Enhance a Legacy: Pass it on!

Legacy planning is not only for the super wealthy. Passing on a legacy can be as simple as maintaining a loved one’s lifestyle after death or more complex like leaving a gift for charity or paying estate taxes. Life insurance can be an important tool in helping to accomplish these objectives and more.

Whether grandparents want to skip a generation, a second marriage needs to keep things equitable for a blended family, or a single parent needs to provide and protect, life insurance plays a pivotal role in transferring wealth.

Imagine how the client conversation changes if instead of asking, "would you like to buy life insurance to protect your family," you ask, "would you like to leave a legacy for your family?" 

We have you covered with our Legacy Planning resources! Check them out today and reach out to your MVP representative for legacy recommendations.  

Estate Planning is for Everyone

Every client can benefit from estate planning. Of course, estate planning needs vary from client to client, ranging from simple solutions to complex strategies custom-designed for high-net-worth clients.

To help determine the right approach to use with your clients and prospects, refer to this guide for an overview of the many estate planning strategies. Review the information to become familiar with the strategies and target client profiles; then, when you come across opportunities in your book of business, we can help you deliver the best approach to meet clients’ financial wellness needs.

Also, check out these additional resources, and watch our monthly sales solution video: 

Offset Future Tax Uncertainty

As more potential changes in the tax code arise, no one can predict what one will face when they retire. Since many retirement assets generate a tax bill, taxes can undermine your clients' plans and leave them with less than they expect. Fortunately, in addition to a typically federal income tax-free death benefit, life insurance can help. If a policy accumulates enough cash value, taking a one-time loan or withdrawal from it can supplement retirement income. 

Life insurance with cash value growth potential can be a valuable tool for taking control of taxes in retirement by harnessing the power of its tax benefits! Help your clients understand how their assets will be taxed in retirement, and the importance of tax diversification. 

This interactive Tax Challenge Tool from Prudential Financial can help them keep more of their hard-earned money by managing how their retirement assets are taxed. Share this client-approved experience to see how client’s portfolio’s stack up.

This information is provided for educational purposes only and does not take into account the investment objectives or financial situation of any client or prospective clients. The information is not intended as investment or tax advice and is not a recommendation about managing or investing retirement savings.

Review and Grow in 2022

Do you want to reinforce your value and grow your practice in 2022? Research continues to prove that policy reviews are an excellent way for advisors to connect with clients, yet many are not making the most of this valuable opportunity.

80% of clients find annual review meetings to be very effective, and almost all say it strengthens loyalty to their advisor. Four in five clients report the review meetings reinforce their willingness to make a referral.

64 million Americans are looking for an advisor they can trust. If you want to strengthen and grow your practice this year, diversify your business plan and your clients’ portfolios with life insurance. A policy review discussion is the perfect segue to other topics and more sales opportunities. 

Identify clients who are likely to have in-force life insurance policies or simply ask if they own life insurance beyond what their employer provides. Ask them if their life insurance still reflects their current protection needs and financial goals? 

Set yourself apart from the competition by emphasizing the unique value a policy review provides. We have the tools to help you get started and ensure your reviews live up to your clients' expectations. Check out our policy review resources here. 

The future is filled with opportunity and we are committed to your success. Contact your MVP Financial representative with any questions or assistance you need. 

Who Couldn't Use Extra Money in Time of Need?

We buy life insurance to provide financial security for our loved ones in the event of our death. With improvements in medicine, however, the recovery rate for once fatal conditions like cancer, heart attack, and stroke have improved dramatically. So what happens to that security if we don't die from a critical illness? 

Many people are not prepared for the financial fallout of a critical illness. Health insurance doesn't cover everything and higher deductibles and general healthcare costs are adding stress to people’s lives and budgets. Help your clients and prospects fill the financial gap with critical illness insurance. Offer them more than money... Give them options, choices, and control when they feel they have none.

