History of The Burnham System
The History of The Burnham System
August 18, 1976, at 1:47AM
On August 18, 1976, at 1:47 in the morning, Ray Burnham awoke suddenly from a deep sleep. Sitting bolt upright he exclaimed, “With my help, any CPCU candidate can pass any CPCU exam.”.
With that thought, The Burnham System was born.
With no savings and only $10,000 in annual earnings, Ray knew he needed funding.
So he sought the aid of his favorite venture capitalist.“Dad, I’ve got an idea.”, he explained to his potential investor. “Here’s the deal: If you front me $250, I’ll be able to get it off the ground. If I make money at it, I’ll repay you 100% of the first year’s profit up to $500. If I don’t make money, you’ll lose your investment.”.
Ray's Dad ventured the $250.
In May of 1977, Ray told his Dad, “Dad, the taxman would say I lost money, but since I’m going to continue, here’s your $500.”.
That first year, from August 18, 1976 until the end of May 1977, Ray worked over 100 hours every week, writing the entire Burnham System for CPCU.
In his spare time, Ray also studied for, and passed, three more CLU exams.
His work included over 40 hours a week at Burnham Insurance Agency, his Dad's agency.As the summer of 1977 closed, Ray quickly resumed his efforts to expand and improve The Burnham System.
His hard work was rewarded when he achieved slightly higher revenue in his second year.Then disaster struck!
The Institutes scrapped the entire five-part CPCU curriculum and started again from scratch with a much improved ten-part program. Due to those drastic changes, with entirely new textbook authors, in Ray’s third year writing and selling The Burnham System, his sales declined significantly.
He was only able to write five of the ten new parts, including the then impossibly difficult Part 8 (Accounting and Finance).As fate would have it, in The Burnham System’s fourth year, The Institutes opted to use much simpler, clearer textbooks for CPCU Part 8.
In order to focus on The Burnham System, Ray left work at Burnham Insurance Agency on December 31, 1979.
However, even with his heart set on making The Burnham System the best insurance study guide system in the world, Ray still wanted to pursue his second passion: providing insureds with great insurance opportunities.
So, Ray partnered with Nancy Nale, an insurance professional then with over 14 years’ experience.
Nancy was Ray's father’s #1 CSR at Burnham Insurance Agency.
March 5, 1984 - Burnham and Nale Insurance Agency
On March 5, 1984, Ray and Nancy opened Burnham and Nale Insurance Agency, just months before his Dad died in December of 1984 and just moths after his Dad's junior partner, then in full control of Burnham Insurance Agency, made Ray's mother cry due to his terrible treatment of his Dad when he took control of the agency.
Of the 250,000 or so independent agencies started from scratch in the USA, Burnham and Nale Insurance, after three years, was #2 in commissions earned--per Joe Citarella (who was #1 by a slim margin).
Very soon thereafter, Burnham Insurance Agency (and, unfortunately, several other local agencies) went out of business.
1976 to 1986
After 10 years (from 1976 to 1986), The Burnham System’s annual revenue had only doubled. Then starting in 1987… sales took off!
By the late ’80s Ray more than doubled his course offerings.
First, he added ARM 54, 55, and 56.
Then AIC 33, 34, 35, and 36.
Ray just kept adding more courses!
1991 - Ghost Writers
In 1991, Ray advertised for ghost writers.
All told, over 100 PhDs, over 100 JDs, and over 100 others applied.So Ray could compare them easily, he asked all the applicants to write the same sample assignment.
Based solely on their extraordinary samples, Ray hired Jean O’Reilly and Lisa Tobey, neither of whom had then ever earned any insurance designation.Since then, Jean has earned her PhD and the CPCU, ARM, AINS, AIS, API, AIC, AIC-M, SPPA, AIM, ARM-E, AU, AU-M, AAI, AAI-M, APA, AMIM, ARe, AFSB, ASLI, AIDA, ARC, PRC, ARM-P, and AIAF.
Since then, Lisa, JD, has earned the CPCU, CLU, REBC, RHU, CASL, ChFC, AINS, AIS, API, AIC, SPPA, AIM, AIC-M, ARM, ARM-E, ARM-P, AU, AU-M, AAI, AAI-M, APA, AIAF, AMIM, AIT, ARe, AFSB, ASLI, AIDA, ARC, and PRC.
As you might guess, since neither had ever earned any insurance designation before they joined The Burnham System, Jean and Lisa are also Ray’s two favorite students.
Ray, Jean, and Lisa have now passed over two hundred insurance exams without failing once! (Although at about exam #215, one of us cut it too close and missed on AFSB 152.)The Burnham System grew and grew magnificently.
Late 1990s
In the late ’90s, after long and careful consideration, Ray decided to step down from Burnham and Nale Insurance Agency and instead focus his full attention on creating, maintaining, and selling The Burnham System.
Every sale he made meant that, on average, some insurance professional saved over 40 hours of study, tremendously increased his chance of passing, and increased his annual income by over 5%.
Burnham and Nale Insurance Agency changed ownership in 1997 when Nancy bought Ray's interest in their agency.
Also, during that period, Ray launched his first BurnhamSystem.com website.Finally, by the fall of 1998, Ray, Jean, and Lisa had prepared The Burnham System for all 60 of the Institutes’ courses and all five of the National Alliance’s CIC courses.
Then, in early 1999, Ray started offering The Burnham System for courses offered by The American College.
Early 2000s Changes
In the early 2000s Ray made significant changes to The Burnham System’s website and email system with the help of Tom Loretz of Computer Engineering Service.
To this day Tom still serves as The Burnham System’s computer guru, helping Jean, Lisa, and Ray maintain their laptops and course documents.
2013 Digital and Bound Books
In February 2013, Ray came to a stark realization, it was time to again update The Burnham System's website.
Ray contracted with Tom’s son to build The Burnham System a modern, streamlined eCommerce website.
Since that golden day in 1976, when Ray exclaimed, “With my help, any [designation] candidate can pass any [designation] exam.”, Ray has dedicated his life to offering the most accessible and up-to-date insurance course study materials of any insurance study guide provider.
Today, from his mobile command center (his trusted laptop and his 888-Burnham, 888-287-6426, phone number go with Ray wherever he goes), Ray communicates with his patrons every day, providing them with the highest level of personal attention.
