Product Strategies

The popularity of Index Universal Life products has stirred up the creative talents of many professional financial advisors, and nowhere has that creativity been more apparent than in the area of policy loan rescues.  This presents a significant opportunity to bring value to clients and generate a new sale, but it requires a high degree of expertise to navigate successfully.  This article will review rescue strategies so that you have a better idea of what works and what doesn't.  In addition, the Windsor case design team is fully conversant on the options and approaches that ca...

Last month we featured guest Bobby Samuelson and Windsor's Marc Schwartz in a conversation about "The World of Life Insurance – Version 2023." In the course of that discussion, Marc and Bobby both touched on the recent introduction of Variable UL products based on the success of Registered Index Accounts, with Bobby saying "I'm excited to see how this corner of the market develops over time. It's nothing but positive for distributors, agents and consumers." Today's blog, originally a podcast, brings together Marc, Jeff Driscoll of NFP, and moderator Kristin Williams, NFP's Senior VP of Strateg...

In May of 2019 we posted a conversation with Bobby Samuelson to Windsor's website that we ambitiously called, The World of Indexed Universal Life.  That blog has led all Windsor blogs in popularity right up to today.  Indexed UL has expanded beyond the boundaries of those early days to become a formidable product with wide appeal to financial professionals and to insurance-buying consumers.  And, because of its rapid growth in the marketplace, it has more than once caught the eye of insurance regulators. Today, Bobby Samuelson graciously joins us again for a conversation wi...

  — Your clients are worried.  Life insurance can help. "The actor Paul Picerni was my grandfather," begins Windsor's Dan Picerni.  "I called him Papa.  He appeared in over five-hundred films and television productions.  With eight kids he couldn't afford not to work when the downtimes came, so he filled the lull by selling life insurance.  In the 1950s he bought three nice size life insurance policies to help take care of his family in the event of his death.  Fortunately, the income replacement was never needed, and he lived until 2012.  He continued p...

Early in 2022, Windsor began to see a new growing focus on cash accumulation sales.  While using life insurance to provide funds for future cash flow obligations, be it college tuition or supplemental retirement income, is nothing new, something had changed. In 2020, in an "under the radar" rule change, the §7702 interest rate — which sets limits on premiums, cash values and death benefits for life insurance policies to qualify as "life insurance contracts" for Federal income tax purposes — was revised.  The rates, which were last set in 1984, were 4% for the Cash Value Accumulation ...

"Complicated [permanent life insurance] products eat away at the purchasing power of your premium. In most situations, your financial planning will be better served by buying term life insurance and then investing outside of the insurance contract.1 "Do not let anybody tell you that your life insurance policy is a good way to build extra savings. Fall for that and you will end up wasting thousands of dollars over the life of the policy.2 As life insurance professionals, we know that sentiments like those above are nothing new.  And in response, Windsor's recent Blog — Life Insurance and R...

  If we had a nickel for every time a carrier suggested we spend more time showing life insurance as a supplemental retirement income strategy, we would have a ton of nickels.  After all, Windsor was started by Jerry Schwartz and Hal Brooks when Universal Life and Interest Sensitive Whole Life were first invented.  From that time on, we've been steadily promoting the unique advantages of life insurance, most recently in our June 2021 Blog on Life Insurance Retirement Plans (LIRP). But we have a stake in the game.  So when life insurance companies encourage us to emphasize t...

Ready for some fast and furious sales ideas that can help you get a head start on 2022?  Here are some of the best from Windsor and our carriers including:     The retired wealthy client who has no cash The couple on the edge of their seats about estate taxes  The PhD in Financial Engineering  The retiree with overfunded IRAs The business owner who needs to find new ways to keep the best people 1,  The retired wealthy client who has no cash - or who doesn't want to spend it right now. Your client is 78 years old and knows he needs more life insurance – but hi...

- by Jeff Driscoll, Vice-President, Product and Carrier Management, Partners Financial Let's start with good news.  Your clients and many life insurance carriers definitely need your expertise in selling and servicing Indexed Universal Life (IUL) products.   And now, with the growing trend of volatility control (VC) indexed accounts, your value is more than solidified.  The trade-off for your increased value is that more homework is required to understand and make the correct recommendations with these more complicated indices.  Before going any further, one could argue tha...

For life insurance industry veterans, using cash value life insurance to supplement retirement savings is as old as the rate book.  Overfunding premiums and enjoying the advantages of both insurance protection and tax-free accumulation (without the burden of qualified plan rules) is what makes our products unique.  And with the potential for tax-free income down the road, we really have an unmatched solution for clients wanting to enhance their retirement in a very tax-efficient way. If life insurance is new to you, or if you just need a refresher on the LIfe Insurance Retirement Pla...

