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“If It Isn’t Written Down, It Didn’t Happen” – Wills, Powers-of-Attorney & Health Proxies

Any fan of the novelist Tom Clancy is probably familiar with these words uttered by the wife of his chief protagonist, Jack Ryan. Ryan is constantly needling Dr. Caroline “Cathy” Ryan about her compulsive habit of making notes about everything as a method for reminder and also a simple record of events.
 
She defends the practice as the best way to keep track of everyone’s commitments and intentions, especially given their hectic lifestyle – in that book he happens to be Vice President and she a busy physician, both with young children in tow.
 
Creative marketers and seminar sales-folk have built and sold entire programs of self-discipline and personal organization around the concept.
 
But the government of the state in which you live is far ahead of both.

Regarding your client’s planning intentions and goals; all 50 states have legislation in effect that effectively says, “If they aren’t written down, then they didn’t happen!”

Who needs Estate Planning?
 
The fact is that everyone needs estate planning, not just the wealthy. Everyone has concerns about what will happen to themselves, their survivors and their belongings in the event of any number of life-changing events.
 
Critical to the assurance that all will go as desired in each circumstance is the execution of at least three written planning documents. If they don’t exist then the State will do your clients’ planning for them.
 
Contact Tom Virkler, JD, CLU, Director of Advanced Markets, at (706) 614-3796 or tom@cpsadvancedmarkets.com to discusses these documents in further detail so you can better encourage every client to take necessary steps for their completion in conjunction with their advisors.
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Are You Following Up on Your Term Sales?

Term Insurance is often sold to clients who simply want the lowest cost death benefit protection for a specified period of time. Clients and producers alike will preach the concept of buying Term and investing the savings.
 
While we’d like to think that clients and the investors hold themselves accountable for this strategy and do invest their cost savings, we know it is more likely that the clients pay for the Term coverage and then spend their savings elsewhere. The Term Insurance is then forgotten over time only to be revisited once the level Term period has expired and the client does not want to pay the escalated premium.

One way to help your clients effectively plan for their long-term needs is to discuss the Term Conversion option.

Consider this:
 
By completing a conversion application, the client can change their coverage from a Term plan to a Permanent policy without any additional underwriting. This is usually allowed up to a certain age (commonly 65, 70 or 75 depending on the provider). The cost of these conversions is based on the insured’s attained age at the time of the request so the longer your client waits to exercise their conversion option, the more expensive the premium will be.
 
This should be a topic that you address with your clients on a regular basis to ensure that you do not let the conversion privilege expire and also that you are converting at the earliest, most appropriate time which can save your clients significant premium costs. It will also ensure that your clients have the coverage in place when they need it most – when they pass away. Since the average life expectancy is in the mid-80s, more often than not, the level Term policy will expire before your client expires.
 
Ask yourself if you have a process in place to address your clients who have purchased Term Insurance. Even if converting their Term plan isn’t the most appropriate course of action at this time, the review discussion may uncover additional needs for insurance or lead to referrals.
 
We can help you determine if your client’s Term plan has a conversion option and provide you the marketing support needed to turn these cases into permanent sales.
 
If you have any clients that may be approaching their conversion deadlines or who may be appropriate prospects for a policy review, call us and we can help get the process started for you.
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Prostate Cancer – Great Offers Are Possible!

What is prostate cancer? Prostate cancer occurs when cells in the prostate gland grow out of control.
 
Some prostate cancers can grow and spread quickly but most grow slowly. There are often no early prostate cancer symptoms, but some men have urinary symptoms and discomfort. Prostate cancer treatment options are surgery, chemotherapy, cryotherapy, hormonal therapy, and/or radiation. In some instances, doctors recommend “watchful waiting.”

All men are at risk for developing prostate cancer. Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men.

About one man in nine will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, but only one in 41 will die of this disease. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 66.
 
Factors, such as age, race, and family history that may contribute to the risk:
  • The Gleason Score (GS) indicates the tendency for rapid growth, recurrence or metastasis of prostate cancer, with two being the least worrisome and scores of eight to 10 being the most aggressive. Think of the stage as a car’s odometer and the Gleason Score as its speedometer. Generally, the lower the stage, the more likely that treatment will succeed with no recurrence of cancer.
  • The PSA is a blood test for prostate cancer.
  • A bone scan is sometimes performed to determine if the cancer has metastasized, that is, spread distantly from its origin.
  • The extent to which prostate cancer has spread is categorized by staging, usually determined by examination, ultrasound or MRI. However, examining tissue removed by surgery gives a more definitive picture of the stage of the cancer.
  • Treatments include Surgery (prostatectomy), Chemotherapy, Radiation; external beam or implants, Watchful Waiting, Hormonal Therapy.
Here is a case study:
 
Fred, 56 years old
Seeking $3 million of permanent coverage
  • Was told by his internist almost six years ago that his PSA was moderately elevated.
  • A biopsy showed prostate cancer.
  • After weighing the relative treatment risks and benefits, Fred decided on surgery. Cancer was present in two areas within one side of the prostate.
  • His Gleason Score was 6.
  • At a follow-up exam two months ago, Fred had no major symptoms and his PSA was so low that it was immeasurable.
Having been treated several years ago for his early-stage, moderately aggressive cancer and showing no signs of recurrence, Fred could qualify for a life policy at Standard rates.
 
