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Foresters Financial™, the purpose driven fraternal life insurer, is enjoying record sales as it pursues its mission to enhance the well-being of its insureds (members) and their communities. On the back of several new member benefit launches over the past 18 months, Foresters just announced a holistic wellness app called Foresters Go™, available to all members.

According to data from the Secure Retirement Institute, strong equity market gains and lower volatility — as well as rising interest rates — are all contributing factors to annuity sales reaching $129 billion year to date, a 29% increase over 2020.

In the heart of the Motor City — a town not known as a hotbed for insurance innovation — a young company called Signal Advisors is hard at work. Patrick Kelly, 31, now the co-founder and CEO of Signal Advisors, started his career as a financial advisor. In just a few short years, Signal Advisors has managed to raise tens of millions of dollars from some of the nation’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors. So what is the secret to Signal’s success?

Big changes are underway in the industry. And they could soon elevate your production and your clients’ satisfaction. As you read this, paper apps, products taking months to issue, invasive underwriting and legacy systems are on their way out the door.

As more life insurance customers seek a carefully balanced blend of security and opportunity, John Hancock is now offering its
all-new Protection VUL, (a variable universal life insurance product).

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz) is helping producers position themselves as highly-experienced and knowledgeable in various industries. David R. Foster, JD, AEP, CLU, ChFC, CAP, FLMI, Advanced Markets attorney and Senior Director of Advanced Markets at Allianz, explains how.

Mary Lyons, the Wealth Woman, founder of Benchmark Income Group, a General Agency appointed with the insurance companies of OneAmerica®, discusses economics-based financial planning and how it moves beyond an investment-only mindset and focuses on post-retirement spending targets.

A key make-or-break factor for any business or industry during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the ability to shift business online and provide “contactless” service. This holds particular pain for an industry built on home paramedical exams and handshakes across dining room tables, but the solution has actually been here the whole time, and it all comes down to some innovative and powerful uses of credit-based and non-credit-based data.

Legal & General America is helping advisors streamline processes to accelerate business growth and give their clients a faster, easier way to get the coverage they need.

With light at the end of the proverbial COVID-19 tunnel, it’s human nature to seek out the bright side. Many have slowed down to appreciate life — we’ve deepened our sense of gratitude, been more in touch with our families and communities, enjoyed clearer days with less pollution, and leveraged technology for, well, just about everything.

Today’s headlines continue to echo a crisis mode even though more than 200 million Americans have been vaccinated and many parts of the country are returning to a “new normal.” We need more annuity education.

If you have older clients sitting on nonqualified assets — especially clients who may have difficulty qualifying for traditional long-term care insurance — there’s a smart strategy to help them get the protection they need, without incurring tax penalties or risking legacy planning.

It’s no surprise that the No. 1 reason advisors lose clients is lack of communication. So why aren’t more advisors meeting annually with their clients? That’s a problem Signal Advisors, a new tech-focused IMO, set out to uncover and solve.

It may seem self-evident, but there is a direct correlation between annuity awareness and annuity preference. According to the Secure Retirement Institute, 83% of annuity owners view annuities favorably; that number is cut in half (41%) for non-annuity owners.

As a financial professional, you know the benefits annuities offer to clients: guaranteed lifetime income and peace of mind knowing they’ll have enough money to retire. Unfortunately, your clients might be carrying several common misconceptions about annuities, such as concerns that the guarantee can’t be trusted or that there are more effective methods to generate lifetime income.

For almost two years, this pandemic has tested the resiliency of nearly every human being on earth. And while its devastating mark will never be forgotten, this tragedy is proving to be the wakeup call many industries needed in order to adopt 21st-century processes and technologies.

“Annuity commissions paid in one day. Client-facing annual reviews done for you in one click. The first end-to-end platform designed to manage every part of an annuity advisor’s business.”

Verisk’s Tobacco Usage Propensity Model offers the life industry a two-prong solution: It can assist in substantially reducing the number of lab tests insurers order in the underwriting process, while simultaneously helping tackle the $10 billion problem of smoker nondisclosure.

Finseca, a transformative professional trade organization, recently launched with the inspiration to bring financial security to all. Although this admirable goal might seem too ambitious to some, the diverse team of experts at Finseca are already proving they have the integrity, knowledge and resources to make the change possible.

In a year of disorientation and unpredictability, for an independent financial services professional in the indexed annuity and life insurance industry, the level of uncertainty about the next lead or even the next sale was never higher in the past 30 years than it was in 2020. We all faced that reality. That goes without saying…

Reflexive questions and an automated rules engine mean less hassle, fewer labs — and more families protected. And that’s just the start.

COVID-19, aka Coronavirus, has literally and figuratively changed the meaning of the tech marketing cliché, “digital or death.” Consumers are still very wary of exposure to the virus and want to get more things done digitally. While this had always been the case with millennials and Gen Z, COVID-19 has forced older demographics, who are even more concerned about virus exposure, onboard.

When affluent families consider acquiring life insurance, there may be a concern about having to liquidate profitable assets in order to meet their premium payment obligations for the larger policy they require. And that’s not the only issue – it’s vital that the policy be arranged so gift taxes are not levied on the premium payments, and estate taxes not levied on the death benefit proceeds.

More than two years before the worst pandemic in modern history brought a sudden and profound change to our daily lives, Legal & General America was white-boarding ideas for how to simplify the life insurance process and make it easier for agents to protect more families. Forward thinking has always been a hallmark of its legacy of process and technology innovation — but company leaders didn’t realize just how important and relevant those ideas would be today.

