This week the New York times ran a piece on their web site that took a little knock at Whole Life Insurance. So, when a writer at the NY Times takes a shot at whole life insurance like so many financial wannabes have in the past, what do you suppose its readers do in response? The answer might shock you…
Brandon Roberts
Large Term Life Insurance Cases
Are you a discerning individual looking for a term life insurance policy? I don't mean large $1 million, I mean large at the very least $10 million and more. Think it's crazy? Remember life insurance companies will right 25-30 times earnings for people in their 20's and 30's so $400,000 in annual income gains admission to the club.
We're talking about you dear Wall St. hot shots.
We know that you're busy buying up cars, real estate, and wrist watches the size of dinner plates to show everyone else how much money you make, so life insurance on the cheap is typically you're approach, for now.
So, does buying buying life insurance and sorting through the term life insurance quoting game differ for you and your special income?
In a word…yes.
Met Life and the Death Master Data File: Snoopy Made a $500 Million Oopsie
Recent news came out this week that Met Life (Metropolitan Life, for those not into the whole brevity thing) will pay about $500 million in a settlement over the whole Death Master File incident. What does this mean? Why are they being fined/sued? Should you stay away from Met Life as a result? We're going to tackle all of this today.
Can Cash Value Life Insurance be a Substantial Retirement Vehicle?
Following up on the Cash Value Life Insurance as an Asset Class post, I wanted to spend some time talking about how Cash Value Life Insurance get's used for retirement and wealth accumulation.
Believe it or not, there's not a lot oversight when it comes to the financial services industry when it comes to what you can and cannot reasonably recommend as long as you don't violate the really big rules. Like a real estate agent who suddenly turns into a financial and business adviser in order to convince a client to take a 10% haircut on their selling price because he or she wants to close the deal, financial advice can often be driven by someone's need to pay a mortgage, pay down a credit card debt, afford a vacation, etc. And for the most part, sadly, no one cares. It's not until someone kills a sacred cow that problems begin to arise. Put a 65 year old's entire portfolio into midcap stocks, spread that sale around into different funds so as to avoid the sales load breakpoint, and do it all a few days before the dividend date and you'll really upset some people. Those are concrete examples of big no-no's any compliance officer should be more than capable of thwarting. These examples are a violation of suitability. On the topic of cash value life insurance, and its place as a retirement vehicle, the question is one of suitability. Is it suitable?
How Come People aren’t Laying Dead in the Streets? Retirement for the Baby Boomers
If you've spent any time reading the financial press you'll likely notice that Americans are chronic under-savers and this spells bad news for retirement. In fact, it turns out we're so bad we recently reviewed a lot of the ideals Alan Greenspan championed and it turns out he might not have been exactly right (or at least that's the current preveiling theory, I've always believed he's sharply sarcastic and often made subtle jokes while addressing Congress that went over most people's heads). If you want “proof” that we're meandering up the creek without a paddle check here:
43% have less than $10k for retirement
The Great Risk Shift
Retirement Crisis Closes In On Baby Boomers
Solving a Looming U.S. Retirement Crisis
Whole Life Insurance Distributions, the “Whole” Story
Life insurance agents love to fight over meaningless figures in an attempt to inflate the importance or attractiveness of their products. Truth is, current facts and figures aren't going to matter all that much. I've mentioned before that design is super crucial, and I've also hinted at the notion that there are core attributes that make some products better than other. There isn't really a blanket list of features regarding these attributes, so a little consulting with a knowledgeable agent is prudent. To highlight my point, however, I'm going to dive into the topic of policy distributions. This will become part of many posts discussing different features and why they matter. Throughout all this, you'll begin to understand why it's difficult to recommend one carrier as better than all the others, as they can be varied in where they are strong (i.e. one size–or carrier–does not fit all).
The Term Life Insurance Quoting Game
This one is intended for the consumers out there. Ever tried to compare term insurance rates across an array of different carriers? Ever wondered why some are consistently so low while others are incredibly more expensive? Ever talk to an agent who seems to throw a bunch of numbers at you without a lot of explanation why one might be better than another? Term life insurance seems like such a simple product and yet a lot of agents can make it so painfully difficult to buy. Why?
Cash Value Life Insurance as an Asset Class
I've been meaning to do a piece on Cash Value Life Insurance as an Asset Class. And this discussion will stem several additional posts to address how placing cash value life insurance in your personal portfolio can significantly improve your financial situation, by leaving numerous options on the table that most people forfeit because they pick up and hold onto really bad financial advice. Approach the following with an open mind, and be prepared to have your outlook on personal finance changed forever.
Why Stock Market Returns Matter, But Not for the Reasons You Probably Thought
I've been known to quote stock market returns from a Compound Annual Growth Rate (geometric mean) point of view. This calculation takes into account the effect time has on a rate of return and is wildly more useful than simply looking at average rate of return (usually quoted as the arithmetic mean).
But any good hardcore day trader or even the wannabe home gamers in the investment world should quickly ask a disarming question: “so what?” So the markets have traditionally failed miserably to consistently post a year over year positive return over the course of the past decade. There are still people who make money investing in equities, even your precious insurance companies.
And you know what? They are correct.
Allan vs. Pam: Bank on Yourself
Spring is here, time to enjoy warmer days (if you're with me in the Northeast), blooming flours, and a fight between a so called financial educator who hustles a selling system to insurance agents known as Bank on Yourself and a fee based financial planner who is pretending to be a consumer/journalist. Here's the story.
So what does this all mean? Pam is being exposed for the swindler she really is? Allan is looking to knock some competing savings strategies off the table as he competes for your business? Or perhaps CBS is just doing what all good media outlets do, selling a story. Let's take a closer look at this, shall we?
