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Parkinson’s Disease: Standard Is Possible!

Parkinson’s disease affects about one million people in the United States and ten million worldwide.

The cause remains largely unknown. Although there is no cure, treatment options vary and include medications and surgery.

One of our A+ carriers takes a responsibly aggressive approach to underwriting Parkinson’s disease and can offer favorably on those cases that are well controlled with other favorable risk factors.
 
Take a look at this recent case study:
  • 65-year-old female
  • Applying for $500k of Term coverage
  • Non tobacco user
  • Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years ago
  • On low dose of Sinemet daily with no progression of symptoms
Initial underwriting assessment of Table 2.
 
With the application of the following credits:
  • Controlled blood pressure
  • Good cholesterol ratio
  • Routine physicals and preventative screenings
  • Good family history
  • No tobacco use in the past 10 years
Underwriting offer after credits: STANDARD!
 
Contact our Underwriting Team today to see how we can help you place your next impaired risk case.
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Why Women May Be The Answer To Your LTCi Sales

Not only are women living longer than ever, they’re also the target market that will drive your LTCi sales further.
 
Women typically have spent some time during their life taking care of another person – a daughter, sister, wife, mother or friend. As they look to their futures, they must consider how they are going to take care of themselves.

With 70% of people over the age of 65 requiring assistance due to physical or cognitive impairments, and women’s life expectancy being 83.1 years, they have a higher chance of needing long-term care.

Why Long-Term Care Insurance?
 
Planning ahead can help protect your clients’ assets and allow them to get care covered in a variety of settings, including within the comfort of their own home.
 
LTCi is especially important for women who may be single, divorced, or widowed as they do not have a built-in spousal caregiver as some of your other clients may.
 
Talk to your female clients about taking the important step to consider how the need for long-term care could impact their future.
 
We’re here to help you design a plan that is both affordable and the best solution for your clients’ needs – contact your LTCi Sales Rep for guidance.
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Are Your Clients’ Retirement Dreams Protected?

Insurance and Financial Advisors help their clients save and prepare for retirement, but have you thought about what would happen to your clients’ retirement dreams if they became too sick or hurt to work and could no longer:
 
  • Save for retirement?
  • Contribute to their qualified retirement plans and receive employer matches (if available)?
  • Contribute to Social Security?

Even a short-term disability and loss of regular salary can eliminate years of savings and jeopardize your clients’ retirement dreams.

The Solution: Offer Disability Income Retirement Security

Disability Insurance Retirement Security is an innovative program that helps clients ensure their ability to continue saving for retirement in the event of any type of long-term or total disability.

It is ideal for individuals who:
  • Make at least $76,000 per year
  • Already have Disability Insurance – Group Long-Term Disability and/or Individual Disability Insurance
  • Understand the importance of Retirement Planning

You don’t need to be a Disability Income expert, we’re here to help. Contact your Disability Income Specialist with product questions, and for illustrations, case design and implementation.

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A++ Carrier, Over 10% Cap On The S&P 500

Rare Opportunity: A++ Carrier Now Offering Over 10% S&P 500 Cap on Fixed Indexed Annuity

In today’s shifting economic landscape — where interest rate cuts are widely expected and tariff tensions are making headlines again — it’s rare to see a safe-money product offering double-digit growth potential. That’s exactly what makes Reliance Standard Life’s recent rate update so remarkable.

A subsidiary of the globally respected TokioMarine Group and rated A++ by AM Best, Reliance Standard has raised the cap on its Accumulator Fixed Indexed Annuity to 10.25% on the S&P 500 1-Year Point-to-Point strategy. That makes it one of the only A++ rated carriers currently offering a cap over 10%.

While the Accumulator offers 5-, 7-, and 10-year terms, the 10-year option stands out as the best way to lock in this historically high cap. In a time when many expect rates to decline and market volatility to rise, clients have a narrow window to capture long-term upside without taking on market risk.

Why Indexed Annuities?

Fixed Indexed Annuities (FIAs) offer a unique combination of benefits:

  1. Zero market risk – your clients can’t lose principal due to market downturns.
  2. Annual gain lock-ins – once gains are credited, they’re locked in and can never be lost.
  3. No fees – most FIAs, including the Accumulator, come with no annual fees.

This is more than just a strong rate — it’s a rare combination of high growth potential, financial strength, and long-term security. For clients looking to ride out economic uncertainty with confidence, the Accumulator 10-Year offers a compelling opportunity that may not last long.