Call our Life Underwriting Department today! Let’s work together to get the offers you need.
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When Asset Based LTC Is A Fit

Most people will need long-term care services at some point during their lives, and the costs can be staggering.
 
Asset Based Long-Term Care offers your clients an efficient way to plan for these potential expenses with LTC coverage plus as well as a death benefit for cost recovery.
 
Four potential client profiles for Asset Based LTCi.
 
1 | Clients ages 40-80 with “sleeping assets” or cash, such as:
  • Cash, CDs or bonds that are maturing
  • Proceeds from selling a business
  • Funds from downsizing/ selling a home
  • A recent inheritance
CONCERN: Impact a LTC event could have on their spouse, family and finances
PAYMENT: Single Premium
 
2 | Clients ages 55-67 closing in on retirement who are:
  • In the peak of earning capacity with excess income for premiums
  • Preferably age 59.5 or older so they can access qualified money not needed for retirement income
CONCERN: The financial and lifestyle risks LTC expenses could have on their spouse
PAYMENT: 5, 10, 20-pay or pay for life
 
3 | Retirees with IRAs, annuities or income sources to reposition:
  • Required minimum distributions from IRAs not needed for income purposes
  • Annuities not needed for retirement income purposes
  • Social Security benefits not needed for living expenses
CONCERN: Protecting assets/ income and reducing LTC dependence on family
PAYMENT: 5, 10, 20-pay
 
4 | High earners not rich yet (HENRYs) ages 40-55 who:
  • Have excess annual liquidity
  • May have experienced providing care for a parent or grandparent
  • See the value of buying earlier rather than later
  • Would like to insure their parents for LTC to protect their own savings and retirement assets
CONCERN: Protecting assets/ income and reducing LTC dependence across generations
PAYMENT: 5, 10, 20-pay
 
Contact your LTC Sales & Marketing Associate today for more information.
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Introducing Brand Protection Insurance

It doesn’t matter whether it’s an athlete, an entertainer or someone just famous for being famous; if you want to raise a brand’s profile quickly, hiring a celebrity is a proven way to do so. However, fame can sometimes turn into notoriety.

The media always seeks to uncover celebrity details, and what is exposed is not always flattering.

Death, Disability, & Disgrace coverage provides support for brands that use celebrities or spokespeople to endorse and publicize their products or services.
 
If in the unfortunate event the insured causes the Brand/Company into being viewed negatively by the public, or the insured becomes disabled or pass away during the policy period, the policy provides up to an agreed sum, enabling the brand managers to recover costs and expenses of the insured campaign.
 
Consider this:
 
Take the case of a young performer, who just signed a tour contract and a promotion contract for a well-known beverage company. Both the promoter and the beverage company purchased a Death, Disability, & Disgrace policy to protect their investments and company images.
 
Halfway through the tour, the young performer had a nervous breakdown and committed numerous acts that were viewed negatively by the community. The tour had to be cancelled and the drink company’s advertising had to be pulled.
 
With the Death, Disability, & Disgrace policies, the promoter was able to recoup the cost of the cancelled shows and the drink company was able to recover costs and expenses of the insured campaign.
 
Brand Protection Insurance is ideal for Sponsorships, Spokespersons, Celebrity Endorsements and Personal Appearances.
 
Please contact your Income Protection Specialist today for more details today.
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Incompetency Planning

When the fat lady sings… As they say, “It’s not over until then.”
 
There is a comedian who likes to inform his audience that it is his goal to live forever. Looking out into the crowd he adds, “So far, so good!” But the fact is that death is the one contingency everyone can be pretty sure will occur at some point.

There is a tendency in the planning process to focus on the matters of final arrangements, like wills and life insurance, and not give proper attention to the possibility of incapacity prior to death.

Different Types of Incapacity
 
The inability to handle affairs may be caused by something other than mental incompetency. Conducting business or carrying out activities may be impractical because of the onset of temporary or permanent physical infirmities, or geographic absence due to travel or distant residence.
 