The Critical Illness sales market is predicted to grow 22%* annually. If you are interested in double-digit sales growth, you should be looking at adding critical illness insurance to your portfolio. 

Critical Illness is available as an independent policy or can be added to some life insurance policies as a living benefit rider. Talk to your MVP representative about easing financial worries for your clients by offering them critical illness coverage today. 

*“2018 U.S. Critical Illness Insurance Market Study Shows Continued Strong Growth.” Gen Re, Sept. 11, 2018

Do All the Clients You Serve Have Life Insurance?

If there is one thing we’ve learned over time, it’s that when it comes to security and protection, life insurance is very important. The pandemic undeniably shifted the mindset of many and re-shaped how people view the future and their financial security. Therefore, more of your clients and prospects are realizing the importance of life insurance.  

According to research, 50% of your clients don't have any life insurance or they don't have the amount they truly need to protect. September’s Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM) is a great opportunity to get the word out, start a life insurance conversation with clients and prospects, and get families and businesses the life insurance coverage they need.

Don't settle for just one carrier or product that may not serve the needs of your clients. Talk to an MVP Financial representative for real-life solutions from an A+ list of carriers with affordable and diverse life insurance products.

Big Opportunities in Small Business

Small business owners face many struggles including balancing their work and personal life, hiring the right people, and making strategic plans. Plus, most are focused on bouncing back from last year and looking for ways to grow and plan for the future. The pandemic taught this vast market the importance of being prepared to better handle the next crisis in the face of life’s uncertainties. 

When it comes to the success of a business, their employees most likely have a huge impact. Having the right benefits in place for key employees can make an important difference in their business’ success.  Owners also should pay attention to how they might entice key employees to stay and help grow the business.

You can help your small business owner clients protect their business and keep their MVPs. Talk to them about using life and disability insurance to offer competitive benefits that will keep and attract top talent, reward performance-based incentives for motivation to achieve business goals and encourage loyalty with long-term retirement options.

A business valuation becomes important in the event of an owner’s disability or death.  Nevertheless, many small business owners do not know the value of their company. From an insurance-planning perspective, the value of a business is also an integral part of succession planning, estate equalization and even estate-tax planning. To help you assist your business-owner clients in determining the value of their businesses, MVP Financial has free resources to assist. 

Consider a Permanent Solution

While term insurance is extremely popular and economical, it is only temporary. Nevertheless, no one can truly predict what the future holds and everyone's financial story is different; term insurance alone might not be the best solution. There are good reasons to consider a permanent type of life insurance - including the potential for lifetime coverage. 

Your clients and prospects are the youngest and healthiest they will ever be today, and leveraging that now can pay off later. Help your clients keep their financial independence. Don't put them in the difficult situation of still needing life insurance coverage after the level term (or conversion) period expires and not being young enough or healthy enough to afford it. 

Let's use the example of Principal Financial's latest announcement to exit the individual life insurance market by end of Q3 this year... Most term policies have a guarantee of conversion, but there is no guarantee of what permanent products will be available to convert to. As carrier's pull out of the market, the permanent product availability becomes narrowed and potentially expensive. 

Help your clients understand the important features of a permanent life insurance policy. While permanent life insurance may be more expensive compared to term life insurance, keep their best interest on point. Discuss their options to determine the best balance of life insurance coverage for their unique situation.

www.mvp4me.com

"But, You Said..."

We have all been there with a life insurance applicant. We want to believe that because our client looks healthy (and says they are), they will definitely qualify for the Preferred Best underwriting classification. So, we quote it. We compare all of the premiums, and the client chooses to go with the least expensive. We submit the application without giving it another thought.

Until... the underwriting process uncovers something that is not a big deal in day to day living but is a concern from a mortality perspective.

So, now your client has lost confidence in the process, and is upset because of the additional underwriting that takes additional time. Plus, the premium is now higher than expected!

