The first annuities date to 300 BC and took the form of annual payments to Roman soldiers for their service to the empire. As investment vehicles, they’ve gotten quite a bit more complicated since then. Helping your clients understand the basics of annuity contracts puts them in the best position to make informed decisions about what is right for their financial needs. Here’s a quick review. Types of Annuity Contracts Annuity contracts fall under two types and three primary categories: … [Read more...]
Target Vast Middle Market to Grow Life Insurance Business
Life insurance agents who focus on high net worth clients are ignoring a huge, underinsured and underserved demographic in middle-market consumers. A recent LIMRA study found only 46 percent of middle-market consumers own individual life insurance and more than 25 percent of them possess no life insurance coverage at all, individual or group. The study identified 56 million middle-market households in the U.S., defined as consumers ages 25-64 with annual household incomes of $35,000 to … [Read more...]
E&O Claim Scenario: Disability Insurance – Are You Certain What You Are Selling?
Sharpen Your Skills With Our E&O Claim Scenarios We believe that insurance professionals can improve the service that their clients receive by sharpening their professional skills by looking over case studies and scenarios that have led to E&O claims. FACTS: An agent sold the Claimant (a dentist) an individual disability policy and a business overhead expense (BOE) policy for her practice through ABC Insurance Company. Based on the agent’s prior experience with … [Read more...]
Four Reasons Why E&O Claims Are on the Rise
Taking a look at what’s behind the rise in E & O claims against insurance agents helps them better prevent a suit and defend themselves in the event of one. Some estimates say that as many as one in seven insurance professionals could be named in an E&O claim during their career, while others say the probability is higher. These increased numbers in claims indicate changes in insurance industry operation and the general culture that are driving factors. 1) Rapidly changing … [Read more...]
E&O Claims Scenarios: Improper Completion of Life Application
The Claim of Material Misrepresentation on a Life Insurance Application Sharpen Your Skills With Our E&O Claim Scenarios We believe that insurance professionals can improve the service that their clients receive by sharpening their professional skills by looking over case studies and scenarios that have led to E&O claims. Facts The agent assisted his client with the completion of an application for a $500,000 life insurance policy. The application was completed and submitted … [Read more...]
Life Insurance Agent: With Fee Disclosure, Oversharing is a Good Habit
As a life insurance agent, assuming your clients understand a product’s fee structure and have read the disclosures can lead to hard feelings, or worse, an errors and omissions claim. That’s what happened in one of our Errors and Omissions Claim scenarios. John, the client, rolled over an old annuity contract into a new one on his Agent’s recommendation. The new annuity had several attractive features, including a 10 percent signing bonus and a guaranteed income rider, but two years of … [Read more...]
Retirements Open Insurance Sector to Young Talent
Big demographic changes in the insurance sector are opening up career options for Millennial-age people who like the idea of flexible schedules and being their own boss. Such jobs also provide a new career path for older workers downsized during the Great Recession who want a new line of work. In the five years between 2013 and 2018, at least one fourth of the insurance industry’s workforce is expected to retire, according to research from management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. … [Read more...]
3 Eye Opening Affinity Scams & What You Can Do About Them
The biggest threat to your clients’ financial security may be closer than they think. The Internet and widespread adoption of social media create conditions ripe for affinity fraud, which uses a potential investor’s faith, ethnic background, country of origin and even fondness for football as a lure. The fraudsters are either members of the target group or pretend they are. In almost all cases, the investment is fake or, at the very least, the promoter lies about vital details, … [Read more...]
When Does a Longevity Annuity Make Sense?
A funny thing happened on the way to the 21st Century. A large potential client base doesn’t lose as much sleep wondering what will happen if they die too young. What keeps them up at night now is worry that they’ll live too long - and outlast their assets. As average life spans get longer and pensions - not to mention Social Security retirement benefits - get less certain, fear of outliving a retirement nest egg hatches into more than a headache. Interest Grows in Longevity … [Read more...]
Lattes, Lunch or Life Insurance – Which Costs More?
Most U.S. adults greatly overestimate the annual cost of a $250,000, 20-year term life insurance policy, believing coverage costs at least two to three times what it really does. The Average Annual Cost Of Coffee At the same time, people routinely spend more each year on lattes and out-of-office lunch runs than what a standard term policy would cost. For example, the average U.S. adult spends at least $1,100 on coffee drinks outside the home - nearly 3 times more than the annual cost of a … [Read more...]
