HELPING CHILDREN CARE FOR THEIR PARENTS

Presented by Tim Dreher   An often heard objection when talking to a prospect about Long Term Care insurance is, “I don’t need insurance because my kids will take care of me.” However, many people don’t realize that there are other unfortunate factors when children care for an elderly parent.  Those factors are not just financial, but can involve emotional and physical stresses as well. According to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), the average caregiver is a female in her mid to late forties.  She typically provides more than twenty hours of care per week.  More often than not, she is already juggling her own hectic schedule of working a full time career, raising a family of her own and taking care of her own household. Unfortunately, there can be a financial cost if a caregiver is forced to take time off from their job, reduce their hours to a part-time status or if they need to put their career on hold entirely in order to care for a parent.  Of course, this is not to mention the emotional and physical hardships that a caregiver faces on a daily basis. Caring for an elderly parent is not an easy task.  Many times caregivers are stretched so thin juggling their overwhelming responsibilities that they often neglect their own health and become sick and frail themselves, speeding up their own aging. Fortunately, one way to help alleviate many of the challenges involved with caring for a loved one is to have the Long Term Care discussion and talk about how a Long Term Care plan could help.  Plan benefits can provide for professional caregivers to help supplement the care that is being provided by family members.  When talking about Long Term Care insurance with a prospect, I explain it like this, “Of course your kids will help care for you if you should ever need it, and Long Term Care insurance will allow them to care for you better and longer.”  Isn’t that what all of us want? Contact your Financial Brokerage Sales Manager at 800-397-9999 for help in overcoming this and many more objections. It could turn that negative experience into a positive one and hopefully a sale for you.

Help your Clients Understand the Financial Pitfalls of a…

Presented by Leonard Berthelsen   Most consumers would be hard-pressed to explain what their real out-of-pocket costs would be if a major health issue occurred.  Deductibles, co-pays, primary doctor vs. specialist, generic vs. name brand are just a few of the costs and decisions that come up.  Then there are those expenses not really talked about or covered in their health plan such as travel, lodging, experimental drugs and procedures, not to mention time off work. Critical Illness and Cancer/Heart Attack/Stroke coverage can be a tool that financial professionals use to bridge the gap created by these out-of-pocket expenses.  Having a lump-sum check arrive while your client is undergoing cancer treatment or recovering from a heart issue can be a huge relief to them and their families. As their health plans have increased deductibles and co-pays in order to keep premiums down, this results in only “kicking the can down the road” because eventually the cost is going to come back to your clients in the form of payments for those higher deductibles and co-pays. Many people have limited disability coverage at work, if they have it at all, and it may only pay a portion of their salary or wages.  That loss of income potentially poses a huge financial risk to your client.  Having a critical illness plan can soften the blow from reduced or stopped paychecks. Critical Illness and Cancer/Heart Attack/Stroke coverage can be tailored to your clients’ exposure and are designed to have affordable premiums.  In addition, they potentially will pay for those expenses not covered by their health insurance plan.  These products have limited underwriting and great compensation. Contact your Financial Brokerage Sales Manager today at 800-397-9999 to find out how Critical Illness and Cancer/Heart Attack/Stroke coverage can help your clients weather the financial risk from a health crisis!

Pie Choices

Presented by Donna Ries When talking long term care to your clients, are you offering Apple or Chocolate Silk Pie? When talking about funding your clients’ potential extended care needs, they may be faced with a variety of options.  Think of it like offering your clients a variety of pies.  They may have choices such as apple, cherry or French silk.  One pie is not necessarily better than the other, they are just different.  Of course, they have different prices. Just like the pie choices, long term care options for your clients can be offered with different features.  Fitting the product and features to your clients’ needs is what’s really important.  There are hybrid or linked products with a life insurance base and a long term or chronic illness rider.  Maybe it’s an annuity with a long term care component.  Some clients may choose to fund their long term care expenses with an accelerated death benefit.  Again, not necessarily better, but certainly different. There is also the traditional stand-alone long term care policy.  Think of this as the basic apple pie.  Depending on the clients’ needs, enhanced benefits can be added to the plan to satisfy the “appetite” of your client.  Just like the apple pie can have a slice of cheese, ice cream or whipped cream (tailoring to the individual’s taste) purchasing pure insurance coverage without a large infusion of premium on the front end, is again, just choices. The important issue here is not “pitting” a life insurance plan against an annuity or traditional long term care insurance – it’s getting your client to purchase something.  Which pie is best for your client in determining their long term care needs?  Find out what features or ingredients are most important to your client, what is affordable and what will be sustainable.  Contact your Financial Brokerage sales manager today at 800-397-9999 to help you with your next long term care sales solution for your client.

Have you asked unsettling questions that may be vital…

Presented by Donna Ries   No one likes to think about purchasing Critical Illness insurance whether it be for personal or business reasons.  Learning how to ask alarming questions may help your prospects realize the need for coverage.  Critical Illness coverage gives you another opportunity to get in front of your existing clients.  Using these powerful techniques called “disturbing questions” will help your prospects see the problem. View Ken Smith’s, Assurity Life Director of Health Product Sales, brief video blog on Critical Illness and Disturbing questions. Mr. Smith points out how Critical Illness insurance can be a solution for business owners.  He has examples of how to ask disturbing questions to identify the problem, then use stories to present the solution.  As he states, “It’s not about the product, it’s about what the product does” that may lead to Critical Illness sales.   Contact your Financial Brokerage marketer today at 800-397-9999 to help you with your next Critical Illness prospect sales solution.

Business Overhead Expense (BOE) Disability Protection for your Client’s…

Presented by Leonard Berthelsen   We sometimes don’t give much thought about a client’s business beyond the potential conversations regarding Buy/Sell, Key Man and Owner Disability Income coverage.  There is a huge potential risk to a business due to a disability affecting the owner or owners.  Think in terms of protecting the business from a disability, not just the individual. BOE protection does just that.  It protects the business from an owner’s disability allowing it to continue to operate. Most small businesses are family or closely held companies that would be significantly impacted if the owner were disabled and not able to work or to participate in the daily direction of the business.  Most companies would no longer thrive and many would just simply fail as a result. A BOE policy can be the life-line that protects and saves a business.  Imagine for a moment your client that has a small business and the owner is involved in the daily operation.  He has a couple of employees, a business loan, heat, lights and a mortgage to pay each month along with continually generating new business.  A disability occurs to this owner and he is not able to be involved in his own business on a daily basis.  How is payroll going to be met?  How will he pay the light and gas bill on time?  Who is generating new business?  If the owner is unable to be involved in the day to day functions of the business, then that business will undoubtedly suffer as a result of the owner’s absence. Insurance coverage (BOE) to pay those monthly bills will allow the business to remain open.  If a sale of that business becomes necessary due to the owner’s disability, then a calculated well thought out business plan can be put in place to accomplish that.  Contact your Financial Brokerage Sales Manager at 800-397-9999 to learn more about the Business Overhead Expense plan that just might save your client’s business.