When the nonworking spouse of a family dies prematurely, who is going to take care of the children? The financial burden of child care can be devastating to a family.  According to Child Care Aware of America, the average annual cost of child care per child ranges from $3,600 – $15,000.

Who’s going to cook dinner and provide meals if the nonworking spouse of a family dies prematurely? This will lead to more take-out dinners and dining out.  This can average around $100 per week!

Or who will take the child to their soccer game? Who’s going to do the laundry? How about cleaning the house? Who’s going to teach the kids important life values? The United States Bureau of Labor places the costs of a full-time nanny anywhere from $15,000 – $30,000.

The bottom line: VALUE THE ROLE.  The combined costs of losing the nonworking spouse can be detrimental to a family, especially a low-income family.  Many consumers think that only the breadwinner needs life insurance, and that’s just not the case.  Fortunately, Legal & General America has great rates for women.  Click here to view OPTerm Rates for Women.  Or call Kurt M. Thomas or Jerry C. Thomas for quotes.

Good Selling,

JLT

A great idea is to do a 1035 exchange into a guaranteed level premium, guaranteed death benefit type of product.  But what if the client has multiple needs? What if they want to protect themselves for future long-term care needs? Or what if the 1035 exchange into a Guaranteed Universal Life policy produces a larger-than-needed death benefit?

Few life insurance companies will allow a partial 1035 exchange from their life insurance policies; and even if they do, Genworth won’t take a partial 1035 exchange.  A great strategy is to do a full 1035 exchange split into multiple new policies.

By splitting an old cash value life insurance policy between GenGuard Guaranteed Universal Life and Genworth Total Living Coverage policies, clients will have a written plan for their end of life care.  They will be able to create the needed guaranteed death benefit and a pool of money they can use towards qualified long term care expenses.  Call Kurt M. Thomas with questions.

Good Selling,

JLT

When your client purchases a Legal & General America policy, they will have access to MediGuide.  MediGuide provides a comprehensive and easy medical second opinion review.  Members who have been diagnosed with life threatening illnesses can have their diagnoses and treatment plans evaluated by disease specialists at world leading medical centers.

The program provides your clients with comprehensive information and advice to help them make important decisions about their health.  Second opinions are provided in writing within ten business days, complete with background information on the advising doctors and medical centers.

Take a moment to review the details of this program. Because with a serious illness at hand,
peace-of-mind may often be one of the best medicines.  Click here to view Legal & General’s two-minute video on MediGuide America .  If you have any questions, please contact Kurt M. Thomas or Jerry C. Thomas.

Good Selling,

JLT

Step into the business market by offering a value-add service that sells.  Principal Financial Group offers complimentary services for your business owners that are great “door-openers” for business cases that can lead to life and disability sales.

Consider the real opportunity for you as a producer.  Small-business owners represent a very lucrative market with significant risk-protection needs.  The most common business life insurance purchases are to provide liquidity for the owner’s family, manage continuity planning after the loss of a key employee, repay loans and mortgages and cover the costs associated with a buy-sell agreement.

Most business owners have no buy-sell agreement in place.  And if they do have one in place, chances are it’s outdated.  Principal, who is well-recognized in the business market, has a team of CPAs, attorneys, advanced markets, and consultants, who will review an existing buy-sell agreement for free, no strings attached.

Another common situation business owners face is not knowing the true value of their company’s worth.  Principal’s Business Executive Team will step in and conduct a free informal business valuation of the company.  The team will take the past three years’ income statements and balance sheets and conduct five different valuation calculations (book value, straight capitalization, earnings capitalization, years’ purchase, and discounted future earnings) and average them together to determine the value of the company.

This service would cost thousands on the street.  The report you provide to the business owner provides a lot of information about protecting their business.  You will be able to uncover retirement needs, exit planning, estate planning, and business protection.

Click here to view Principal’s Generate Sales with Informal Business Valuations and Buy Sell Reviews document.  Call Kurt M. Thomas or Jerry C. Thomas for more information.

