Life Insurance

The Greatest Threat to Retirement Assets

Presented by Brian Leising

(HINT: It’s not the stock market!)

How many of your clients have protected their assets from the greatest threat they face in retirement, the high costs of extended care? What happens to clients and their families with no protection from this risk? What excuses do clients give for not taking action and protecting their assets? What do consumers have now? Right now most people don’t have a plan at all. Some have traditional long term care insurance (LTC) policies, and others have personal funds set aside for LTC expenses. What’s wrong with that? Whether clients think they have a plan or not, they have a plan. No plan is a plan. That means they will use their own money until it runs out and they go on welfare (known by the fancy name Medicaid), leaving nothing for their spouse and children. Consumers state one of two objections to purchasing traditional LTC policies: 1) “The rates may go up”; or 2) “What if I die and never need to use my policy? I don’t want to waste my money. “ Even those with money set aside are not leveraging their funds as much as possible. What’s a possible solution? Linked-benefit life insurance policies allow clients to use their death benefit to pay for LTC expenses. The rates are guaranteed and premiums are never wasted as the full benefit is always paid to someone, themselves if they require care or their heirs if they don’t. In lump sum situations, you can double the money to heirs and triple that sum for LTC, with a return of premium option. Now you can protect your clients’ assets from the greatest threat they face in retirement; by showing them how their life insurance policy can be used for extended care expenses; so they don’t have to worry about rate increases or “wasting” premium dollars.
Bulletins

Lincoln Benefit – Indexed Universal Life Illustration Changes

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners adopted the new Actuarial Guideline 49 (AG 49), which provides standardized requirements for calculating maximum illustrated rates for indexed universal life (IUL) policies. The new requirements also impact illustrations where the policy has a loan. Lincoln Benefit Life (LBL) will implement the new requirements for all Ultra Index illustrations produced September 1, 2015 and later. This change applies to both new term conversion illustrations, as well as illustrations for existing policies. Why is the New Guideline Necessary?
Regulators became increasingly concerned about the variety of practices companies had used to produce illustrated rates for IUL policies. The new guideline will make illustrated rates more uniform across the industry. The new rules use a series of 25-year rolling average rates, which should provide greater stability in the illustrated rates.
What changes will I notice?
For the LBL Ultra Index, you will notice two changes:
  1. The maximum illustrated rate will be reduced. For Ultra Index, requirements will result in a reduction of the illustrated rate by about 45 bps for the current cap rate.
  2. LBL had to remove “Scenario B” in the Policy Value Overview section, which showed illustrated values based on actual S&P performance (and the current cap rate) over the past 30 years. The average illustrated rate in Scenario B exceeds the maximum illustrated rate mandated by the new regulation. Accordingly, LBL relabeled the scenarios and made minor wording changes to ensure the narrative text flowed properly. 
Annuity

Lincoln Financial – Reminder – Rate Change

Please review the current rates for September 1, 2015

Fixed annuity rates are effective 9/1/15. Applications received on or after 9/1/15 will use the rates below.

Rate notices

Rate lock procedures

For specific rate lock procedures, visit LFD.com or click here. Note: Indexed annuities are issued four times a month, on the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd. Interest is not credited between the date premium is received and the date the policy is issued. Illustrations can be obtained through Lincoln Annuity Illustration Platform (ForeSight) or by contacting the Fixed Annuity sales desk.
State approvals For specific product approval listings, visit LFD.com or click here.