- Selling It
Is there a new role for the erstwhile life agent?
by Bob Gaydos
HR personnel in the insurance industry struggle to motivate and retain employees more now than ever. Around 90% of HR leaders are increasingly concerned about employee turnover and the resulting understaffing. After all, nearly nine out of ten insurance agents quit within the first year.
read more - Is Machine Learning Ready For The Big Leagues?
How Legal & General is stepping up to the plate in the life sector
by Fred Tavan
The insurance industry has been humming along nicely with a system that works and is well-understood, if at times a bit clunky, analog and cumbersome. While spending some time in the Property & Casualty league, machine learning is beginning to step up to the plate more frequently in the life insurance sector… and making quite…
read more - The “Long Term Capital Gain” Retirement Trap
Restructuring portfolios with income in mind
by Steve Selengut
Over the past six months, I've had at least a dozen conversations with consulting clients and CEF group members concerning the bind they are in trying to restructure their portfolios toward income production.
read more - Medicare Madness: Prescription Drug Plans, Pricing And Penalties
Modern medicine’s magic often comes with a steep price
by Marcia Mantell, RMA®
The vast majority of Americans over age 65 have one or more chronic health problems. Twenty-four percent have one chronic condition and a whopping 63.7% have two or more.
read more - Back To School
Weathering the college-tuition perfect storm
by Angie O’Leary
College costs are top of mind right now, as students have settled into their work on campus and President Joe Biden’s recent announcement of the cancellation of up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt (up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants) for borrowers making less than $125,000 annually and couples earning less than…
read more - Measuring Debt’s Drag On Income Accumulation
New considerations on Biden's student loan relief plan
by Lyle Solomon
Debt can make it harder for your clients to live off the income sources you’ve helped them plan. Debt payments cut into the money they get from Social Security, an IRA, or other investments that they really need to live their best lives.
read more - Retirement Income Planning The Government Will Pay Your Clients To Make
It’s true, the Fed wants you to retire well
Growing up, I watched my dad work. He started a printing company with his father and his brother, and my mother, siblings and I all worked in the business. He loved the business, but I think he loved the act of working even more.
read more - Reshuffling Income Strategy
As inflation withers their wallets, clients’ review their planning goals
by Dylan Huang
These days, the U.S. economy is leaving many Americans scratching their heads. In the wake of historic levels of inflation, all Americans are feeling the strain of higher prices, but retirees are often the most at risk.
read more - A Conversation With Mark Holweger
Life insurance & the emergence of the digital sale
by P.E. Kelley
There is an age old tenet of marketing that life insurance must necessarily be sold in a top-down setting, with an experienced agent guiding the process from start to finish, to ensure that the client doesn’t deviate from what has always been accepted as a proven way to seal the deal.
read more - The Unintended Consequences Of Student Debt
New perspectives on a growing national crisis
by Scott Winstead
It's no secret that student debt is a huge problem in the United States. It's estimated that there is nearly $1.75 trillion in outstanding student loan debt among 44 million borrowers. And the average borrower owes $28.950.
read more - Insurtech Growing Pains
Instead of bypassing advisors, they should be empowering them!
by Ryan Toner
I’ve used the same insurance agent since college for my auto insurance. Every couple of years, he calls and announces: ‘We’re switching carriers; I’m sending you paperwork!’ I trust him, and the enrollment process is seamless for me. Consumers expect the same level of service and ease when it comes to all of their insurance…
read more - The Unsuspecting Life Insurance Customer: Generation Z
Don’t look now, but change to the status-quo is being pulled in multiple directions
by Jennifer Torneden
When you’re young, it is easy to feel like you don’t have to start planning for the future. But as GenZ graduates and steps into the real world, many don’t know that the best guidepost is the sooner the better when buying life insurance.
read more - In The Game Of Life (Insurance) One Size Does Not Fit All
The new era of ‘bionic advisors’
by Farron Blanc
The United States life insurance market is unique. While other countries have three to five national champions that own 70% of the market share, the U.S. has hundreds of life insurance carriers sharing the risk. This makes the consumer advice that insurance producers provide especially important, given the current inflationary environment.
read more
