Blog

As we close out the books on 2016 and begin a new year we wanted to express our gratitude for all the love and support we received during an emotionally challenging 2016. In June we unexpectedly and rapidly lost Jerry Schwartz; dad, best friend and co-founder of Windsor. Hal Brooks beat back lung cancer with surgery and two rounds of chemo. Lastly, in early December Jane Brooks, Hal's wife of 60 years, succumbed to her decade-long battle with Alzheimer's. Family, friends and business associates provided tremendous support for us during these difficult times with messages of love and friendship...

In our previous two blogs, Marc Schwartz talked about how pricing adjustments among a few life insurers had created an "out-of-control" environment for some of our clients. In part two of "Putting Clients Back in Control," Marc explored several product solutions that can help put your clients back in control – but for you, what's most important is knowing first what your clients want out of their life insurance policies. Here, Marc and DuWayne Kilbo discuss why you need to review your clients' policies now. The idea and process of Policy Review has been around forever. Why is it so important n...

In our previous blog we explained how many of our clients feel as though what they want and expect from their life insurance policy is no longer in their control. Because some life companies have taken actions that create additional uncertainty and expense for their customers, it's up to us, as experienced professionals, to find a way to put our clients back in control. The key is to know what's important to your clients and then find the products and features that deliver the predictability and value they expect. No Lapse Guarantees (NLG) No question that we've seen a dramatic retraction of t...

If you have taken out a mortgage or obtained new automobile insurance in the last few years you have probably used an electronic signature (e-signature) platform. An e-signature provides both extraordinary convenience and the same legal standing as a handwritten signature, as long as it complies with regulations published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S. Department of Commerce). The beauty of e-signatures versus traditional wet signatures is that they can be executed portably and with ease via computers and devices. An insured can sign a document anywhere and anytime...

You've met with the clients and their advisors on a few occasions and the time has come to take an application and submit underwriting information to the carriers. However, what you hear next stops you cold: "Our son's friend is also in the business and we want him to shop our application as well to be sure we are getting the best offer and premium available." You pause and think. For several reasons you know that it's never a good idea to pit production sources against one another with multiple carrier submissions. It can complicate matters and often results in an inferior offer and a higher ...

Term life insurance sales in the US consistently represent about 70% of the total death benefit bought by consumers every year, according to the Insurance Information Institute. And for many of those buyers, the provision to convert their term insurance into permanent life insurance somewhere down the line represents an important option. But according to several leading term insurers, less than 5% of term life policyholders ever take advantage of this option, and those who do often are motivated by deteriorating health. Because these clients have a mortality risk of about five times normal for...

Accelerated underwriting is a new and growing trend that offers important advantages over other programs allowing for an insurance qualification process that does not require examinations or fluids. Having an approved policy in hand can occur in a few business days, rather than weeks, and product pricing is typically more favorable with many carriers offering their full suite of off-the-shelf products with no compensation haircuts. These are all positive factors associated with accelerated programs. However, since most accelerated programs are a triage process, there are no guarantees an appli...

Of all the progressive things the life industry has done in the past few years to advance underwriting standards and make it easier to do business, one area significantly lagging is charitable life underwriting. In charitable situations, the maximum amount of coverage available across almost every carrier in the industry is based upon a multiplication factor—typically 10—of one's past annual giving to a charity. So if an applicant on average has given $10,000 annually to a particular charity and desires to leverage this giving by allowing the charity to own life insurance on his life, he would...

A recent tax court case ruling in favor of the taxpayer in an intergenerational Split Dollar arrangement has propped open a "discounting" planning door that, up to now, the IRS had tried to slam shut. In the Estate of Clara M. Morrissette et al v. Commissioner, the tax court ruled that an intergenerational Split Dollar arrangement is covered by Split Dollar Regulations Section 1.61.22. In plain English, the ruling establishes that single-premium life insurance policies, held in irrevocable trusts, can be taxed under the Split Dollar Economic Benefit regime, and are not required to use the Loan...

Willard Scott can't keep up! It's no longer unique or surprising when we come across someone who is approaching age 100. We probably have someone in our own immediate family going strong at 85, 90 or even 95 years old. Whether because of good genes, healthy living, medical improvements or all of the above, living longer is a reality. The blessing of a long life has many advantages but it also requires that we think about how to pay for that extended number of years. The axiom that people fear "running out of money" more than they fear death is truer today than ever before. The major risks to r...