Let’s stop being insurance salespeople

If all you want to do is sell insurance, you probably shouldn’t be in the long-term care business.

That may sound strange coming from someone who has spent much of his career in the insurance and financial services industry. There is nothing wrong with selling insurance. Life insurance solves important problems. Disability insurance solves important problems. Annuities solve important problems.

And long-term care insurance can solve an enormously important problem.

But long-term care is different.

We are dealing with something that can affect where someone lives, who takes care of them, what happens to their spouse, whether their children become caregivers, how their assets are used, what happens to their legacy and, ultimately, how much choice and control they retain over their own lives.

That’s a much bigger conversation than, “How much insurance would you like?”

We worked hard to become professionals

Those of us working in long-term care had to jump through some hoops to get here.

Licensing. Training. Certifications. Carrier appointments. Continuing education. Product knowledge. Underwriting. Benefit triggers. Claims. Tax considerations. State requirements.

We learned all of that for a reason. So let’s keep the standard high.

If all that preparation ultimately leads us to sit down with a prospect and immediately pull out an illustration, what exactly did it accomplish? Our value can't be simply knowing which product to sell. It should be knowing which questions to ask.

Start with the person, not the policy

I recently met with a couple considering how long-term care might fit into their future. We didn’t begin by choosing an insurance company. We talked about what they had built financially. We talked about their children. We talked about what they wanted to preserve and what they wanted their money to accomplish. Only then did we begin discussing possible ways to fund those objectives.

In another conversation, a couple in their early 50s asked a perfectly reasonable question: Why do anything now? Couldn’t they simply reposition some assets for long-term care later?

My answer wasn’t, “Buy now because you’re younger.” We talked about what waiting means. Their health could remain excellent, or it might not. Products could improve or disappear. Economics and family circumstances could change. Waiting is certainly an option, but it isn’t necessarily a neutral decision.

That is planning. Neither conversation began with, “Let me show you what I’m selling.”

Retirement isn’t the finish line

We spend decades helping people prepare for retirement. How much should they save? When can they retire? Where will they live? How much income will they need?

But retirement may be followed by another 20, 30 or even 40 years. Health can change. Family circumstances can change. One spouse may need help from the other. Adult children may become involved. Housing needs may change.

That’s why I believe we need to broaden the conversation from retirement planning to future independence planning. The question becomes:

What should we put in place today so that if life changes tomorrow, you still have choices?

For me, those choices revolve around four things: Wealth. Family. Legacy. Control. Each one starts with a question.

• Wealth: If an extended need for care began tomorrow, what would it disrupt? The goal is to keep a long care event from unraveling everything else someone has built.
• Family: Who do you assume would help, and have you asked them? The goal is that a spouse or adult child doesn’t automatically become the care plan.
• Legacy: What is this money meant to do besides pay for care? The goal is to keep money intended for other purposes from being redirected simply because no plan was made.
• Control: Where do you want to live, how do you want to receive care, and who do you want to provide it? The goal is having a meaningful say in all three.

Only after we understand those answers should we start talking about how to fund them.

Insurance is a tool, not the plan

Sometimes traditional long-term care insurance may be appropriate. Sometimes a life insurance or annuity-based long-term care solution may fit. Sometimes existing assets may be sufficient. Employer benefits, family resources and public programs may also be pieces of the puzzle.

And sometimes the professional answer is: Don’t buy anything.

We must be willing to say that. Picture a couple with substantial assets, a home they own outright, and adult children who live nearby and have already talked openly with them about what they’d want. If an extended care event would not threaten the surviving spouse’s security or the legacy they hope to leave, the right recommendation may be to document their wishes, revisit the plan periodically and leave the checkbook closed.

Because if every planning conversation inevitably ends with the product we walked into the room intending to sell, we aren’t really planning. We’re prospecting.

I recently compared several potential long-term care solutions for a couple. There wasn’t a “winner.” The largest benefit wasn’t automatically best. Neither was the strongest guarantee, the greatest liquidity or the biggest projected value years down the road. First, we had to determine what they wanted their money to accomplish. Then, and only then, could we determine which structure might fit.

Insurance or an annuity should be one possible funding tool, not the definition of the plan. That’s the order in which this business should work.

But how do we get paid?

It’s a fair objection. Most of us are compensated when a policy is placed, which means every planning conversation carries a built-in incentive to end in a sale. I won’t pretend that tension doesn’t exist.

The answer isn’t to ignore it. It’s to manage it openly. Tell clients how you’re compensated. Put the plan first, and let the recommendation follow. Be willing to accept that some conversations won’t end in a placement, but they will end in a client who trusts you, refers you, and comes back when their situation changes. That is a business worth building.

The sale should come last

Our industry talks constantly about building trust. Here’s one way to do it: Stop making the sale the objective of the first conversation.

Ask better questions. Learn about the family. Understand the assets. Talk about caregiving. Talk about where someone wants to live. Ask what role they expect their children to play. Ask what they want to protect. Ask what independence means to them.

Then build the plan. If that plan identifies a financial risk that should be transferred to an insurance company, we can discuss insurance. If another solution makes more sense, we should be professional enough to say so.

We worked too hard to become long-term care professionals to act like product salespeople. And consumers deserve more from us.

Long-term care isn’t ultimately about a policy. It’s about helping people prepare for what happens when life doesn’t go exactly according to plan, and helping them preserve as much choice, dignity and control as possible when it doesn’t.

That’s future independence.

Build the plan first. If insurance belongs in that plan, earn the sale.

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Chuck Greenblott, MHA, CRPC, CLTC, is the founder of Power10 Financial and creator of the Future Independence Planning framework. Contact him at chuck.greenblott@innfeedback.com.