Life Insurance

The Eight Elements of Extended Care Riders – Element…

Presented by Brian Leising Finding the right formula for each client Not all extended care riders on life insurance policies are created equally. Do you know the differences? Different combinations will appeal to different clients more than others. Here are eight of the major distinguishing features among insurance companies offering extended care riders. All include some combination of the eight elements. This allows you to find the right formula for each client.
Premium Payments Benefit Qualification Benefit Amount
Pf Payment Frequency Pa Payment Amount
Lg Lapse Guarantee Tc Tax Code Pm Payment Method
Wp Waiver of Premium Ep Elimination Period If Inflation
Element 3 – Waiver of Premium Most insurance companies waive premiums while the insured is on claim and qualifying for benefits under an extended care rider. However, some still require premiums to be paid and others waive only the premium for the extended care rider, not the base life insurance policy. If the premium is not waived, a client could continue to pay premiums from the same resource they have always used or redirect part of their extended care benefit to pay the premium. This could pose a problem if the cost of care greatly exceeds their policy benefit and they have to use their own funds. Most clients will expect their premiums to be waived upon filing a claim. Look for Element 4 – Tax Code and Benefit Qualification in April
Life Insurance

Six Questions for Six Life Insurance Sales to Seniors…

Presented by Brian Leising Do you have senior clients?  Did they purchase only one product from you?  Was it a Medicare supplement, annuity, long term care or final expense policy?  If you were able to uncover the need for one insurance product, could you uncover another?  What if you had six simple questions to ask your clients that would uncover additional sales? Once you have determined your client has the proper life insurance coverage, you should be asking them: “Have you protected yourself from the high costs of extended care should you become ill or frail as you age?”  The high cost of long term care is the greatest threat to a client’s retirement funds by far.  After a fall, the stock market bounces back, the elderly do not.  Long term care insurance has traditionally been used in this situation but is not a good fit for everyone.  Linked benefit/life insurance based long term care policies offer protection with guarantees not found in traditional policies.  The life insurance based solutions guarantee the client’s premiums will never change.  They also guarantee a benefit will be paid out.  If the long term care benefit is never used, the death benefit will pass to the insured’s heirs.  Your clients are not really protected until they have some form of extended care coverage in place. In part four, I will review a question to ask seniors who have their protection in place and have extra funds to leave to following generations.
Life Insurance

Three ways for a Property and Casualty Agency to…

Presented by Brian Leising   Are you concerned about losing clients to your competition?  Looking for new ways to boost your retention rates and grow revenue?  The average client retention rate is 10% higher when agencies cross-sell products.  Many agencies fail to effectively cross-sell life insurance because they do just a few basic things the wrong way.  You need a plan.  Here is the third item that all successful agencies use to sell life insurance to their auto and homeowners clients: Use online applications.  You probably use these for your other lines of business already.  Nobody likes more paperwork.  You can be physically in front of your client, or speak with them over the phone.  Either way, the online process speeds up the underwriting system and eliminates paperwork errors.  Not familiar with this process?  Check out a how-to video and then listen to what a once-reluctant online app adopter has to say about the process.
Life Insurance

What’s behind door number 3? A life insurance conversion…

Presented by Brian Leising   Are you unhappy with the conversion options available to your clients? Not able to sell term and permanent coverage to every client every time?  Here’s another option to consider: Return of Premium (ROP) term.  How can ROP help?  At the end of the term the client receives cash, walks away and that’s the end of it, right?  Most carriers offering ROP actually give the clients three options.  The obvious option is to take the cash and run.  The client could also apply the cash to convert to whatever permanent plan the carrier makes available at the time, thereby reducing the required premiums to maintain the same face amount.  What people tend to forget is the third option.  The client can choose to use the ROP funds to purchase a reduced paid-up policy.  The policy is paid-up…guaranteed. Here’s an example from one company using a preferred non-smoking male age 35 for $500,000: The annual premium is $110.  After 30 years the person could choose a $64,322 paid-up policy.  He could alternatively purchase a traditional term for $530/year and 30-pay a $64,322 no-lapse UL for only $544/year.  Two separate policies actually represent a savings of $26 in this scenario.  But is your client going to do that?  If they will, that’s great, you just used the ROP concept to sell a permanent plan in addition to the term you were going to sell anyway.  Your client is closer to having the proper coverage for their needs and you made more money.  Cha-ching!  But how many of your clients are actually going to do that?  They may not see the need for permanent coverage.  When money gets tight, which policy is going to go?  What if they miss a premium payment on the no-cash no-lapse guarantee UL?  There are potential leaks in the two-policy plan.  People don’t always do what’s best for them, but what is perceived to be easiest.  The ROP option gives the client only one policy to deal with and an absolute guarantee their permanent plan will indeed be permanent.  They know from day one how much permanent coverage they will have and what the premium will be – zero.  Show your clients what’s behind door #3.  You can’t lose.
Life Insurance

What’s behind door number 3? A life insurance conversion…

Presented by Brian Leising Are you unhappy with the conversion options available to your clients? We typically sell term life insurance to fill a temporary need, but over time needs change. The reasons for coverage change from debt payoff (mortgage) and employment income replacement to social security income replacement, health care expenses and wealth transfer. These are needs your clients will have between retirement and death. Compared to their younger selves (your original term clients), 20-30 years gave your clients not only age, but extra pounds and health problems that didn’t exist decades earlier. What do you do when a new fully underwritten permanent plan of life insurance is not an option? You look at conversion options. Most insurance companies allow policyholders to convert their term policy anytime during their initial level term period, up to around age 70, to any permanent plan they make available at the time of claim. Good news! Your client can get permanent coverage. Bad news! They are at the insurance company’s mercy as to what kind of plan is available. Many carriers limit the products available for conversion, usually omitting their most competitive plans, some offering pricy whole life or current assumption (no guarantees) Universal Life. Some carriers by current practice make all their current permanent plans available. Good for them. What will their current practice be in 20 years? Who will own the company then? Clients have no guarantee an insurance company will continue that practice and may be stuck with no guarantees or with high priced options. If you can sell your client a permanent and term plan from the start, you can solve this problem. We know that doesn’t work in every situation. Clients may not see the need for permanent coverage or the price may be too high. What else can you do? Check back next week for the answer in part two.