Call our Annuities Team today to see where this fits in your book.

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The Business Of The Family Business

The late Justice Antonin Scalia already had experience working with “a group of nine” when appointed to the Supreme Court in 1986.  He was the father of five sons and four daughters.  Being a conservative on matters of law he was often questioned concerning his oldest offspring whose opinions were more liberal than his own.  The Justice replied, “In a big family the first child is kind of like the first pancake.  If it’s not perfect, that’s okay, there are a lot more coming along.”

When children of SCOTUS fall far from the tree it makes good media copy.  When it happens in a family with a business it creates significant planning problems. 

Consider three common concerns when only some of a business owner’s offspring choose to follow in the footsteps of their entrepreneurial parent.

Playing percentages in the will.

The most typical dispositive instruction for an estate left to children gives each an equal fraction of the property.  This is fine so long as the testator believes that differences regarding the allocation of interest in a particular asset can be resolved without an issue.  But when a business owner intends that only certain children are to inherit the business his or her intentions must be expressed in a specific direction that the business go to the share of only intended future owners.  Instructions about who should and shouldn’t inherit a business must be exact and unambiguous and, better yet, understood by all prior to death.

The elephant in the room.

This can be a problem if the business accounts for too much of the estate’s value leaving too few non-business assets to non-business children.  But there are solutions.

If either or both parents are insurable, life insurance can be used to bring additional value (and liquidity) allowing for a larger and more flexible estate distributed without unintended business ownership by disinterested children.  Make sure the purchase of life insurance for estate equalization doesn’t create financial underwriting issues.  Also, address whether inheritance tax problems won’t be created or aggravated?

An intra-family buy-sell agreement may cover a multitude of sins.  The child who will carry on the business can have the right to purchase any interest transferred to other children.  The buying child can own the coverage on the parent to make the purchase.  This might also serve to alleviate financial underwriting questions and keep the proceeds out of the estate.  If the parent is uninsurable steps should still be taken to arrange an unfunded agreement that would allow for purchase of any scattered interests on terms as manageable as possible to all.

Employing Peter to pay Paul.

Often a child that goes to work in the family business becomes more capable, most valuable and more beneficial to the company as time goes by.  He or she accepts more responsibility, contributes more hard work and is involved in more decisions that increasingly contribute to the success and the net worth of the enterprise.  The child can make a legitimate argument that at least a part of the company’s value should not be considered in the estate hotchpot that is to be divided equally among other brothers and sisters who did not contribute.

Two common planning techniques that could recognize a participating child’s role in enhancing company value are either an increase of compensation or the adoption of a program of lifetime transfers of interest in the business.

The second is often accomplished by restructuring the business as a family limited liability company with non-voting interests.  This allows the parent to maintain control of the business regardless of the percentage of interest transferred during life.  Transfers (and their increases in value) are removed from estate tax liability, often with a valuation discount for gift tax purposes.

In the new high-lifetime-exemption tax environment, this is only one example of a common ongoing life insurance need for high-net-worth clients who may not have estate tax issues.  Call Tom Virkler for further case discussion at 706-614-3796, or tom@cpsadvancedmarkets.com!

For What It’s Worth:  The Guinness record-holder for most pancakes served in eight hours is the IHOP in Santa Monica, CA, which served 25,629 pancakes to 8,543 guests earlier this year.  Only the first customer had any complaints!

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Brain Power For Underwriting Seizures And Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by recurring seizures. Diagnosis is typically made when a person has had two or more seizures.

Seizures are a result of disturbances in the electrical activity of the brain.

There are many causes including genetics, traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain tumors. Epilepsy is termed as ‘idiopathic” when the specific cause cannot be identified.
 
There are two major groups: focal seizures and generalized seizures. The difference between the two is how and when they begin in the brain.
 