Good Selling,

JLT

• The chance of winning the Powerball Jackpot……….1 in 175,223,510
• The chance of being struck by lightning………. 1 in 280,000
• The chance of hitting a hole-in-one……….1 in 150,000
• The chance of missing at least 90-days of work due to a disability………. 1 in 3

Getting clients to realize how difficult it would be to maintain their current way of living without their income is the most important part of the sale.  Mutual of Omaha’s Consumer DI Needs Brochure is a great place to start.  It has statistics, as well as an expense/earnings worksheet to help show the client how they would pay for their bills if they became disabled.

Even if your client is insured through their employer, most group disability plans are not portable.  Also, if the disability plan is paid by the employer, the benefit would be taxable to the employee.  Furthermore, an individual plan is much more flexible for the individual.  Additionally, the vast majority of disabling accidents are not work-related, and therefore not covered by any workers’ compensation plan.

The bottom line is that everyone of us face a 1 in 3 chance of missing 90 days of work due to a disability.  When we are disabled, our income goes down and our expenses go up.  Are your clients willing to gamble all of what they’ve worked so hard to save? Our DI carriers which are Mutual of Omaha, Assurity, Principal, and Peterson International, all offer solutions that will protect your clients’ most important asset…their income.  Call Kurt M. Thomas or Phyllis C. Dall for questions with Disability Income Insurance.

Good Selling,

JLT

The statistics are staggering.  At least 70 percent of people over age 65 will require long-term care services at some point in their lives.  Right now, there are 78 million baby boomers in the United States who will retire in the next two decades.  The national average cost of a year of nursing home care today is nearly $73,000, with home health care costing much more.  The bottom line, will your clients be ready for their long-term care needs?

A John Hancock permanent life insurance policy with a long-term care rider allows your client the flexibility to use all, some or none of their life insurance death benefit to pay long-term care expenses.  Any portion not used for care is passed along to their beneficiaries at the time of the insured’s death.

How it works is simple. The death benefit is essentially a pool of money that can be used for long-term care expenses.  To trigger a long-term care claim, the insured is unable to perform two or more of the six activities of daily living or is found to have a cognitive impairment.  Benefits begin once the 100-day elimination period is satisfied. The elimination period begins on the first day that long-term care services are received and is satisfied on a non-consecutive basis.

The death benefit is reduced dollar-for-dollar if the client continues to need long-term care services after the 100-day elimination period is satisfied.  John Hancock utilizes a reimbursement model with the only restriction being the monthly maximum benefit.  The reimbursement model does not create a taxable event for claim payments because the expenses are incurred.  This means reimbursements are not subject to the HIPPA daily limit.

Since the long-term care rider works on a reimbursement model, the client could use much less than the monthly maximum allotted by the policy.  Say, for instance, the monthly maximum at 4% is $10,000 but the client only needs to be reimbursed for $5,000 in long-term care expenses.  The remaining $5,000 in benefit coverage will stay with the policy to be used towards death benefit or additional long-term care needs.  

The owner can add the long-term care continuation rider to their policy for even more protection.  The long-term care continuation rider allows payments to continue after the base policy’s total death benefit has been fully accelerated.  Essentially, it doubles the pool of money that can be used for long-term care expenses.  Lastly, if all of the death benefit is used to pay long-term care services, there’s still a residual death benefit that is equal to the lesser of 10% of the original face amount or $25,000.

Help your clients write their end-of-life care plan.  Show them how John Hancock’s long-term care rider can provide a solution.  Click here for more information on the JH LTC Rider.  Or contact Kurt M. Thomas or Jerry C. Thomas to discuss in more detail how the long-term care rider works.

Good Selling,

JLT

Considering all the economic turbulence of recent years, it’s no wonder why consumers are looking for guarantees. Guaranteed Universal Life insurance locks in premiums and a death benefit for life, or up to a specific amount of time, as long as the premiums are paid on time and no cash value is withdrawn.

Transamerica’s TransACE 2013 gives clients lifetime guarantees they want. In addition to guaranteed level premiums and a guaranteed death benefit, the TransACE is also one of the most flexible Guaranteed Universal Life products in the marketplace.  Additional riders like the Long-Term Care rider and the Income Protection Option make this product stand out.  What makes this product very unique is a built-in feature called the Multiflex Surrender Endorsement (MSE).

