Why Pay for Individual Disability Insurance?

by
Why Pay for Individual Disability Insurance

One of the most common questions surrounding disability insurance is, “If I have a group disability insurance plan why would I need to buy my own disability insurance outside of my employer sponsored plan?”

Well, I'm not suggesting that you always should but I am suggesting it's something you need to weigh objectively because it's just too important not to do the investigation.

You really have nothing to lose by doing the comparisons.  After doing the research and comparisons, you'll decide one of three things:

Keep Reading

Prudential Joins the Indexed Universal Life World

by
Prudential Joins the Indexed Universal Life World

Indexed Universal Life has hit the financial world in a big way over the past decade.  It's been loved by many agents and clients, and loathed by stock brokers and insurance companies that didn't have a product.  FINRA has attempted a power grab by making indexed products subject to securities regulation, and lost the fight somewhat badly a few years ago.  Now, the 2nd largest life insurer in the United States Prudential Financial has joined the indexed UL world by introducing PruLife Index Advantage UL.

Keep Reading

Disability Insurance Definition of Disability…It can’t be that Important, can it?

by
Disability Insurance Definition of Disability…It can’t be that Important, can it

I remember when I was studying for my insurance license and I came across the disability insurance section.  I was sitting in my sales manager's office going through items and I commented that own-occupation was obviously far superior to any-occupation.  Little did I know my little intuitive observation lay at the core of disability insurance comparison.  It may seem unimaginable, but the definition a disability insurance policy uses can vary a lot among carriers, and this definition certainly separates the good from the bad.

Keep Reading

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month

by
May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month

It's May, which means it's DIAM, or Disability Insurance Awareness Month, the one time of year that a very crucial financial insurance tool that goes grossly overlooked by many finally gets a little bit of play.  We've not spent much time talking about disability insurance here on the Insurance Pro Blog, and that's due in large part to time constraints.  This month however, we've made a little resolution to highlight this product.

Keep Reading

Large Term Life Insurance Cases

by
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.

Keep Reading

Can Cash Value Life Insurance be a Substantial Retirement Vehicle?

by
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?

Keep Reading

How Come People aren’t Laying Dead in the Streets? Retirement for the Baby Boomers

by
How Come People aren’t Laying Dead in the Streets

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

Keep Reading

Whole Life Insurance Distributions, the “Whole” Story

by
Whole Life Insurance Distributions

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).

Keep Reading