In an INSTANT—Washed Away…
Watching the news this past week about events happening in Japan has been disturbing. The damage left by the earthquakes in Japan, as well as the utterly unbelievable images of the tsunami literally sweeping entire cities and villages away in an instant—these events present lasting mental images to me. Homes, cars and people also were literally washed away in an instant. The damage and destruction will take years to clean up and rebuild. Some people may never recover.
Close your eyes for just a moment and transform that mental image from the tsunami/earthquake damage to an image of what happens to a family or a business when the breadwinner dies unexpectedly or becomes disabled. A family or business sees the very foundation of itself, washed out by a sudden death or a lingering disability. Where stable ground once existed, now there is a gaping hole. The breadwinner is either “gone,” or the foundation of family (income) is so damaged that the household and its’ contents now sit upon a very shaky layer of mounting debt, tension, and emotional and financial instability.
It doesn’t have to be that way for our clients and prospects.
The products we sell—life and disability insurance—can magically and instantly help replace a washed out financial foundation or be “reinforcement” for surviving family members and key business associates. Money certainly can never solve the emotional issues associated with premature death and/or disability, but it can buy time and stability for those left to deal with a “washed away” foundation.
The events in Japan remind me of the devastation Americans have experienced in our own country, like the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. My heart aches for those Japanese citizens who are in a complete daze and whose dreams, futures and memories have literally been “washed away.”
These images can be powerful tools to help people realize that while earthquakes and tsunami’s can happen, often with catastrophic results, the much more likely scenario is the sudden death or disability of a loved one right here on our home soil. Every day, our newspapers are full of obituary stories of those who died and left behind family members who didn’t expect to deal with a sudden and unexpected death.
We can do something to help. Mental images often help clients and prospects deal with reality. While it’s not likely that we will soon see the type and breadth of destruction here in the U.S. that our friends in Japan are now dealing with, it is much more certain that you or your clients will have a family member or a friend become suddenly ill or pass away. The time may not be now, but sometime in the not too distant future, it is bound to happen.
Let’s help our clients pre-solve that image of family and business being swept away by sudden news…. let’s help them plan now to insure their loved ones are not ‘dazed’ by news that sweeps them off their feet. Let’s help build solid financial foundations.
The 2011 Sales Symposium: Constant Connections
Our big day is coming soon!
On Thursday, March 10th, ASI will host our annual Sales Symposium “CONSTANT CONNECTIONS” event at the Holiday Inn East in Memphis TN. You won’t want to miss it.
As we deal with agents and advisors, one common theme I continue to hear is “give us stuff that is useful, can help us make more money, and can be useful for us to share with our clients and prospects.” We always strive to give you things that help “CONNECT” you to ASI … well, we won’t disappoint on March 10th!
We’ll start off at 8:30am with 4 or 5 quick sales ideas, followed by an inspiration talk by Jacinda Dunn, now a student at UT Knoxville, who will share with us how the lack of life insurance her father had has proved to be a real burden to her after his death, as she and her family have dealt with lost income, changes in lifestyles and other issues that could have been easily avoided. ASI will be giving her a small scholarship.
We’ll then have 3 optional break-out sessions:
- A neat session on profiling your client block and mining it for revenue sources
- A session on marketing to the women’s marketplace
- A session on using Social Media in the marketplace
All 3 sessions will be led by outside speakers we are bringing in just for you. You’ll have the chance to attend 2 of the 3 optional sessions.
After the breakouts are over, we’ll wrap up with our Keynote luncheon speaker, Wendy Boglioli. Wendy is Genworth Financial’s national spokesperson on Long Term Care Insurance.
Wendy is a gold-medal Olympic Swimmer and has a profound message about her Olympic training and dedication and how it impacts her today as she cares for a mother without Long Term Care Insurance. Yes…Wendy will bring her Gold & Bronze Medals for you to see.
Genworth, Prudential, Humana, West Coast Life and many of our other carriers are providing speakers, sponsorships and door prizes.
This is a day you won’t want to miss. We’ll have room for only 125 attendees and we already have almost 60 reservations as of 2/14/11.
ASI always strives to give you the best of product, compensation, point-of-sale help, and of course, resources like this FREE event for you.
Good selling and I’ll hope to see you on the 10th of March.
Mandatory Life Insurance: Worth Thinking About
In the recent article “The Case for Requiring Life Insurance,” Brian Fechtel lays out some points that have to get you thinking. And while the concept of legally mandating life insurance ownership may be far-fetched, I ask readers to think about these questions:
1) What if new parents were required to show proof of life insurance prior to taking their newborns home from the hospital (just like they have to have a car seat). Should parents have to show proof of “financial responsibility”?
2) What if plaintiffs in wrongful death suits were only allowed to collect from a guilty party an amount equal to the life insurance the deceased had on his/her life? Said another way: A third party shouldn’t have to pay your heirs anymore than you think your life is worth.
3) Do you carry excessive amounts of liability insurance in case you get sued? If you are protecting yourself via liability insurance, are you protecting your family with a similar amount of life insurance?
