Short Takes
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's health plan Illinois Covered, created to provide health insurance to all Illinois state residents, has been recommended by a legislative committee to go in front of the Senate for vote.
The current...
The 2008 Season
Episode Five 2:00pm - 3:00pm
(Scene 4 Jack Bauer is driving down Pasadena side streets at 75 miles per hour in the SUV he stole in Scene 2. His cell phone rings.)
Jack Bauer: This is Jack.
Bill Buchanan:...
The news is alarming: According to an article in Investment News (Solo Advisers Scramble for Health Coverage, March 26, 2007), independent financial advisors often forgo health insurance coverage. The chief culprit cited?...
The key to deferral is a well-thought-out distribution plan
Recently, I received a call from a lady who had just been informed by her accountant that there were thousands of dollars due in taxes on an annuity her father had left her. It appeared...
Well-prepared advisors, particularly those who work with older clients, know how important it is to have a basic understanding of impaired risk underwriting. Knowing how to approach your clients medical history and conditions can make the...
In life insurance sales, the process of underwriting risk continues to receive market pressure for improved speed, ease, and accuracy. This is especially true in cases of impaired risks. In the particular area of preliminary or informal (trial)...
Today, people are living longer than ever. Whether its due to increased health consciousness or ongoing medical advances, the reality is that life expectancies continue to extend. This means that we can enthusiastically and energetically enjoy...
Saving for retirement, paying off a mortgage, and funding a college education are just a sampling of the long-term goals vying for the dollars of todays middle market (those with an annual household income between $25,000 and $100,000)....
Todays increased life expectancy gives leading-edge insurance companies greater leverage in policy design these days. That, in turn, enables producers to offer whole life products that respond to a variety of needs in the contemporary...
I ts easy for salespeople including life producers to fall into a rut. They become acquainted and comfortable with certain products and find themselves making cookie cutter recommendations. Theyve heard the...
According to NAILBA, the industry average of cases that are not placed is between 25 and 35 percent. And underwriting can be a major challenge for agents. According to Agent Medias* 2007 Life Insurance Survey, 29 percent of agents named...
The life insurance industry is constantly changing, churning out new products and features to meet a wide variety of consumer needs. This year, Agent Media, for the second year in a row, set out to find what producers have to say about this market....
Most States Should Follow Nebraska
Re: What Does the Future Hold for Your Designations? by Michael Murillo, April 2007. .
Hats off to Nebraskas DB&F (Department of Banking and Finance) for taking notice of the...
In a 371 to 16 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that will bar commercial corporations from opening a bank known as an industrial loan company (ILC). According to the bill, a company must generate 85 percent of its revenue from...
According to a report from LIMRA International, an estimated 44 million U.S. employees say that paying the bills, keeping up with the high cost of medical care, and lacking employer-sponsored retirement savings plans are the main reasons they are...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that it will end a court case making broker-dealers who receive fees and commissions exempt from the fiduciary requirements of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. However, the SEC will ask the U.S....
Patients without insurance and those who pay out of pocket were charged more for services, according to a study published in the May-June issue of the journal Health Affairs.
In 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available,...
Of the current contenders for president, insurance companies have donated the most money to the campaigns of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd.
Romney, running on the Republican ticket, has received $349,6...