Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Seven Wonders of Life Insurance

Seven Wonders of Life Insurance
Your clients can address their financial problems with these seven life insurance solutions.
Here are some disturbing facts from LIMRA about U.S. life insurance ownership and the attitudes of consumers toward our products.
7 Life Insurance Facts

1. LIMRA’s 2010 Life Insurance Ownership Study found that 30% of U.S. households (35 million) have no life insurance protection.

2. In 2009, insurance companies issued 9.4 million individual life insurance policies in the U.S.—about one million fewer policies than they did in 2004.

3. About seven in ten middle-market households agree that life insurance is the best way to protect against the premature death of a primary wage earner.

4. The two top reasons Americans have life insurance are to cover burial and final expenses and to help replace the income of primary wage earners.

5. One in four households plans to buy life insurance for themselves or another household member in the next 12 months, but many are unlikely to follow through with their plans.

6. Twenty-four percent of households with children who are under the age of 18 want to speak with a financial professional about their life insurance needs, but they may not proactively initiate contact with an insurance producer or with a life insurance company.

7. About one in four middle-market households (those with yearly incomes of $35,000 to $99,999) admit they don’t know how to obtain or reach their financial goals. But only 18 percent of them want to speak with a financial professional about life insurance.
These are the problems that we face. Here are the seven solutions:

1. Life insurance buys time: it allows loved ones to focus on their grief by helping to pay for the funeral and other costs.

2. It provides a fresh start: it lets loved ones start with a clean slate by helping to pay off credit card bills, outstanding loans, and even the mortgage.

3. It generates income: it helps replace lost income for years to come so that surviving family members can continue to pay for life’s necessities.

4. It offers flexibility: it gives a surviving spouse the chance to take time off from work or switch to a job that offers a more flexible work schedule.

5. It creates opportunities: it can provide funding to start a business, or pay for schooling so that surviving family members can train for new careers.

6. It funds the future: it offers a way to fund longer-range goals like a college education for the kids or a secure retirement for a surviving spouse.

7. It leaves a legacy: it gives parents the change to leave future generations with the legacy of long-term financial security.
Taking the first step
Problems and solutions go hand in hand, but if we want to use these solutions to help our clients and prospects, we must first start with digital marketing. This means taking your digit and using it to push the buttons on the telephone, because everything starts with a call to a prospect.
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Use the resources from the LIFE Foundation to reach out to your clients and prospects to educate and motivate them in their life insurance buying decisions. Go to LIFE’s website at www.lifehappens.org to learn what is available to you and your clients.
-article by Marvin Feldman, CLU, ChFC, RFC
-article taken from NAIFA’s Advisor Today July/August 2011 publication

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