Less than 10% of life insurance applicants qualify for the best classification, and we can help you work smarter by quoting the right classification the first time. We have a questionnaire that you can use at the front-end of the sale with your clients and prospects to avoid unrealistic hopes and limit the resulted disappointment. 

Use our Underwriting Criteria Questionnaire to quote the right classification the first time without setting unrealistic expectations for the underwriting outcome.

Get on Board the LOVE Train

A Greek word for selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love is Agape (pronounced uh-GAH-pay). The kind of love a parent has for a child. There is no question that our country could use more love these days, and February is the perfect month to perform some simple acts of love with your clients. 

Opportunity 
According to LIMRA research, one benefit that has come out of the pandemic is more Americans are increasingly aware of their need for life insurance. 60 million US households have little to no life insurance coverage and nearly 30% of survey respondents say they will likely purchase a policy in the next year. We are hopeful they will follow through and get the coverage they need to protect their families, however they may need a little push from their friendly insurance advisor.

Agape 
People want to protect their loved ones, and one of the best ways to do that financially is with life insurance. Life Happens created and coordinates the Insure Your Love campaign because the basic motivation behind the purchase of life insurance is love. Many MVP carriers participate in the industrywide awareness campaign. So, get on board the industry LOVE train by promoting the importance and power of proper insurance planning.

Rethink the Life Insurance Request for Its Purpose

The most requested type of life insurance is term because it is less expensive, but it is not always the right type of life insurance for every client. Advisors who only take the request and make the sale of term insurance without proper evaluation for the appropriate need are doing a disservice to their clients.  

In the event of an unexpected death, life insurance is more than standalone protection for family members; it is a valuable planning tool that should be part of an overall financial strategy for personal and business preparations. 

Definitely consider term insurance when it comes to limited budgets, short-term needs or supplementation for existing life insurance coverage. Young families with children are a great example of fulfilling the essential need of income replacement and mortgage protection. Meanwhile, term insurance has no cash value, renewal premiums are expensive beyond the level term period and extending or converting a policy may require additional medical or underwriting requirements, it's also important to take into consideration that each stage of life has different needs to protect.

Permanent insurance is less expensive than most people think, and it provides flexibility, lifelong coverage that can protect in sickness, early death and even living too long. Contemplate permanent insurance for its ability to accumulate value and complete a strategy. 

Trying to sell one life insurance policy that will cover all needs for their entire lifetime would probably exceed most budgets. So addressing the needs in a cost-effective and budget-friendly way may be a combination of term and permanent life insurance policies. 

Working with your clients to determine what type of life insurance is desirable and developing a plan tailored to their specific needs is important. Help them create a strategy that is best for them now and looking into the future. 

Get solutions to tailored life insurance here.

Flip the Script on Life Insurance

Many people think of buying life insurance as a reluctant task. Selling life insurance under "normal" circumstances can be difficult. The pandemic has added another dimension to that struggle. It's time to flip the script to help your clients and prospects see that life insurance is a needed investment in their family's protection, and Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM) is the perfect time to get started. 

Life insurance protects by providing a means to:

1. Pay for funeral expenses
2. Pay the on-going monthly bills
3. Pay off outstanding debts
4. Continue a family business
5. Finance the children's education
6. Protect a spouse's retirement

Life Happens, the official sponsor of LIAM, conducted a survey in late May of this year: 66% of the participants said the pandemic has increased their understanding for the value of life insurance. Nearly 25% of the survey participants said they had purchased life insurance for the first time because of the pandemic. Nevertheless, 43% of people are not protecting their loved ones with life insurance yet.

Many life insurance carriers have perfected online applications and electronic policy delivery, so social distancing in the sales processes is accomplished. And with the accelerated underwriting possibilities, your clients may not need to meet with a paramed examiner either!

