Short Takes
Agent’s Sales Journal presents this comprehensive producer’s guide to the leading industry organizations, including what their mission is and who their members are. American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI)...
Deferred annuities can be useful retirement savings tools for your clients. But have you considered that the best option for your clients may be to convert their deferred annuity into a single premium immediate annuity (SPIA)? By doing so, you may...
A basic principle in estate planning that few advisors understand — and even fewer investors know about — is the ability to split the value of any asset into two parts. One part of the asset is the lifetime value of that asset, and the...
What is enticing investors back to variable annuities (VAs)? In a word: guarantees. While VAs are often considered a way to leverage the growth potential of the equity markets, the guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (GMWB) and the guaranteed...
With the many variations in index method choices, it can be difficult for agents to determine what is best for their customers’ needs. Basic designs are difficult for customers to understand, and exotic designs are even more difficult, adding...
Index annuities are unique products that are offered by insurance companies and provide a level of safety and guarantees similar to fixed annuities, along with the opportunity to benefit from potential market index gains. For the client, this means...
Every day I’m asked by agents and brokers, “How do I get in front of more annuity prospects?” My answer is always the same: “Be creative.” Don’t limit your thinking to boomers and seniors. Even though pre-retirees...
Annuities can be a lucrative product for agents. They’re a nice way to build your business, and they can help your clients enjoy a steady flow of income in retirement. However, there are many types of annuities and not all of them are suited...
As a companion to the annuity survey, Agent’s Sales Journal recently conducted a survey to find out how the insurance agents who sell annuity products rate the carriers they work with. The top insurance companies As seen in the...
Survey respondents see marketplace opportunities ahead for annuity sales In January, the Agent’s Sales Journal completed a survey of insurance agents in order to capture perceptions of annuity sales opportunities and challenges. Over 500...
Money is put into motion by the things that happen in people’s lives: births, deaths, and all the important things that occur in between, such as a career change, marriage, divorce, birth of a child, relocation, downsizing, and retirement....
More carriers are expected to market index universal life (IUL), according to Advantage Group Associates Inc. “Based on our research, relationships, and consulting,” says Sheryl Moore, president of Advantage Group, “we believe...
Genworth Financial has entered into an agreement to acquire Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood, TN, a 22-year-old provider of Medicare supplement insurance. Genworth will combine its existing Medicare supplement business with...
More than 2 million people have voluntarily enrolled for the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit in the past month, exceeding projections by the Bush administration. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt touted the enrollment...
California insurance Commissioner John Garamendi released a report titled “Dangerous Prescription” in which he points to what he calls the potential dangers that health savings accounts (HSAs) pose to health consumers and the entire...
The number of women-owned businesses — many of them single-person enterprises —grew twice as fast as the rate for private companies in general between 1997 and 2002, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report is...
The long term care insurance industry is maturing but still searching for sustained profitability as it works to market a complicated product offering, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting Inc. LTCI is now a $6.7 billion...