterans). She works closely with them so their finances are in good shape "when the good Lord calls them home." Beckner’s approach is characterized by a strong commitment to problem solving and ethical business practices. Her office motto: “Your life is my life’s work.”

“I don’t believe in cookie-cutter concepts,” Beckner says. So great is her antipathy that she keeps a cookie-cutter on her desk. When clients visit for the first time, she points to it and tells them they won’t find such solutions in her practice. Instead, her goal is to identify strategies that represent suitable options for each client.

She also displays a treadle sewing machine. “You’d be surprised how many people learned how to sew on these,” Beckner says. “Displaying it serves two purposes. It’s a tremendous icebreaker. Plus it keeps me humble.”

In working with clients, Beckner strives to give clear product explanations. Plus she follows all regulations. She’s diligent about taking notes and sending follow-up letters. She also believes in having a client’s children sign a form witnessing their parent’s decision.

Another helpful practice is encouraging clients to call NEB to verify her background. Since joining NEB in 2006 Beckner has added the NEB logo to her literature and web site. “When clients call, they see that I have no hidden agenda,” she says.

It all boils down to  upholding the moral values she learned as a child. “Nothing speaks louder than ethics and integrity,” Beckner says. “Because I try to do the right thing, I don’t have James Bond syndrome (always looking over my shoulder to see who’s chasing me).”

For Beckner, doing the right thing also means taking good care of America’s World War II veterans.  “Thousands are dying every day and many need more care.”

True to her values, Beckner advocates publicly for better veterans benefits. Her passion results from having three veterans close to her heart: her father, William, who was a WWI veteran; her husband, Howard, who was a pilot in WWII; and her son, Raymond, who flew F16s in Iraq (twice). Her second son, Karl, is a social worker,  studying for his doctorate in community research and action at Vanderbilt University. He lends a certain balance to her family.

“Our country was built on the backs of veterans,” Beckner says. “We need to do right by them.”

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