4) Why did the families of the victims of 9/11 have their “payout” reduced by the amount of life insurance they had? Fact: Those that had taken steps to protect their families actually received LESS than those who did nothing.
Fechtel writes “while there is no expectancy that these ideas would be implemented any time soon, wouldn’t having public discussions about such ideas be useful?” I don’t like the idea of government mandating anything, so I’m not in favor of this idea, however, recent LIMRA statistics show that ownership of individual life insurance has fallen to a 50-year low, and that four in 10 households with children would have immediate trouble paying bills if the primary breadwinner were to die. This leaves a lot of people in very financially vulnerable situations.
While it is currently not mandatory for you to buy life insurance, it is mandatory for you to take responsibility for yourself and your loved ones. Begin by determining how much life insurance you may need with this calculator. And make sure you follow through and buy that protection. Contact your insurance agent, or if you don’t have one, you can click here to find one in your area.
WHEW….it’s over, but what a GREAT Experience
Well, my year as LIFE Foundation Board Chairman has come to an end, and as the saying goes: “All good things must pass”. While it was always exhilarating, and at times exhausting, I must say that it was one of the highlights of my professional career. You can see from the list below, I traveled extensively, and was heavily involved in media outreach on behalf of LIFE. Like anything else you are ever involved with, the age old wisdom applies: “You get out of something what you put into it”. I put all I had into LIFE for 2010, and I feel confident that LIFE is positioned for even greater things in 2011 and beyond. Below is a compilation of major meetings, speeches and media events I participated in during 2010:
A recap of my year at LIFE Foundation Chairman
3 face to face board meetings in Washington DC
3 face to face executive committee meetings in Washington DC
over 20 prescheduled conference calls throughout the year
Attended and/or spoke at the following national insurance meetings:
– GAMA International – Las Vegas, NV
– MDRT – Vancouver, BC
– NAIFA Annual Conference – Seattle, WA
– NAILBA Annual Meeting – Dallas TX
– AALU Annual Meeting – Washington DC
– JEC Annual meeting – Washington DC
Articles, interviews speeches & blogs:
– LIMRA Podcast for LIAM
– Pittsburgh Post Gazette
– Baltimore Sun
– Memphis Business Journal
– Memphis Commercial Appeal
– Memphis Daily News
– Senior Market Advisor Magazine
– Broker World Magazine
– Wall Street Journal
– Radio/Media tour for DIAM – multiple cities
– Numerous blogs for the LIFE website
– Numerous blogs for the ASI website
– Insure.com interviews
– NAILBA Perspectives Magazine
– Ole Miss Insurance Day
– Mid South Health Underwriters Association
– Numerous state and local NAIFA chapter meetings
I can’t say goodbye to LIFE without a profound thank you to three special groups:
· The LIFE Board and staff – who work tirelessly for our industry
· The Agency Services, Inc. staff who helped keep things at the office going while I was often away.
· My wife, Beth and family who always supported me and always give me unconditional love and inspiration
All the best to LIFE, and to those who might read this blog, be sure to watch www.lifehappens.org for exciting tools to help you succeed.
UP, UP and AWAY….
Do you recall that great classic song by the Fifth Dimension?
Well, not many folks are “singing” about how good things are on the economic front – fear of rising taxes, continued recession, lingering unemployment and low or anemic economic growth has many people scratching their heads and wondering how best to position themselves.
A just released LIMRA (Life Insurance Marketing & Research Association) report indicates that sales of permanent life insurance policies were up 8% in the third quarter of 2010. While dollar values were not published, overall face amount of permanent polices was up over 32% since Q3 2009. For the full 3 quarters of 2010, permanent life insurance sales are up 15% over the same period in 2009. Powerful information and the type you should sit up and notice!
Why…. might you ask? Well, I’m glad you did. For insurance professionals reading this, I know I’m preaching to the choir, but for other readers, consider these reasons:
1) People are flocking to guarantees. What is better than a 3 or 4% interest rate guarantee of your cash value? What other options offer this type of guarantee?
2) Tax advantages of life insurance include the tax-free buildup of cash values while the policy is in force and the tax free nature of most death benefits.
3) Guaranteed access to cash values – if you need a loan, will your banker always be there? Your cash value will.
4) The stable nature of the life insurance industry in an otherwise shaky financial world. Makes me feel good just typing this!!
5) The peace of mind you have when you know your loved ones are protected and will be provided with the exact amount of financial help you have selected that they will need in the event of your premature death. What a legacy to leave…
As the planning cycle for 2011 is now in full swing, I hope you’ll take time to review with your clients the unique and powerful nature of life insurance, and you’ll help them feel like their financial health is on the way to……UP, UP & Away!!!
News You Can Use
No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/from/toolbar
What a sad story, but it brings the point home more clearly than anything I’ve seen recently. You can’t wait for your house to be on fire and then call for fire protection. It’s too late then. If this county in TN would have let the man pay his fee just just when he needed service, then why should any other resident continue to pay their annual fees for protection?