Give thought to delegation of authority in circumstances other than those involving mental incapacity.
 
Financial Concerns
 
The document for delegating authority in financial matters is a power-of-attorney. It can be as narrow or as broad as needed. It can in force until revoked, or it can take effect under particular circumstances and can remain valid even into a period mental incompetency.
 
Revocable living trusts, often used to keep assets out of the probate court, can also give authority over property in the trust to a co-trustee or contingent trustee.
 
Beware of joint ownership as a solution! The responsibilities of joint owners is undefined and transactions with certain assets, such as real estate, may not be possible without agreement of all owners. Also, creation of joint ownership may create gifting concerns.
 
Medical Concerns
 
Planning documentation will go under various forms and names in different states (e.g. health-care directives, living wills, health proxies, medical power-of-attorney), but if properly drafted should address three items:
 
  • Direct who will make health care decisions when needed for the principal.
  • Indicate who will make any life-sustaining or life-ending decisions necessary.
  • Grant HIPAA authorization for decision-makers to receive all medical information necessary without the consent of the principal.
The process should also include proper risk management planning giving consideration to the advisability and feasibility of long-term care and disability insurance options available.
 
Whom Do You Trust?
 
All the documentation is fine, but it is only as good as the qualifications and reliability of the attorney-in-fact, trustee, or other fiduciary chosen to carry out the terms.
 
Good starting points for candidates include:
 
  • Their geographic location – Will they be on-site when needed?
  • The intensity of their lifestyle – Will they have time to attend to their responsibilities?
  • Experience – Do they have the background and skills to handle the affairs they will oversee?
All this, of course, in addition to whether they have proven trustworthy and dependable in the past.
 
The importance point to impress upon a client regarding incompetency planning is that if they don’t make a plan the State will make one for them. Through tedious, drawn-out and expensive guardianship or conservatorship hearings a court of law will set a course that may or may not achieve what the client might have desired, administered by people the client may or may not have preferred.
 
Contact Tom Virkler, JD, CLU, Director of Advanced Markets, at (706) 614-3796 or tom@cpsadvancedmarkets.com with basic questions and concerns that each client should consider taking to their legal advisors, as well as for information on the long-term care and disability insurance options that can assure that proper funding is available to carry out the intentions of your clients in the unfortunate event of incompetency.
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An Affordable Alternative To Estate Planning For Hesitant Clients

In today’s economy, some of your wealthier clients may be hesitant to purchase Survivorship Life Insurance coverage due to uncertainty, either in the market, estate taxes or their family’s circumstances. There is another way to cover their insurance need without the finality of a Survivorship plan or the cost.

We have contracts with carriers who offer the ability to convert Individual Term Insurance policies into a Survivorship plan during the designated conversion period.

Your clients receive immediate insurance protection while locking in their underwriting class. This approach requires less of a commitment coming out of your client’s checkbook while satisfying the total insurance need.
 
The policies can be owned individually or by an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) and down the road they will have the ability to convert into a SUL plan at attained age if the uncertainty regarding estate taxes and the current market condition erodes.
 
Items to keep in mind when considering using an ILIT to purchase Term coverage.
 
First, if you use a trust, the individual who is not covered by the Term policy will need to provide evidence of insurability when the policy is converted to a SUL plan. Second, you could have the trust purchase half of the total insurance need on each spouse.
 
Using this method, the individuals will be able to acquire the total insurance need without showing proof of insurability at the time of the policy change.
 
If you have clients who are hesitant to address their estate planning needs and are taking a “wait and see” approach, you may want to introduce this strategy.
 
Our Life Sales & Marketing Associates can show you which carriers Term policies can participate in this concept and prepare quotes showing the most affordable options.
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A Sweeter Deal – Impaired Fasting Glucose

In the years leading up to the development of Type 2 diabetes, most individuals go through an asymptomatic condition called pre-diabetes. During this time, fasting blood sugar levels may be slightly elevated and there may be other signs of disruptions in normal metabolism, such as high triglycerides, low “good” (HDL) cholesterol levels and excess fat around the abdomen.
 
Approximately 1 out 3 American adults have pre-diabetes. When caught at an early stage, it is possible to head off development of Type 2 diabetes with diet changes and weight loss.

One of our A+ carriers can underwrite favorably on pre-diabetes cases that show a stable, well controlled condition.

