If you want to tell your customers where to live, or just generate content for websites, newsletters, and social media posts, you can enviously gaze at the stylish cards appearing on newspapers and news websites.
The maps show everything from where the rich live to changing retirement home vacancy rates.
Today you can also get cards like this for free.
All you have to do is search for free federal mapping tools. Agencies like the US Census Bureau, Social Security Administration, Federal Reserve System, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are increasingly consolidating their data with mapping tools.
Visitors to the site can use the tools to integrate the data into the maps without knowing anything about the mapping software.
Agents, brokers and other financial professionals can use the cards for free, regardless of copyright restrictions, as the cards are considered works created by the federal government.
Here are 10 of the federal agency mapping tools that might be particularly useful for finance professionals helping clients with annuities and retirement planning.
General demographics
1. Data.Census.Gov mapping tool
Agency: United States Census Bureau
Last data update: 2019
Use it to create maps showing what types of people live where. Most of the data can be mapped to the city or county level.
Returned
2. Data.Census.Gov Mapping Tool: Retirement Income
Agency: United States Census Bureau
Last data update: 2019
Search on Data.Census.Gov for “retirement”. The displayed tables can be used to create information showing where people are getting wages, social security benefits, or private pensions.
3. State old age and disability insurance benefits
Agency: Social Security Administration (ASS)
Last data update: 2015
Here’s how the SSA slices up and slices up its own social security benefit data.
Hovering the mouse pointer over a state details the details of state social security benefits, such as number of children of workers receiving Social Security retirement benefits, number of widows receiving survivors’ benefits and the number of workers receiving social security disability insurance benefits.
Pension plans
4. State and local government pensions financing status, 2002-2018
Agency: Federal Reserve
Last data update: 2018
This collection of cards can be used to show state or local government employees why in many states depending solely on a government employee pension plan for future retirement income can be a bad idea.
Consumer financial situation
5. Year-to-year house price changes
Agency: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Last data update: April 2021
This map can help homeowner customers see how home prices have changed over time.
6. County debt-to-income ratio
Agency: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Last data update: 2020
7. Mortgage non-payments by state
Agency: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Latest data: February 2021
This map can help financial services companies see where many consumers are borrowing and how the level of debt has changed over time.
Additionally, this map can help customers see where consumers’ stress levels are changing.
Health
8: Animated Historical Atlas of Cancer
Agency: National Cancer Institute, GIS portal for cancer research
Latest data: 2015
This map can help clients who analyze future healthcare funding needs understand the likelihood that people in different states and regions within states will contract various types of cancer, such as brain or breast cancer. .
9. Interactive Atlas of Chronic Diseases
Agency: Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers
Latest data: 2018
This map shows the prevalence of a wide variety of disorders, including high blood pressure, liver problems, depression, and drug use.
Conformity
ten. Annuity Best Interest Card
Organization: AD Bakers & Co.
The most recent date: June 15
This map was created by a private organization and is subject to copyright rules. This can be useful for a financial professional who wants to know which states have done what about the suitability of annuity sales and best interest standards.
Map of the United States telecommunications network (Image: rsvzarvas)