Focal seizures involve activity limited to only one area of the brain:
  • Simple or Partial Focal – affects a small part of the brain without affecting consciousness or awareness. They may alter emotions, smell, feel, taste, sound. Involuntary jerking or sensory symptoms may also occur.
  • Complex or Partial Focal – similar to simple focal, but also involves impaired consciousness.
Generalized seizures involve widespread activity in both sides of the brain:
  • Tonic-clonic or grand mal – involves body convulsions. Muscles will stiffen (tonic phase) and the body will jerk and twitch rhythmically (clonic phase).
  • Absence seizures or petit mal – a milder, brief type of activity that causes unconsciousness without convulsions.
Here are two case studies:
  • A 52-year-old male
  • Has a history of childhood idiopathic epilepsy with mild absence type seizures that started at age eight.
  • Controlled with medication which was stopped at age 20.
  • There have been no seizures since.
Offer: Preferred
 
  • 42-year-old male
  • He began having complex seizures at age 26.
  • His MRI was negative.
  • For the past five years he has been maintained on two drugs with an average of five seizures per year.
  • Does not drink alcohol.
Offer: Low substandard
 
Call our Life Underwriting Team to discuss the specific details of your client’s seizure or epilepsy history. Let’s work together to get the offer you need!
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A Solution For The Client Who Wants It All

Client’s today are looking for solutions with complete flexibility that solve multiple needs, for a number of different situations. Often times, the client is searching for a “perfect” solution that guarantees a winning scenario in all circumstances.

For those exceptionally competitive clients, who are looking for a successful outcome in all scenarios, a Linked Benefit solution is the perfect fit.

While the future can never be predicted, one thing you can guarantee your client is that one of the following three scenarios will happen every time:
  • They will pass away without an LTC claim and their beneficiaries will receive a tax free death benefit
  • They will have an extended health care event and gain access to leveraged LTC benefits
  • They will later decide they want to surrender the policy and the carrier will provide a full refund of premium
With a Linked Benefit solution, you can provide a solution for not just one or two scenarios, but all three.
 
A Linked Benefit Policy covers both Long-Term Care (LTC) coverage and life insurance, and at the same time offers a Return of Premium Rider.
 
Linked Benefit policies attract people who:
  • Are retired, or approaching retirement
  • Are more affluent with higher net worth
  • Want to protect against potential LTC expenses AND leave a legacy to their loved ones
These policies help prepare your client simultaneously for a potential long term care event, an unexpected death, or immediate access to cash. Your clients’ needs may change with time, so the more options and flexibility, the better.
 
To show your clients how to position themselves in a winning hand, no matter the scenario, contact your LTC Sales Department today.
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Disability Income Executive Bonus Plan

Many firms are finding it harder to obtain, retain, and reward select key employees and executives. Using a little known technique, employers can use special benefit options to give “select employees” Disability Income protection in the form of company paid tax deductible benefits.
 
I have found that a 162 Executive Bonus Plan is one of the best methods for employers who want to provide non qualified benefits to select employees on a legally discriminatory basis and also want to attract and retain quality long term employees.
 
How does it work?
 
The Executive Bonus involves the purchase of a Disability Income policy on the life of a select employee. The employer pays the premium on the disability policy and includes the premium in the taxable wages of the employee.

Because the employee is reporting the premium as income, the benefits from the policy then become tax free if the employee should get sick or hurt.

With the Executive Bonus, the employer will take a full income tax deduction for the premiums paid under section 162 of the I.R.C.
 
It has been my experience that some employers choose to pay not only the premium amount, but also the employees’ portion of the taxes that will be due on the premium. This second “bonus” pays the employees’ income tax on the first premium and creates what is called a double bonus plan.
 
Benefits to the employer:
  • Employer Selects Key Employees
  • Employer Receives Tax Deduction
  • Fully Discriminatory
  • Offering Customized Benefits
  • Easy Implementation
  • No Administration Beyond Normal Payroll
Benefits to the employee:
  • Employee has Disability Benefits
  • Employee Owns the DI contract
  • Disability Benefits are Tax Free
  • Little or No Out-of-Pocket cost
  • The Policy is Portable
  • Future Insurability can be Guaranteed
Last but not least:
  • Employer payments are wages to the employee and are subject to FICA and FUTA
  • A Sole Proprietor or owner of S Corporation may not deduct premiums on his or her Individual Disability Insurance. Such premiums are nondeductible personal expenses. IRC Section 262. A sole proprietor may however deduct premiums on an employee of the sole proprietorship.
  • The employer may not take a tax deduction for premium paid on Individual Disability Insurance if the policy is corporate owned in terms of Key-man Replacement and Disability Buyout.
  • Business Overhead Expense Premiums are deductible for Business Expenses
Please contact your Disability Income Sales Rep to discuss any potential opportunities you may have.
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Lifetime Exemptions – High, Dry, And Ready To Fly!

