Bill Harris Celebrates and Reflects on 50 years in Insurance/Financial Industry
In 1967, a young 21-year-old Bill Harris walked into the Hammond Building on Main Street in search of a job he had applied for. He stumbled on Manufactures Life Insurance and almost walked out because it was not the kind of job he was looking for.
Thinking he had nothing to lose, Harris walked into the office and there he met George Bararuk who saw his potential and took him under his wing in the insurance business. On February 5, 1968, Harris signed his first contract with the insurance company. Fast forward 50 years to today, that aspiring young man who walked into the Hammond Building, unsure of his future, is a well-known insurance industry veteran who is still in the business and will celebrate his 50th year in the industry on Monday, February 5.
Bill Harris sat down with the Moose Jaw Express and talked about his 50 years in the insurance and financial planning industry. He says once you enjoy what you do, it does not feel like work. For Harris, he has lived by this in his 50-year tenure in the business and at 70, he has no plans to retire any time soon.
“I grew up in Moose Jaw, went away to university in Saskatoon to play basketball after being recruited. I spent three years there where I met my wife. She also played basketball. I thought I should get into the workforce after university and move along to something else. My wife and I were engaged soon after that and I thought that I should get serious about finding employment.” He recalls. “I started looking for advertisements in the paper for work and replied to an ad that did not really say much about what the job was. I went to the Hammond Building in late 1967 and saw the sign “Manufactures Life Insurance” (now Manulife Financial) at an office door inside the building. I almost turned around and walk away thinking, this is not what I was hoping for. I thought I had nothing to lose, so I opened the door and went in and had a nice chat with George Bararuk. He had a large clientele and he took me under his wings and we did some work together. I signed a contract on February 5, 1968 at the Regina branch office.”
It was not an easy start for Harris but he found ways of building his client list which extended to Regina. “It was a bit of a challenge in the beginning, because I was from Moose Jaw and most of the people I knew were from here and all my friends and acquaintances were in my age group and they were looking for jobs as well. I started going to Regina once per week, sending out letters to people there and eventually, my wife and I moved to Regina in 1970 because I was beginning to do more business, life insurance policies and accounts in Regina. We stayed in Regina for 12 years, where we had our children, then moved back to Moose Jaw in 1982; we’ve been here ever since.” Harris was president of the Regina Insurance Association in the mid-70s and then went on to the National Association in Toronto and represented the area on the National Board of Directors of all the life insurance agents/underwriters.
Today, Harris is still heavily involved in the business but with a different focus, as his clientele has evolved. “My business has evolved to where the focus is not so much on life insurance anymore but for business or preservation purposes. As my natural market grew older, their focus shifted a lot. They already had life insurance, to a large extent in place, and now they are focused on retirement planning. So, most of my time now is spent working with existing clients and working on putting things in place so that when clients do retire, there’s money from investments to replace that lost income. My time is spent reviewing portfolios and it always seems there is lots to do.” But what made Harris stay in the industry for five decades? He says he enjoys what he does and as a result, it never feels like work. “Many of my clients ask me when I plan to retire and I have been telling them for years now that at this point, I will probably die with my boots on,” he joked. “It just means that I’ll continue to work until I can’t anymore. There are no plans to retire. While it would be wrong to say what I do now is not work, it doesn’t feel like work to me because I enjoy what I’m doing. I don’t have a problem getting up each day for work because I enjoy every bit of it, especially helping people with financial decisions that are relevant. When you enjoy your work, it doesn’t seem like work. I hope I can continue to do this for more years to come until my wife and I decide that’s enough.”
However, it has not been all work for Harris. He is heavily involved with the community through Habitat for Humanity, which he has been a part of for 10 years, as well as other charitable organizations. He is chairman of the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. “I strongly believe in this cause and always hope to put more time into that. I try to do the best I can to be as involved as much as I can. I believe strongly in giving back to the community, especially through time and helping people as much as I can.” In addition to Habitat for Humanity, Harris is also involved with Kinsmen and Minor Hockey. He served as Vice-President, then President of the Moose Jaw Minor Hockey Association in its first two years of existence and he is a long-time Kinsmen and K40 member. He says he has also been a Warriors season ticket holder since day one (1984-85), as well as a two-term board member of the 2018 Memorial Cup Champion Warriors.
Harris credits his wife whom he says has been a tremendous support. “My wife, Carole, a retired special-needs teacher and very successful elementary school basketball and volleyball coach has been tremendously supportive during my entire working career.” He also lifts his hat to the late George Bararuk. “George, who joined Manulife in 1960, was my mentor after I started. He was most helpful in the early stages of my career and prior to his imminent passing in 1986, he asked me to look after his hundreds of clients going forward. It is noteworthy that many remain clients and good friends to this day and in interacting with them, George’s name is often a part of the discussion.” And what advice does Harris have for younger persons in the workforce? Harris urges persons to start saving early. “The younger you can get started paying yourself first, the better it will be to replace paychecks down the road when you’re unable to generate a working income. Even if it’s modest, just start as early as possible.” For all your financial planning needs, you can find Harris at the Investment Planning Counsel at 1021 9th Ave NW, call 306692-5050 or email bharrisfinancial@saasktel.net.