Advisor Blogs

October 09, 2017
The Surprise ‘Expiration Date’ On Life Insurance Policies

The Wall Street Journal recently brought attention to a problem that is quietly impacting the estates of Americans who are fortunate enough to realize their 100th birthdays: the expiration of the life insurance policies they believed to be permanent assets.
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September 19, 2017
The “Senior’s Right to Know” Movement Gains Momentum: What if a Senior No Longer Needs their Life Insurance?

This summer, the State of Florida gave a jolt to the growing “Senior’s Right to Know” movement in America – and all registered financial consultants need to be aware of these latest developments.
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August 22, 2017
Brace Your Baby Boomer Clients

As millions of baby boomers continue their mass exodus from the workforce to retirement, they are already coming to grips with the reality that investment returns in the coming years are unlikely to keep pace with those of recent history, as illustrated by the modified projections recently used by Calpers and other major institutional investors. Now comes a new study that adds insult to injury: the principal driving force for these depressed returns is none other than the baby boomer generation itself.
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June 29, 2017
CFP Board Proposal to extend fiduciary duty could improve awareness of life settlements

This summer, the Certified Financial Planners (CFP) Board is proposing some bold changes to their fiduciary standards. Many of the approximately 77,000 CFPs in the United States could be impacted.
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June 01, 2017
An Important Discussion to Have with Clients

Take a fresh look at your clients’ whole or universal life insurance policies, especially if they were purchased years ago and use that evaluation exercise as an opportunity to engage your clients in a dialogue with their heirs about whether the policy still aligns with their strategic objective in purchasing it in the first place.
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May 19, 2017
Beyond the IRA: Remember Life Settlements

On the surface, it would appear that individual retirement accounts are a popular choice for Americans, with roughly one in three U.S. households owning at least one IRA. But a study just released by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College suggests that IRAs may not be working for retirees the way they were intended.
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May 11, 2017
Proposed Tax Bill Would Clarify Tax Treatment of Life Settlements

In May 2009, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2009-13 addressing the tax implications of a life settlement to the seller of a life insurance policy. H.R. 1262 was recently introduced to remedy the shortcomings of this revenue ruling.
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April 26, 2017
Helping Your Clients Afford a More Expensive Retirement

An article by LISA's President and CEO, Darwin Bayston discusses how you can help your clients afford a more expensive retirement.
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April 19, 2017
Life Settlement Opportunities for Business Life Insurance

Life settlements are frequently viewed, primarily, as an option for personal life insurance and estate planning policies that are no longer wanted, needed or affordable. However, business-owned policies or personally owned business purpose policies can also make excellent life settlement candidates, yet these policies are often overlooked.
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March 14, 2017
A Life Settlement and Replace Strategy that Remains Viable

The days of selling a policy in a life settlement and replacing it with a new one are mostly gone, but one variation on that strategy can still work in the right situation.
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March 07, 2017
5 pitfalls to avoid when assisting clients with a life settlement

There is a peculiar paradox in the financial advisory world: Ninety percent of seniors who lapsed a life insurance policy would have considered a life settlement had they been aware of the possibility. Yet 65 percent of financial advisors have never recommended a life settlement to a client, but claim they would do so under the right circumstances.
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February 23, 2017
The life settlement market is heating up

A number of factors have reignited the life settlement market with both consumers and investors showing rising interest.
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February 15, 2017
Exploring Life Settlements? It’s always best to work with a LISA member

A life insurance policy is one of the most valuable assets many Americans will ever own. Unfortunately, far too many consumers are unaware they have the right to sell a life insurance policy through what is known as a life settlement transaction. As a result, billions of dollars worth of life insurance is “irrationally lapsed” each year.
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December 01, 2016
Demystifying the Secondary Marketplace for an Unneeded Life Insurance Policy

Four out of 10 U.S. financial advisors have only a limited familiarity with life settlements or are entirely unfamiliar with these transactions, according to a 2015 survey published by WealthManagement.com.
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November 10, 2016
Shattering a myth about life settlements: 5 advisor benefits

In addition to the benefits to clients, financial advisors themselves can benefit from working with their clients to pursue a life settlement.
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November 07, 2016
Schedule a Post-Retirement Financial Checkup

Most of us are familiar with the retirement planning shortfall in America, but at the same time there are millions of Americans who do a great job preparing for their golden years. They work hard, save with discipline and do their best to stick to a plan that will allow them to achieve their financial goals. If you are one of these retirees, congratulations! But don’t let the financial planning stop now. In fact, after you’ve entered retirement, it’s more important than ever to give your finances an annual checkup.
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October 12, 2016
4 creative ways to tackle rising health care costs when planning for retirement

No matter how hard you worked or how much you saved, the sad reality of today’s economic landscape is that the rising cost of health care can quickly eat away at your retirement fund.
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September 28, 2016
How to Rescue Seniors from Lapsing Life Insurance Policies

LifeHealthPro’s sister platform, BenefitsPro, reminded us on Sept. 12 that our industry needs to evolve to meet the needs of a graying population. Roughly 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, a group that accounts for 28 percent of the U.S. population.
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August 18, 2016
Life insurers: boosting earnings on backs of senior policy owners

Last weekend, the New York Times cast a national spotlight on an emerging problem that many of us have watched unfold quietly in recent years. The Times reported on the recent “skyrocketing” of life insurance premiums demanded by many life insurance carriers and traced the roots of this problem to “a crisis moment for a business once considered a bedrock of financial stability and an industry that supports the retirement of millions.”
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July 25, 2016
Life settlement = solution to rising senior health care costs

Health care inflation is a well-documented reality in the American economic landscape, but new data published this spring illustrates how pronounced this challenge is for American seniors.
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