by: Mark D. Milbrod, CLU
Partner, Agent Support Group

As we enter the home stretch of another year, I can say with certainty that this has been one for the record books.   We saw the inauguration of our 45th President and with it, we entered the age of governing by Tweets.   We have also seen the ushering in of a new era of “Death by Accusation.”  All these things have made for some interesting water cooler conversations, but there has also been a lot of chatter about life insurance.

There are many advisors out there that feel it is tough to sell life insurance in the climate we live in.  I am not going to argue that we may have to work a bit harder to get a sale, but I also feel that the marketplace is ripe with many sales opportunities.

One of the major objections today is the likelihood of the Estate Tax going away.  As a result, a number of advisors are saying that the mere notion of it is costing them a great deal of potential sales.   We do see some clients taking a wait and see approach on moving ahead with planning, but it’s important to note that even if the Estate Tax “goes away,” it will likely appear again at some point in the future.  Further, a complete estate plan can never be determined based upon a single administration.  Worst case scenario if it did stand, there would be a tremendous windfall to the heirs with a non-correlated asset class known as life insurance and what’s the harm of that?

 

The Estate Tax is just one sales segment for our current and potential client bases.  Utilizing life insurance, there are so many other areas where we are able to provide unique solutions.  Life Insurance is still the most amazing financial tool that anyone can have at their disposal.  Whether it’s…Income Replacement, Loan Security, Business Continuation, Supplemental Retirement Income, College Funding, Providing Long Term Care Protection, Buy-Sell Funding or Leaving a Legacy, life insurance solves problems that normally would cause hardships in absence of its existence.

Year end is always a time of reflection of what we have done.  It is also a time to look forward at what we will do.  To quote Wilbur Wright when he and his brother were working on their progress with their experiments ay Kitty Hawk…

 

 “…it is not really necessary to look far into the future; we see enough already to be certain it will be magnificent.  Only let us hurry and open the roads.”

 

The roads are open for the coming year.  We have, in the products we provide, the tools needed to do incredible things.  Life Insurance provides a constant that always has and always will be a game changer.

 

Happy Holidays (and Happy Selling)!