Kind of reminds me of the debate about the new health care reform bill – There’s a mandate in the law that by 2014 every American MUST have health insurance. Right now, the law has a minimal “fee or penalty” for those that don’t comply, yet health insurors are being told they won’t be allowed to turn down people for coverage.
Like the homeowner in the fire story above…how long will insurance companies survive if you can wait till you have a bad illness like cancer or a bad car wreck, then buy insurance on the way to the hospital…and pay the small “penalty?” The penalty/fee/tax for not buying must be significant enough to cause a consumer to think twice before not buying.
It begs the rhetorical question: “Why buy insurance and pay the premium for months or years when you don’t need it? Why not wait until just the right moment when that fire (oops – I mean illness) happens…then buy?”
Think about it……
Unintended Consequences?!
Unintended Consequences?!
Today is September 22nd, and tomorrow, the very first provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) become effective.
While there is plenty of time to debate the merits of which plan provisions are good for American consumers and which provisions insurance carriers prefer or dislike, make no mistake—the rhetoric has only just begun.
Humor me, while I explain: One such provision of PPACA is that no children under age 19 shall be denied any health insurance that they apply for. Sounds like an easy fix that all can agree on, and overall, it sounds like a good thing. On the contrary–in my home state of Tennessee, every major carrier that writes individual insurance has announced this week THEY WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN ONLY.
Why? While the law demands guaranteed access, it fails miserably to give carriers and consumers access to the so-called “state exchanges” before the September 23rd deadline. Without these safeguards in place, a carrier could literally be forced to accept an application on a child as he/she was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Without the “rest of the law” taking effect simultaneously with the September 23rd guaranteed access provision (complete with required and established, state defined “open enrollment periods” and a sufficient penalty for those who chose not to buy coverage, the unintended consequence is that carriers are running for the hills. If you are a shareholder of one of these insurance companies, you can’t blame them.
Should someone be able to buy fire insurance on your house as the fire trucks are pulling up? Of course not! Without the full safety net provisions of the FULL law, you can see why the carriers are reacting the way they are. That makes it nearly impossible for an otherwise, even healthy young child, to secure coverage on its own. Now, a whole family will have to apply together, and proper risk assessment and underwriting will be reviewed for each family member. Of course, if you get your coverage thru your employer, this lack of access doesn’t affect you, as group plans carriers will still apply standard underwriting rules and have a larger pool to spread risk across.
There will be LOTS in the press about how horrible this is. Just remember, there are two sides to every story, and as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- CA), said so well: “We need to pass this bill so we will find out what’s in it.”
My sincere hope is that regulators and carriers will find a way to correct this “unintended consequence.” I suspect there will be many more to come.
LIFE Foundation – The Insurance Word Blog – Guarantees in an Insecure World
I recently posted this to the LIFE Foundation’s blog and thought ASI readers might enjoy reading it, too.
Guarantees in an Insecure World
Not many people are interested in plain vanilla, when triple-fudge bomb is available. Let me explain. The promise of big—even huge—returns on investments during the halcyon days of the market drew many people’s eyes off a financial-planning fundamental: life insurance. Who wanted to talk about death and 3 or 4 percent returns on the cash accumulation feature in a permanent life insurance policy when the promise of double-digit returns in the market lay glittering on the horizon?
Then the market tanked, taking with it 20 or 30 percent of many people’s portfolios—sometimes even more. That has lead to a renewed interest in the “plain vanilla” of the financial planning world. September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, the perfect time to explore why proper amounts of life insurance should be the foundation of your personal and business financial plan.
People are facing an entrenched “recession,” collapsing job security, depleted retirement accounts and an unstable investment environment. The beauty of life insurance is that it offers guarantees in a world that suddenly seems void of them. Life insurance provides guaranteed death benefits that keep your family secure in the world they know and the lifestyle they are used to, should the worst happen to you.
Used as a planning tool for small-business owners or partners, those same guaranteed death benefits can help keep your business from dying along with you. What other kind of financial product allows you to pay a such a small amount to ultimately receive such a large, guaranteed benefit?
It’s also good to keep in mind that permanent life insurance policies offer you a guaranteed accumulation feature. As the cash value of the policy grows, it offers you another, not often talked about, feature: the ability to take out a loan against that amount—guaranteed. No bank or savings and loan is going to offer you that promise. What a blessing that guaranteed loan might be if a family or business emergency came along and you needed to tap that money, no questions asked.
It seems to me that you owe it your family and business to take a look at how the guarantees of life insurance can secure their world. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you had a life insurance policy that promised to pay when your loved ones or business partners needed it most?
If you don’t currently own life insurance, or feel that you don’t have enough to meet your personal and business needs, I encourage you to begin by using LIFE’s free, online Life Insurance Needs Calculator to get a better idea of what amount of life insurance you might need. Then contact your agent or advisor to help you get the coverage you need, or if you need to find an advisor, use the Agent Locator here.
September is LIAM-Life Insurance Awareness Month!!
|
||||||