The MSE gives clients the option of surrendering a policy and receiving back the premiums paid-in, providing greater control for handling life’s changes.  How it works is simple – if the client wants to surrender their policy they can do so in the 15th year, 20th year, 25th year, or any year thereafter and receive the lesser of 100% of the gross premiums paid-in or 33% of the face amount.  Let’s take a look at an example:

45-year old male, preferred nonsmoker, $250,000 guaranteed lifetime coverage, Ohio:

Annual Premium: $2,263
Multiflex Surrender Value Age 60: $33,945
Multiflex Surrender Value Age 70: $56,575
Multiflex Surrender Value Age 80: $79,205

The combination of guaranteed premiums and a guaranteed death benefit with a return of premium feature makes this an ideal product in today’s environment.  The product can be used as pure death benefit protection or buy-sell situations.  Competitive underwriting and additional riders like the Long-Term Care Rider and Income Protection Option can be added on.  Please contact Kurt M. Thomas or Jerry C. Thomas for questions on the Transamerica’s TransACE 2013.  Click here for TransACE 2013 quick facts.

Good Selling,

JLT

The low interest rate environment, coupled with stricter reserve requirements from Actuarial Guideline 38, continues to impact products with secondary guarantees.  As so, Prudential is repricing their UL Protector effective February 25, 2013.

Based on state approvals, the following changes will take place:

• Full-pay scenarios will increase, on average, approximately 0.5%
• Single-pay scenarios will increase, across the board, 5.8%.

Transition Rules:

• February 25, 2013: New rates for PruLife UL Protector are in effect.  
• February 25th – March 24th: All applications signed and dated on or before March 24, 2013 will receive new rates.  If old rates are desired,  a written request, along with the appropriate illustration version, needs to be submitted with the application.
• March 25, 2013: All applications signed and dated on or after March 25, 2013 will receive new rates.

Why are Carriers Increasing Premiums on their Guaranteed UL Products?

First off, no lapse guarantees keep the policy in force, for life or for a specified length of time, as long as the premium is paid on time and no cash value is withdrawn.  The historically low interest rate environment has proved it difficult for life insurers to generate sufficient investment returns to meet the minimum guarantees of these policies.  The pervasive effect is an increase in premiums.

The bottom line – As long as interest rates remain historically low into the foreseeable future, prices will continue to increase across the board.

If you have any questions about Prudential’s Repricing Rules, Actuarial Guideline 38, or the low interest rate environment, please contact Kurt M. Thomas.

Good Selling,

JLT

American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012

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JLT

Introducing www.ezTERMbiz.com, the fast and easy way to submit your term life insurance business. The process is simple. Run your quote and fill out a brief online order. It only takes a few minutes. We do the rest.

The process involves “Drop Tickets”. Designed to simplify and speed application processing for the insurance industry and increase placement ratios, Drop Tickets enable the agent to accelerate their sales.

The first step is to visit ezTERMbiz and get a free account. Then, you run your quote on our quoting engine. Once you submit the information, only Drop Ticket carriers will populate.

Next, click on the ezTERMbiz logo next to the carrier you want. This will lead you to the online order form. Here, you’ll complete the Drop Ticket. All you enter is your client’s name, face amount, underwriting class, and beneficiary information.

Your Drop Ticket is then processed by a personable customer service representative who will contact your client within 24-48 hours to complete the full application over the phone. As part of the comprehensive support, the paramed exam is scheduled at your client’s convenience.

Your client will sign the application at the end of the paramed exam and the case will go through underwriting. Once your case is issued, delivered, and placed, you’re paid 100% of your regular commissions.

ezTERMbiz is a subsidiary of J.L.Thomas & Company, specialists in life insurance brokerage and special risk insurance. If you have any questions about selling term life insurance the fast, easy and profitable way, call Kurt M. Thomasor Jerry C. Thomas.

Good Selling,

JLT