The bottom line is that life insurance is one of the only products available that can meet the need to financially protect your clients. Your clients and prospects are more open to purchasing life insurance, and carriers are making the transaction easy and painless as ever. So, what are you waiting for? If you’re not talking with them about it, someone else probably is! 

Specialized Planning Needs an Ideal Solution

Families who have loved ones with disabilities require specialized planning and should consider a properly funded Special Needs Trust with life insurance as an effective way to address their unique and specific needs.

When dealing with a disabled child, the two most important goals are to provide for the child’s needs and simultaneously provide financial protection for the assets that are set up to meet those needs. Basically, a trust is a legal entity through which the legal ownership of property is separated from the right to benefit from the property. The legal title to property that is placed in trust belongs to the trustee but the trustee is legally obligated to use the trust property only for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiary.

Life insurance is an ideal vehicle to fund a special needs trust. This is because the death proceeds become immediately available at the deaths of the parents. So the policy selected should provide level premiums, increasing cash values and contain provisions that will sustain the policy in the face of the parents’ inability to pay premiums due to old age or disability. A whole life or universal life type policy can provide increasing cash values to maintain the policy during the parents’ old age and a waiver of premium provision can cover the parent’s disability.

Daily life brings unique challenges and joys for families with special needs. Caring for disabled loved ones may leave little time for anything else, and creating a long-term strategy can seem like a daunting task. By creating a properly funded Special Needs Trust with life insurance, you can help your clients create a source of funds to provide essential care in an unexpected event.

Get Solutions for Special Needs Planning here

Panic Shopping for Life Insurance Amid Coronavirus

According to Forbes, not only are Americans panic shopping for food, water and toilet paper during the pandemic; some are also panic shopping for Life Insurance. Many quoting agencies are reporting as much as a 50% increase in life insurance applications since mid-February. 

At MVP Financial, we have seen a similar increase in life insurance applications. While more Americans are working from home and taking care of their families, reaching out to clients and prospects for a "well check" could lead to a conversation about concerns to move life insurance shopping to the top of their to-do list. 

For obvious reasons right now, electronic application submission with e-policy delivery is the quickest process. With our Quick App solutions, you don’t need to meet face-to-face with your clients to take an application or deliver the policy.

And with the accelerated underwriting possibilities, your clients may not need to meet with a paramed examiner either!

Since the coronavirus outbreak, many of our carriers and service providers are experiencing a slow down in service. We have received notices from paramedical services, APS retrieval services, contracting personnel, phone interview providers, and carriers regarding their processing lag times. Consequently, it might take an extra day or two for each step of application underwriting to be completed. If you work with us, you can be assured that we are doing everything possible to keep your cases on track for timely submission to commission!

We are committed to supporting your needs as you service your clients and are ready to assist you with solutions for peace of mind, income protection, gifting options, wealth transfer, succession plan funding, and portfolio risk mitigation. The partnership values that drive us every day will carry us through this pandemic.

Life Insurance Can Help Pay for Long-Term Care Needs

Medicare, Medicaid and other retiree health plans typically will not cover the expense of long-term care (LTC). It’s important to talk to your clients and assess their LTC needs, so that together you can create a financial plan to help prepare them for the costs they may face. For clients with a life insurance need, consider a life insurance policy with an LTC Rider.

Take advantage of Long-Term Care Awareness month to talk to your clients about their plans for handling an LTC event. Many people wait too long before discussing their LTC preferences and options and risk having to make decisions quickly and under the duress of an immediate need. Show them how an LTC rider can help them alleviate the potential financial, emotional, and physical burden that they and their loved ones could face if such need arises.

The subject of  LTC can make many people uncomfortable because it is equated with a nursing home. However, having the LTC conversation allows families to get on the same page regarding who will provide care, where care will be provided and how it will be paid for. Waiting until an LTC event occurs to force the issue often results in limited options.

Asking “What if?” questions is a great way to get the conversation started and encourages them to think ahead about what LTC actually involves. For most, LTC will begin at home with the help provided by family members and friends. At some point, care can progress to options outside of the home.

