Collie Bryant: Building Legacies | Working for a Living

When it comes to putting money away and building up a nest egg, start sooner rather than later, and there is no time like present to get started, according to New York Life Insurance Company financial services professional Collie Bryant.

Bryant, who moved to Myrtle Beach seven years ago, is a graduate of Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. He is originally from Goldsboro, N.C.

“I majored in psychology, but had a minor in chemistry – but that’s a long story,” he said, adding that he is also a member of a trade organization called NAIFA, or National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, which keeps him up-to-date with legislative changes in his industry as well as market trends – which keeps him sharp.

He lived in Greensboro for 17 years and maintained a private financial practice there. The decision to move to the beach was the result of a conversation he had with his father.

“I was experiencing a transition in my life,” he said. “My father was sitting on a balcony on Ocean Boulevard. He invited me out to the balcony and asked me if I was happy.”

He told his father that he was making good money, but his father asked him to describe what he thought happiness was.

“He said, ‘Son, if I was your age, single and had no kids, I would go to the beach and live the ideal life. You are a young man, you have a wonderful business, and you’re good with people. Why don’t you do that?’”

Bryant didn’t have a legitimate reason not to – and part of his plan was to come here anyway and retire 20 years down the road. That encounter with his father made him think.

It took him more than two years to make the move, but he did it – making sure first that he could transfer his practice here. But when he first arrived, he didn’t immediately return to the financial world.

He said he worked for Mega Fitness in Myrtle Beach enjoyed his time there.

While there, he met the manager of the New York Life office he is now with.

“He was going to the gym and approached me a couple of times about becominig an agent at New York Life,” he said. Bryant was an independent broker at that time.

He kept getting calls from an agent in Greensboro he once mentored, asking him about case design – how to put together a plan for a client – and this, according to Bryant, ignited the fire in him to go back into financial services full steam – and this eventually led to his current situation.

“It was a longer transition there to New York Life, because they are a great company and they don’t just hire anybody. Thankfully I qualified to be a licensed New York Life rep, and the rest is history.”

Bryant admits that he is a workaholic, and said his workweek consists of seven days.

Obviously, his work is centered on helping folks get a handle on their retirement plans and the ins-and-outs of various investment and life insurance options, but his father taught him long ago about the value of passing on a legacy – and he hopes to impart this to his clients.

“That could be either a good character that is honed while you are young, and a financial legacy is something that can be handed down too.”

But it takes self-discipline when a person receives such a legacy.

“We want to make sure we teach people in those areas – we want to show them how to transition wealth from one generation to the next, so that every generation has a better chance than the previous generation. That should be the goal of a parent, a grandparent or a great-grandparent – to make sure that the generation that follows them is better off because they helped with that leg-up,” he said.

Even the most driven person needs downtime, and Bryant said he loves going to places that make him feel at home.

“I gravitate towards good people, and I always find myself at places like Wild Wing Café at Barefoot Landing or Tinder Box at Broadway at the Beach – and I also go to groups at Title Boxing Club [Myrtle Beach], where I see some good friends.”

As for the future, Bryant is well aware of the saying, “Man makes plans and God laughs,” but this does not shake him.

“One thing I have learned is that if you ask Him for direction, he will lead you – and I think that’s what I want to live by.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 8:43 AM with the headline "Collie Bryant: Building Legacies | Working for a Living."