Take a look at this case study:
Male, 55 years old
Non-Smoker
Seeking Personal Coverage
 
  • History of hypertension that has been well-controlled with medication and exercise.
  • Two years ago, a routine annual check-up revealed a blood sugar reading that was higher than normal.
  • Follow up glucose levels remained elevated (in the 100-103 range), but never high enough to suggest outright diabetes. He was then diagnosed with Impaired Fasting Glucose.
  • His doctor suggested exercise and a change in diet to include reduced carbohydrate intake.
  • Has done well with his new diet and exercise regimen; ongoing lab testing has shown no progression in his condition.
This client had the beginning of pre-diabetes caught early by routine testing. Because he responded well to dietary changes and exercise, this condition has not progressed and he is at lower risk of developing diabetes in the next several years — if he maintains his new, healthy habits.
 
Potential Underwriting Outcome: Super Standard Non-Tobacco, with potential improvement to Preferred using this carrier’s Healthy Lifestyle Crediting Program.
 
Call your Life Underwriting Team to discuss your client’s medical history today and let’s work on your next success story!
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Protecting Those Who Care For Others

Women often try to find the right balance between juggling careers, spending time with family, and caring for loved ones.

With women living longer, and providing more caregiver services, they become more vulnerable to long-term care issues.

Now is the perfect time to increase your focus on existing and potential female prospects to expand your LTC Insurance business.
 
How You Can Help
 
Women may spend their entire lives taking care of other people. You can help them create strategies to plan for their future and help protect their retirement assets. An LTC Insurance policy can help protect their assets and help them maintain independence in the future.
 
To increase your reach and help your female clients take the first step to long-term care planning, consider these scenarios:
  • Married Couples: Husbands often need care first, leaving less assets for the wife to use for her own care. Review your clients’ long-term goals to ensure both parties have a care plan for the future.
  • Same-Sex Couples: Current financial planning rules can make it tricky to access a partner’s assets when care is needed. Help your clients design a plan to share each other’s benefit dollars.
  • Widowed/Divorced: When a woman becomes divorced or widowed and has no children, there may be no one to take care of her. Almost 70% of women age 75 or older are widowed, divorced, or never married, compared to only about 30% of men. Explain to your female prospects the value of Long-Term Care planning and how a policy can help them protect their future.
  • Adult Children of Aging Parents: In helping adult children with their own LTC planning, they can purchase coverage and have access to our Caregiver Support Services Benefit, which is a great source for advice and helpful information should a long-term care event arise for an uninsured family member, especially Mom.
Reasons to Plan
  • Nearly 60% of LTC Insurance policies are issued to women, indicating that women are acknowledging the need for care.
  • 79.1 years is the current life expectancy for women. The current life expectancy is 73.2 years for men.
  • For every 100 men in U.S. nursing homes, there are approximately 178 women. 
Expand Your Target Market
 
Look for local women’s organizations in your area and consider hosting an LTC planning seminar to educate women on the risk of not having a plan and the comfort of having one.
 
Contact Us
 
Our expert team can offer advice on discussing Long-Term Care with women and how to approach their concerns. Contact us today to learn more.
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7 Ways To Fast-Track Your DI Sales

Everyone knows how hard insurance professionals work to prospect, set appointments, complete the fact-finding process, run quotes, close the deal, fill out and send in forms all just to submit a single Disability Case.

The last thing you want is for an application to be held up in underwriting because information may be incomplete or worse yet, declined because of medical issues.

It’s important to remember that the information required by underwriters helps the insurance company manage risk, which in turn helps to keep prices and products competitive across the market.
 
Here are 7 ways you can help your cases move through underwriting faster and more efficiently:
  1. Before moving forward with an application, know your client. Take the time to ask about their medical history, health concerns, and current medications. If there are red flags, allow our Underwriting Department go to go to work for you. We can pre-screen the client and direct you to a carrier that might be lenient with that particular medical concern.
  2. Answer all questions on the application and provide full details such as occupation and job duties as well as physician name, address and phone number. Make sure all required fields are completed. Incomplete apps may delay your case.
  3. Send a copy of the most recent illustration reflecting the correct occupation class, benefits, discounts and premiums.
  4. Attach all necessary financial documentation.
  5. When possible, submit the case for simplified underwriting with no blood, urine, EKGs, or APS required. Typically, if the client is between the ages of 18-50 and looking for a monthly benefit amount up to $10,000 this is the way to go. This program averages a 48-hour turnaround time once the application and TeleApp interviews are competed and received.
  6. While not required, it’s always helpful to attach a cover letter that discusses the details of the particular case. This helps to give the Underwriting Department a clear picture of the case, particularly if there are any unusual medical concerns or job occupation descriptions.
  7. You can complete the telephone health interview at any time. The application does not have to be in-house for the phone interview to be conducted and typically takes less than 20 minutes.
The tips on this list will save you valuable time and help you grow your business.
 
Contact your dedicated Disability Specialist today to learn more about how you can streamline the underwriting process!

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