  Much has been written about the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and IRC section 7702, (§7702) where, effective January 1, 2021, minimum interest rates associated with the Cash Value Accumulation Test (CVAT) and the Guideline Premium Test (GPT) under the definition of life insurance have been lowered.  These adjustments created welcome changes for:  1) owners of insurance to put more money into cash accumulation plans of coverage without running afoul of definition of life insurance and Modified Endowment Contract (MEC) limits, and  2) carriers to get relief from o...

- A Virtual Panel Discussion Featuring Experts in the Field of Life Reinsurance - DuWayne Kilbo, Moderator I'm extremely delighted to have available three distinguished speakers from the life reinsurance side of our business for Windsor's first Virtual Panel Discussion! With so much going on today as it pertains to COVID-19 and the evolution of the life insurance industry, this is an opportunity to hear from well-known and highly regarded reinsurance industry executives for their input and thoughts on various topics where they provide support and guidance to the industry.  Also, we will h...

​As advisors to your clients, you can start a conversation with 60-page product illustrations, or you can change the conversation to something simpler and closer to home:  Historically low interest rates.  Guaranteed life insurance benefits.  Cash on hand for unexpected circumstances.  Protection for valuable assets.  And easier ways for clients to get the insurance they want and need.  Even in these difficult times, we can do our best to stay calm and communicate clearly.  Here are some ideas from Windsor on how we can begin a conversation about what's impor...

  Driven by new CSO tables and Principle Based Reserving (PBR), year-end 2019 ushered in a host of life insurance product changes. These changes impacted both a substantial number and a broad diversity of life insurance products and pricing — especially death benefit-oriented "permanent" plans of coverage, a market where many of us spend considerable time promoting and selling.  To assess what happened, we completed a survey of this market based upon the carriers Windsor represents.  While many of our observations were similar for single and joint life products, there were notab...

In November of 1960 the season was more than half over when the 6-1 Philadelphia Eagles met the 5-1-1 New York Giants with first place on the line in the NFL's Eastern Division. The Giants jumped out to a 10-0 first half lead, but the Eagles fought back to take a 17-10 advantage late in the fourth quarter. The Giants were driving toward a tying score when Frank Gifford, their All-Pro halfback, ran a quick slant pattern across the middle. He caught the ball, but was knocked off his feet by Chuck Bednarik, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound outside linebacker, coming from the opposite direction. The 6-foot-1...

  It's always great catching up with industry technical guru and thought leader, Bobby Samuelson.  Bobby's Life Product Review is the only source for independent, objective and technical life insurance product intelligence and an outstanding resource for all of us in this industry. We asked Bobby if he would like to join Windsor's Marc Schwartz in a conversation about the latest developments in Index Universal Life products, and Bobby graciously accepted. Marc Schwartz, Windsor Insurance: Bobby, we really appreciate you taking the time to educate us on what's happening in the wo...

The popularity of Index Universal Life products has stirred up the creative talents of many professional financial advisors, and nowhere has that creativity been more apparent than in the area of policy loan rescues.  No question this is a significant opportunity to bring value to clients and generate a new sale, but it requires a high degree of expertise to navigate successfully.  This article will review rescue strategies so that you have a better idea of what works and what doesn't.  In addition, the Windsor case design team is fully conversant on the options and approaches t...

Ready for some quick sales ideas that you can take from start to finish before December 31?  Here are some of the best from Windsor and our carriers!   Year-End Tax Deductions!  American National ​As we enter the last two months of the year we are at the very peak of the pension season. Now is the time to contact prospects who couldn't pull the trigger on planning earlier in the year. There is much greater urgency to establish a plan now than back in March when no deadlines were looming. Contact accountants and let them know that you can help them and their client...

For life insurance industry veterans, using cash value life insurance to supplement retirement savings is as old as the rate book. Overfunding premiums and enjoying the advantages of both insurance protection and tax-free accumulation (without the burden of qualified plan rules) is what makes our product so unique. And with the potential for tax-free income down the road, we really have an unmatched solution for clients wanting to enhance their retirement in a very tax-efficient way. If life insurance is new to you, or if you just need a refresher on the Life Insurance Retirement Plan (LIRP) c...

Interested in offering clients additional products and services while enjoying the compensation that comes with it? How would you like to strengthen and secure your client relationship by helping the business retain and reward key people? Could your practice benefit from another source of current and future revenue by providing innovative life insurance solutions without the "noise" associated with this line of business (underwriting and ongoing administration)? What if the only invasive question was "are you actively at work?" And finally, any "white collar" client with existing group term in...