Weighing in on Policy Replacements
Life insurance policy reviews—we frequently hear about the process. Maybe too often.
On Google, there are nearly 25 million results when it comes to life insurance policy reviews. So, let’s not rehash what’s generally done to evaluate life-changes-based reviews: marital status, large purchases, dependents, employers, beneficiaries and so forth.
Google it, because there are lots of incredible resources.Let’s focus on our evolving market, innovations, performance and opportunity costs.
Policy Review Considerations
Overfunded policies may require fewer premiums, and policies that are underfunded could require additional premiums, benefit adjustments or other corrective actions.
Illustration guideline regulations mandate certain assumptions. With actual results and assumptions, results will change over time—be it negatively or positively—and will impact the policy’s performance.
As the insurance industry evolves, product benefits continue to expand. With the entry of new products, riders and benefits, new planning opportunities open up.
Game-Changing Insurance Enhancements
What was once a luxury, might not ring true. Here’s proof: the 1965 Corvette. In 1965, the ’Vette didn’t come with factory air conditioning—it was an optionon the vehicle for $421.80. Of the 33,270 new ’Vettes rolling off the assembly line, only 2,423 included this innovative feature, as opposed to today’s vehicle market, when having air conditioning isn’t a consideration—it’s a given.
Interestingly, this same concept could be said for life insurance. The changes we’ve seen in the past few decades and even the last five years are dramatic. Like any free commerce—competition pushes carriers to improve products, provide a wider range of features and better deliver what the consumer wants. The same can be said for in-force policies: There are more features and benefits available in the newer products. And in some instances, we’re finding features that aren’t financially justified for clients when evaluating the death benefit. In those instances, we’re looking at the cash value inside the policy and seeing if we can repurpose it into G1, G2 or G3 planning, or perhaps use it in a way to create a retirement lifestyle insurance. Without going in depth, we’re seeing options to fund long-term care coverage or identify a larger death benefit for their beneficiaries.
Are these options right for your clients? Well, it all depends. What we can say today that is true: new products and features develop weekly, higher caps, no caps, higher participation rates, indemnity options, no-med options and longevity riders. The features are nearly endless! If your clients are paying annual premiums in excess of $5,000 or have cash values of $50,000+, their cases might be worthy of a policy analysis. Let’s see how their in-force policy performs in comparison with current market options. At minimum, wouldn’t you want to know if your own policy is still relevant? We can do this for you.
We put significant resources toward the identification of product that best suits financial and health needs while being the most cost effective. With the ever-increasing growth of accumulation products, we should look closely into a contract’s performance. There’s a lot to consider, but there’s something even larger. During carrier selection, the financial strength was important. However, it’s more than just ratings. It involves impeding announcements and the future of the company. Although the vast majority of the life carriers are A- rated or better, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll continue to do so. Your clients depend on these contracts for death benefits and accumulation, especially in pre-retirement and retirement. This is a critical time to depend on these policies to perform as intended.
Performing due diligence on product selection is equally as important as ensuring carrier financial stability won’t have negative implications for your clients when they depend the most on their life insurance policies.
Depending on the policy, life insurance has intrinsic features that can favorably reduce tax exposure. Sometimes you can improve the benefits of an existing life insurance policy. And, many times permanent life insurance policies may be exchanged, allowing the policy owner to obtain a new permanent life insurance policy while continuing to defer income taxation on accumulated gains.
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