Long Term Care and Disability Insurance

Long Term Care vs. Short Term Care – What…

Presented by Leonard Berthelsen Most agents probably haven’t given much thought to this issue and quite frankly, I can’t blame them.  Long term care insurance has experienced slow growth over the past several years for a variety of reasons.  Lack of understanding the protection, underwriting challenges, cost of coverage which continues to increase, and then the ever-present rate increases on older blocks of business.  Long term care can still meet the needs of your clients; however, there is another consideration to think about. Let’s take all the issues above and turn them into sales opportunities for 2016.  Short term care/recovery care products may have arrived at the right time.  They are easier products to understand and explain without all the compliance restrictions of traditional long term care insurance.  With limited benefit durations (generally no more than 360 days of coverage), underwriting risks are dramatically reduced for the carrier and the pricing reflects this.  Yes, short term care plans are relatively new to the market, but certainly fill a void that long term care has left. Start 2016 off with a recommitment to address the needs of your clients regarding short nursing home stays, recovery care after an illness, accidents, or surgeries.  When pricing or underwriting challenges are dragging down your ability to place coverage, these newer shorter duration products just might be the answer. Look for our promotions for the addition of Short Term Care/Recovery Care products or call your Sales Manager at 800-397-9999 now for details.
Annuities

Are you selling the right product?

Presented by David Corwin We are all financial professionals and our role is to fit the proper product and planning to the problem the client is trying to solve. When positioning an annuity, sometimes we think the product with the most options available is the proper tool, when often it’s not the best approach. Nothing is free and riders typically have a cost that can impact the ultimate solution that we’re trying to provide. With improper planning we can end up with the “never gonna use” riders (I call them NGU’s). In many situations, the simple, “vanilla” indexed annuity can benefit your clients and avoid the cost of the NGU riders. With all the moving parts in annuities today, we can narrow down our carrier and product choices by simply finding out the end goal for the asset. Are they simply trying to protect retirement funds from market losses, trying to provide lifetime income today or in the future or just re-positioning CD/money market funds for a short period looking for a better return? Finding out the answer to those questions certainly narrows down the choices, provides a better product fit and gives you more credibility today and in the future. I can help you navigate the wide-array of product choices and find the solution that makes the most sense for each client-specific situation. Give me a call today at 800-397-9999!
Annuities

Fixed Index Annuities: Sales growing, products evolving!

Presented by Richard Mangiameli For the first time, FIAs accounted for more than 50% of the market share for all annuity sales! Not only did sales reach over $48 billion in 2014, they are also gaining popularity in the “Broker-Dealer” channel. FIAs totaled 10% of the total broker-dealer annuity sales in 2014, and broker-dealers expect that share to grow. There are many financial planners who think that Fixed Index Annuities are the worst – too complicated and too many moving parts. It’s important that they take a closer look. FIAs are not complicated and there are not too many moving parts, and with the growth FIAs are having, they are not the worst things out there for your clients. FIAs just celebrated 20 years in the business, and they are here to stay. It would greatly help your business and your clients for you to learn and understand Fixed Index Annuities. Here is how you can learn more – call an Independent Marketing Office (IMO) such as Financial Brokerage, who has been in the market for over two decades and works with several insurance companies who offer FIAs, and will give you a non-bias opinion. Read this article for more information: http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2015/07/23/fixed-index-annuities-sales-growing-products-evolv?eNL=55b2baff150ba06858c48520&utm_source=LHPro_Daily&utm_medium=EMC-Email_editorial&utm_campaign=07272015&_LID=98077815
Long Term Care and Disability Insurance

Managing the Long Term Care Risk from a Different…

Presented by Leonard Berthelsen Traditional long term care insurance has been a staple in the insurance agents toolbox for twenty-five plus years.  With some consumers though, it just doesn’t make sense to them to buy something that they may never use.  (I think further education needs to be given for this mindset.) Sometimes it seems we kind of bang our heads against the wall trying to convince people to do something that they believe is not right for them. Managing the risk for our clients is part of a sound financial strategy that we bring to the table.  Helping preserve our clients’ assets that they have accumulated as well as providing a legacy to be left behind for their loved ones is part of that strategy.  That’s a difference maker!  Linked products, hybrid products and products that provide asset protection against a long term care crisis while at the same time providing life insurance dollars to fund that legacy are key attributes in managing that risk. Yes, there is an ever increasing risk that long term care issues will affect our clients sooner or later – we are living longer.  This can be a win-win for our clients. Traditional long term care coverage will certainly mitigate the risk.  But what happens if long term care issues don’t come into the equation for our client?  With these new products, the value of the life insurance is there and is able to be used just like traditional life insurance.  The key to this type of product is that a benefit is going to be paid one way or the other. So the next time you run into resistance about traditional long term care coverage, think from a different viewpoint and you just might find your client receptive. Contact your sales manager at Financial Brokerage at 800-397-9999 to learn more about how these products work.  Learn how to position this with your clients and they just might be open to a discussion that they previously had no interest in.
Annuities

HYBRID

Presented by Richard Mangiameli If you look up the definition of “hybrid”, one of the results is “anything derived from heterogeneous sources, or composed of elements of different or incongruous kinds”. We can find Hybrid Power, Hybrid Literature, Hybrid Games and of course Hybrid Vehicles. In the insurance industry, we have hybrid insurance products where insurance companies have created products that are composed of different elements; annuity or life insurance products with elements of long term care insurance. LIMRA studies show that in 2013, 67% of people were worried about having sufficient money for a comfortable retirement and 58% were concerned about paying for long-term care services, while 39% express concern about financial impacts of premature death. It’s possible to address all three concerns with many of the new hybrid products available today. Call me to learn more!