Tip #11

There is no one best permanent life insurance policy, but there is the best policy for each particular situation or client.

Too often, when your clients buy life insurance, they are sold a particular “hot” product. The life insurance industry has done a great job of adapting policies to the marketplace and customer preference. For example, today, one of the hottest-selling products is equity index universal life (EIUL). It gives clients (a portion of) the upside of the equity market while limiting the downside. With the market crash still visible in your client’s rearview mirror, this type of policy is attractive. But, permanent life insurance should be just that: permanent. Its selection should not be based on what happened last year or ten years back but on the needs and expectations of your client over their lifetime. Yes, EIUL may be the “best” product for them, but the decision should not be made quickly; there should be a process behind it. In the Wealth Advisors Guide to Life Insurance, we review the different types of permanent life insurance by their characteristics (cash value investment, premium flexibility, death benefit guarantee) and then walk through a process to select the best policy for each particular client’s situation, based on policy characteristics and the client’s needs, risk temperament and funding capabilities. No matter your role as wealth advisor—the trustee accepting the policy, the attorney writing the ILIT document, the family office advisor overseeing the transaction—you can provide your client with a process to help them make the “best” decision on their life insurance purchase. You can increase your value to your client. For more information about The Wealth Advisors Guide the Life Insurance, go to MichaelBrohawn.com