Helping younger clients get the most of a good thing

By Kelly Chatham

Clients in the demographic group between the ages of 20 and 35 are beginning to enter the workforce, with many having completed college and attended graduate or post-graduate school. During these years, many clients are faced with debt such as student loans, rent or mortgage payments, transportation costs, and paying for travel and entertainment. Due to the various pulls on their incomes, many young professionals struggle to save for the future. Here are a few simple ideas about how to incorporate insurance products during this stage of life.

Paycheck protection

Many young professionals have spent a great deal of time and money to achieve their dreams. However, what would be the impact on their future if they experienced a disabling event prior to building their savings and net worth? Now is the perfect time to lock in their affordable income protection with options to increase the amount as their income grows without future medical insurability! Disability insurance is available for individuals who are in school, in residency or who have recently started in their field after completing school or training. This includes physicians, professional specialties (attorneys, engineers, scientists) and dentists.

Unsure how to bring up the topic of disability insurance with younger clients? Use these questions to help spark the conversation:

What is your most important asset? The ability to earn a living is what pays for all the physical assets that people own as well as many of their future plans.
How important is your income to your everyday life? Most people understand the value of their paycheck. However, what happens if that paycheck stops due to an illness or injury?
What are you doing to protect your income? Many might say that they have disability coverage through their employer or that they could use workers’ compensation coverage if they cannot perform their job. However, group disability insurance may offer far less than actual income and much less than would allow for living comfortably.
What if you could protect your income for less than the cost of your cable or internet? Affordability is an important consideration and a common objection to purchasing disability insurance. It is important to provide coverage options showing coverage can be affordable and customized to fit clients’ unique needs.

Help them see into the future

Clients need life insurance protection at each stage of life to meet their immediate needs and help prepare them for the future. Although you may not have a crystal ball, it's a simple bet that clients' health won't be better at age 50 than it is at age 30. Young, healthy clients are probably still riding the wave of youth and may not be thinking about the unfortunate consequences of getting older and the benefits of life insurance.

Helping younger clients understand their options so they can find the right protection at the right time is critical. Many younger clients are looking for affordable protection to cover the essentials. Purchasing a policy now can help them take advantage of prime rates that often come with youth and help ensure life insurance will protect their futures from the inevitable.

Diversify and beat the bank

It's not for everyone, but young clients who are financially stable and searching for diversity when looking to save for retirement may benefit from adding an annuity with a low initial investment. Rates on these annuities beat the savings rates at most banks and offer guaranteed lifetime income, which will certainly help prepare them for future retirement.

Younger adults, like most of us, value independence and self-determination. They emphasize the individual's role in shaping their identity and destiny through their choices, abilities and efforts. This independence fosters self-reliance and self-sufficiency, enabling them to achieve a fulfilling life. It's essential to meet younger clients where they are and help them plan for wherever their lives may take them.