In a recent study by the AARP Policy Institute, half of caregivers reported they had no choice in taking on their care giving responsibilities. Proper planning can help ensure that your client's retain the power of choice in an LTC scenario. It’s especially important for couples to anticipate the cost of care for an ailing partner and preserve options for the surviving spouse’s continued living expenses and LTC needs.

LTC planning shares similarities with many other client needs you already address. Starting the conversation early allows for better options to your clients, which leads to more satisfaction and referrals.

The Role of Life Insurance in Estate Planning

Estate planning is often thought of as something that only applies to the very wealthy. In reality, there are several fundamental components of estate planning that everyone should consider to ensure their loved ones are cared for and their legacy lives on as intended. 

Life insurance is widely used in estate planning because it provides an important source of liquidity at the death of the insured. Since death benefits are usually received free of income tax, insurance proceeds can be free of estate tax as well, with proper estate planning. Whether it is used for personal, business, or charitable reasons, life insurance can help your clients plan for the future. 

MVP Financial has estate planning resources to assist you with proper planning for your clients. 

Use #EstatePlanningAwarenessWeek in your social media posts.

The Easy Underwriting Path

It is the quick and easy path to an underwriting decision; usually without involving labs or exams. However, it's important to be mindful when promoting these types of programs with your clients.

Many of your clients may not qualify for accelerated underwriting, so it's vital to set appropriate expectations ahead of time. Know the details to these programs beforehand and pre-screen your clients.

Examples of Accelerated Underwriting Programs

Using Life Insurance to Pay for Long-Term Care

Opinions differ on whether an Acceleration Rider on a life insurance policy is an adequate substitute for a separate LTCI policy or not. The answer depends, in part, on the size of a life insurance policy, the money received while the policy is in-force to pay long-term care costs, and how much long-term care is expected to cost at the time it's needed.

66% of Americans surveyed say long-term
care planning is important, but only 20%
have discussed the topic with an advisor 

If you do the math, you'll discover that an LTC Rider on a life insurance policy won't cover all of  the possible long-term care expenses. In fact, it may give a false sense of security that all needs would be met. And keep in mind that long-term care benefits received will reduce a policy's death benefit, possibly leaving little or nothing for beneficiaries.

However, the premiums on a stand-alone LTCI policy can be very costly, depending on current age, health, and the benefits offered. If these costs make such a policy too expensive, an LTC Rider on a life insurance policy may be a reasonable middle-ground solution. An LTC Rider can allow for tapping into the funds in the future, should the need for long-term care arise. 

For help in assessing your clients' personal situation, consider these Agent Resources. 

Ensure Care for Children with Special Needs

Estate planning is important for all families, but it’s critically important for families with special needs children. Parents of special needs children face unique challenges, such as ensuring there are sufficient funds available at their death to care for their child, finding appropriate caregivers and guardians, and selecting the correct trustee to manage and distribute inheritances via special needs

trusts.

SUGGESTIONS for families with children with special needs:

• Establishing a team of advisors, along with you, to help with estate planning but particularly to assist with the ongoing care of children with special needs through adulthood. 
• Meeting with a qualified special needs estate planning attorney to prepare or update various documents, including a will to name guardians and a special needs trust to hold assets. A revocable trust, powers of attorney and medical directives may also be necessary. 
• Reviewing the titling of assets to ensure they are held in trust or special needs children, because outright distributions could disqualify government assistance. 
• Talking to siblings and parents about being guardians and discussing their responsibilities. 
• Creating an independent trust, and funding it with life insurance. The special needs trust must be set up in such a way that it accepts gifts. 
• Preparing a Letter of Intent outlining the parents’ desires and hopes for their child with special needs, along with critical information pertaining to his or her care.

The following case studies demonstrate common and real world scenarios you may encounter while working in this market: Case Studies