Life Insurance

The Eight Elements of Extended Care Riders – Finding…

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 5 – Elimination Period The elimination period is the amount of time an insured has to wait for benefits after qualifying for them. Put yourself in the insured’s shoes, if you qualify for benefits, why would you have to wait to receive them? Despite this disconnect between consumer expectations and company practice, most policies contain a 90 day elimination period. Some have a shorter period for home health care and only a very few offer clients benefits immediately upon qualifying for claim. Look for Element 6 – Payment Amount in June.
Annuities

Choices

Presented by David Corwin I once heard a story about an annuity agent that had been in the business more than 20 years.  Now this agent I’m sure cared a lot about his clients, but over the years started becoming tired of learning new things.  He became stagnant and complacent; unbeknownst to him, this is the worst position to be in.  I’m not sure if it was the industry constantly changing and not being able to keep up with times, or lack of support from the company he was writing through.  He was in the independent agent space which means that he had several choices of carriers to write through and could offer the most competitive products to his clientele.  (I personally feel that it was his responsibility to learn new things and not just try to sell his favorite annuity product.) Let’s get to the story . . . An older man and his son met with this agent about what he should do with his windfall gain from a relative that had passed away.  The agent didn’t do any fact finding on the older man due to the fact that he was a current client; he had written an annuity 10 years prior, but had little to no contact with him in those ten years.  The agent took out his favorite annuity product brochure and presented it to the client.  The older gentleman told the agent that he would like to take it home to review it with his son and would like to meet again and move forward.  The sale was made and the client took home a brand new shiny annuity contract with a surrender period longer than 10 years.  The agent didn’t at any point offer an alternative product (he didn’t know of one because of the complacency issue).  This product could have been a single premium life insurance contract because, had he been asked, he would have liked to create a legacy with this money for his family.  This product could have more than doubled the amount that would have passed on to his family when he died two years later.  Since the son was there for all three meetings and took good notes, this agent was taken to court and ultimately lost the battle due to not having any supporting documentation. I’m sure that all of you have heard similar stories or maybe you have some of your own.  It is paramount to our business that our clients have the right insurance product based on the information that is gathered through a fact finding session and not just selling your favorite product.  What’s more important is remembering why you chose this industry as your profession, recognizing the value you have to offer and never letting rejection get you down.  Answer objections with facts, convey information confidently and show your determination with persistence.