Modern-Family

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

In today’s world, we as Insurance & Financial Advisors have a great deal of issues to contend with. We must deal with (if we let it), the negativity that will always surround us. But it is up to us to choose a path that will bring out our great abilities and deliver the products and services that we provide. We are all familiar with the “traditional” types of sales; mortgage protection, income replacement, etc. But there is a market under our noses that is tremendously undeserved, “The Modern Family.”
The old Nuclear Family stereotype revolved around a mother, a father and a few children all living in a single household. This was the norm and/or standard for years. That has definitely changed and with it a whole new approach to how we sell the myriad of products and services that we offer.
For those of you that watch the television show Modern Family, it basically throws us into the new realities of what a family unit can look like in today’s world. This is what the show depicts:
• An older man (Jay) in his mid-60’s married to his second wife (Gloria), who is much younger than Jay.
• Gloria has an adolescent child of her own (Manny).
• Subsequently, Jay & Gloria had a baby of their own (Joe).
• Gloria was originally a Non-US Citizen.
• Oh, by the way, Jay is a fairly wealthy business owner.
• Jay has two grown children (Claire & Mitchell).
• Claire is married to her husband Phil and they have three teenage children (Haley, Alex & Luke)
• Phil is a partner in a Realty Firm and Claire runs the family business with Jay.
• Mitchell is gay and is married to his husband, Cam.
• Mitchell & Cam have an adopted daughter, Lily.
• Mitchell is an attorney and Cam is a stay at home dad.
Things have certainly changed a bit and there has been quite a departure from the “Nuclear Family” of a generation or so ago. Aside from the laughs that the show provides, the seriousness of the planning needed for the Modern Family is not so funny. All or a part of this dynamic exists today with many of the clients or prospective clients we serve. These circumstances come with a unique set of planning solutions, most of which can be provided by you, The Financial Advisor.

Aside from the obvious, which is life insurance to cover Final Expenses, here is an idea of the planning opportunities that come to mind for this Modern Family…

modern-family-3

As you can see from the chart above, there are a number of sales opportunities available just for this family. There are many techniques that can be used to plan for The Modern Family, some simple and some that require a little more planning. One example is the use of a QTIP Trust. QTIPs are very popular with second marriages and the dynamics that go along with them. In the world of television, everyone gets along in this scenario, but in real life, this can get quite ugly. By utilizing QTIP Trusts, and other tested planning techniques, you can assist your clients in these situations. In the case of Mitchell & Cam, and other same-sex couples, there are many opportunities available today that didn’t exist before the Supreme Court ruling last year.
The point is, so much has changed. Our culture is evolving and with it, our way of doing business. Whether you are planning for The Modern Family or The Not So Modern Family, at ASG, we are your one stop resource for these and all other sales scenarios. Contact us today, so that we can be of assistance on your next case.