Many that suffer from dementia experience increased confusion or agitation with the approach of evening.  The condition is referred to as sundowning.  Its cause is uncertain, often attributed to a combination of factors such as exhaustion from the day’s activities, changes in the internal body clock, or reduced light leading to confusion between day and night.

Since 2018 many high-net-worth citizens have experienced an increasing anxiety of their own as a legislative timeline progressed – and its cause was certain: a multi-million dollar increase in their federal estate tax liability on January 1, 2026, unless some hard planning steps were taken.  Call the condition sun-setting!

But all that changed with the final stroke of a pen on the White House north lawn as the nation began its 250th year.  Section 70106 of the reconciliation package known as The One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) made permanent a $15,000,000 transfer tax lifetime exemption to take effect on January 1, 2026, to be adjusted for the cost-of-living each year thereafter.

The downside for the life insurance industry is that the change substantially reduces the potential market for sales where the purchase of coverage is to avoid the anticipated reduction of an estate due to taxes at death. 

Since the gross estate is roughly equivalent to net worth, those affected would be single taxpayers currently worth more than $15,000,000 or married couples with a joint net worth of $30,000,000.  Estimates are that now only 0.25-0.5% of households are affected by the tax.

The good news is that such a significant change in the law justifies a call to all clients, even those who might not have tax exposure, for several reasons – some of which might still create a need for coverage.

Consider: 
  • Without planning are they really free from death federal death tax? Briefly explain why a client is protected by the new law.  But look out for “gotchas” that could unexpectedly expose the state to tax – the most common being large existing life policies inside the estate. 
  • Does the state have a death tax? Half the states tax assets located in their jurisdiction, often at rates more onerous than the Federal government. 
  • Will married couples really protect $30,000,000? Most couple don’t use one of their exemptions at the first death, but steps must be taken to assure they get both at the second.
  • Can a lifetime bypass trust still benefit? There still may be advantages to the use of an exemption to fund a lifetime bypass trust with access to assets by a spouse.   Trust property is protected from creditors and growth is kept outside the estate!
  • Are any changes really permanent?  The high exemption is permanent only in the sense that there is no sunset provision.  The law can be changed by the government at any time.
  • Are there other liquidation needs at death? Despite protection from tax, large estates, especially those that are illiquid, often have a large need for cash, especially for estate equalization among heirs.
  • Do rich heirs like losing an earned income stream? Income replacement is the most common risk management concern among clients.  High-net-worth taxpayers are no exception. 
  • Is anyone watching the store? A high exemption does not protect high-net-worth clients from other insurable risks in the businesses that may make up a portion of their estate.  Discuss key person coverage, funded business transition agreements, and benefits for key personnel.

The reality may be that many high-net-worth clients who have delayed planning for the anticipated high-exemption-sunset have also delayed proper planning in general and, despite relief from death tax liability, have issues to address to which they should be alerted.  It’s worth a call.

We’ll discuss these ongoing planning concerns going forward.  Or contact me and we’ll discuss them now along with both your clients and their advisors, if you choose, at 706-614-3796 or tom@cpsadvancedmarkets.com!

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How To Convert On 75% Of Your Sales Opportunities

Providing a needs-based analysis to customers helps them understand how life insurance can work for them and their families.

Three-quarters of shoppers who received a needs analysis bought life insurance.

When a needs analysis was not completed, less than half of the prospects purchased life insurance. A needs analysis will help identify the true amount of coverage necessary. It will ensure all of the client’s concerns and objectives are addressed and remove any uncertainty concerning whether they may be over-insured or under-insured.
 
It also provides you with greater insight as to the specific financial challenges that your clients are facing and open the door for you to recommend solutions for life insurance and other product lines that can help them protect their financial futures.
 
The Cross-Selling Opportunity
 
If you are not a Life Insurance Specialist, these fact finders can help you to cross-sell life insurance to your existing clients and businesses. You have a dedicated team here to help you through each step of the sales process.
 
If your core business practice is life insurance and you do not currently implement any fact finders or a needs analysis in your sales process, ask yourself if you are converting on 75% of your client opportunities?
 
We have a number of marketing pieces to help identify the proper amount of personal insurance coverage in a traditional family structure, domestic partnership, special needs planning situation and even in the business insurance marketplace.
 
Contact us today to learn more!

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