Today, Americans nearing or entering retirement are being exposed to a world of uncertainty. To begin with, efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have pummeled markets, stalled economies and hampered investment growth – decreasing next eggs at an inopportune time for many. Life spans are growing longer as well, forcing people to prepare to meet the financial obligations of a retirement that could last three decades

Most agents and advisors know the NAIC’s best interest model will change the face of annuity sales forever. It’s a ruling that Nick Randall, life and annuity marketing director for Western Marketing, believes his company has the perfect solution for…

With 52%1 of people turning 65 every day eventually needing some form of long-term care (LTC) in their lifetimes, en¬gaging clients in a conversation about unexpected, future health events should be easier. OneAmerica® can help you tackle these needs and help your clients prepare for potential LTC through asset-based long-term care solutions with features unavailable anywhere else.

Have you ever had a client say, “I’d like to put my money in a safe place, take withdrawals as needed during retirement, and pass on as much as possible to my beneficiaries”? It’s a common statement financial professionals often hear from clients, but finding a product that addresses these competing priorities has been a challenge — until now.

What if you could finally figure out your client’ financial needs for their secure financial future and, in doing so, create a million-dollar business for yourself? Jon Dault, founder of 360 Life Planning, has figured out a system that’s helping advisors do precisely that!

NetClaim’s unique solution for an aging industry could save carriers a fortune while skyrocketing customer loyalty.

Today fixed index universal life (FIUL) represents 25% of a $2.7 billion total life insurance market.1 With so much at stake, it pays to stay on top of how this product segment continues to evolve. With so much at stake, it pays to stay on top of how this product segment continues to evolve.

One of the main reasons most Americans work is to provide for our families. At its heart, life insurance protects the security our income provides in the event of an untimely death. Life insurance can be a financial lifeline for loved ones when a spouse or parent is lost.

When considering financial protection in retirement, most people want to keep it simple. In that spirit, Great American Life® now offers American LandmarkSM 3, a fixed-indexed annuity that features penalty-free access to the account value after only 36 months, minimizing one of the major apprehensions that many retired clients have about annuities.

As an innovator in the claims processing industry, Haywood Marsh has seen firsthand the impact that upgrading to digital contact centers can make on a company’s bottom line and reputation. In many cases, it reduces from a month to 30 minutes the amount of time it takes to analyze and process claims, all while putting an end to widespread fraud and wasted capital. Companies love it because they’re saving money; customers love it because it saves time and exponentially improves their experience.

In this exclusive interview with the Bill Levinson Experience podcast, Social Media Emperor Gary Vaynerchuk reveals how insurance agents can stay relevant and in front of prospects in today’s fast-paced world. You don’t want to miss this!

Legal & General America’s guaranteed level term series, OPTerm, meets the market need for a simple, straightforward, affordable protection product. With options for 10 to 40 years of coverage, OPTerm can accommodate the unique needs of clients at most stages of life. New 35- and 40-year term durations allow customers to purchase low-cost coverage that can last into retirement and beyond.

Women Empowering Financial Independence (WEFI) is empowering women in the insurance industry by helping them build their own businesses using the WEFI platform, which focuses on promoting financial literacy among women and girls. Using their unique playbook, WEFI is creating wildly successful entrepreneurs and hanging the face of the insurance and financial industries — literally. READ MORE.

Global Atlantic’s Wellness for Life rider gives owners of permanent life insurance policies discounts on in­surance costs if they visit the doctor at least once every other year and manage their weight within a range determined at the time they purchase their policy. While some were initially skeptical of consumer acceptance, Global Atlantic has issued more than 50,000 of these wellness riders since the program’s inception. Now, the rider is available on all eligible policies at no charge, making it even more attractive to consumers seeking to save on their life insurance policies.

What role do insurance incentives play in inspiring customers to live healthier lifestyles? Can life insurance companies actually move consumers toward better behavior? And if so, how? A July 2018 study commissioned by Global Atlantic revealed the answers to these questions and other interesting insights into the link between wellness and insurance habits.

Every day, insurance producers sell an intangible promise to individuals and businesses based, in part, on public ratings, the assurances of company representatives and branding prowess to help determine which companies are a “safe bet.” But how does an insurance buyer ultimately choose an insurer if the future is, by its very nature, unknowable?

Long-term financial planning strategies require a financial professional to consider the impact of a client’s death on loved ones. However, historically, financial professionals focused only on preparing the assets for the beneficiaries.

Today, the portion of the marketplace focusing on guaranteed death benefits is undergoing a shift toward providing more options and flexibility for policy owners. Global Atlantic’s new Lifetime Foundation ELITE IUL bridges that gap between flexibility and options on the one hand and strong death benefit guarantees on the other — because now you can do both.

Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company shares insights into the features of their Accelerator Plus fixed deferred indexed annuity series, offering a retirement solution with strong earning potential that can help protect clients from market downturns, provide tax-deferred account accumulation and guarantee lifetime income through annuitization options or the Income Rider. For certain clients, an Accelerator Plus annuity can be an important financial tool to help meet long-term retirement needs.

InsuranceNewsNet recently sat down with Paul Cannon, a trial attorney with Simmons and Fletcher, a personal injury law firm in Houston, Texas, to find out what – if any – responsibility an insurance agent has in the event a client is in an auto accident.