83 Million Americans Say COVID-19 Makes Them More Likely to Buy Life Insurance
{June 3rd, 2020} by ValuePenguin.com
NEW YORK, May 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact everything from the economy to daily life, worries over personal safety have driven 83 million Americans to consider buying life insurance or increasing their life insurance coverage, according to a new survey from ValuePenguin.com by LendingTree. Key Findings: 1 in 4 Americans say […]
ProEquities Announces The Launch Of GEN Next Academy
{June 3rd, 2020} by ProEquities
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — ProEquities (“the firm”), a leading independent financial advisory and brokerage firm and subsidiary of Protective Life Corporation, today announced that it has commenced GEN Next Academy, a comprehensive and proprietary program that helps advisors new to the industry join an established office, while providing senior advisors the assistance they need […]
Principal Financial cuts pay for 23% of global workforce due to COVID-19 impact
{June 3rd, 2020} by Donnelle Eller
Paychecks for nearly a quarter of Principal Financial Group’s employees will be smaller, the giant Des Moines-based investment and retirement services company said Tuesday. Principal said it’s cutting salaries for 23% of its global workforce to “mitigate and manage” the economic and market fallout from COVID-19. Principal employs about 18,000 people worldwide and 6,500 in […]
Annuities During Economic Uncertainty
{June 3rd, 2020} by Ben Mattlin
In March, a survey of people between the ages of 61 and 65 found that those who have secured guaranteed retirement income were less likely to alter strategies (or their portfolios) during the current market volatility. That doesn’t mean they weren’t worried. “Though 61% said they’re concerned about the volatility, those with pensions or annuities—that […]
Why College Coaches Are Being Paid With Split-Dollar Life Insurance
{June 3rd, 2020} by Jordan Smith
In August 2016, the University of Michigan began what has now become a trend when they offered a split-dollar life insurance arrangement to head football coach Jim Harbaugh as an alternative to deferred compensation. Other schools have since followed in Michigan’s footsteps: Clemson, for Dabo Swinney; LSU, for Ed Orgeron; and South Carolina, for women’s […]
ACLI Version Wins In IUL Illustration Fight
{June 3rd, 2020} by John Hilton
State insurance regulators sided with an industry trade group Thursday in choosing language designed to tamp down wayward indexed universal life illustrations. But not before a rift further widened between industry factions. Life Actuarial Task Force members voted 15-2 in a “straw poll” to proceed with language put forth by the American Council of Life […]
Best Life Insurance Companies of 2020
{June 2nd, 2020} by Ashlee Tilford
The insurance company you select for your life insurance policy is not a decision to take lightly. The company’s history, as well as its reputation for customer service, financial stability and pricing, are just a few of the things that can impact both your experience and policy value. Life insurance is all about preparing yourself financially […]
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Pacific LifeCorp and Its Subsidiaries
{June 2nd, 2020} by AM BEST
OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “aa” of the members of Pacific Life Group (Pacific Life): Pacific Life Insurance Company and Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Both companies are headquartered in Newport Beach, CA. Additionally, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICR […]
Annuity Awareness Month: Talking Annuity Benefits Year-Round
{June 2nd, 2020} by American Equity
Most likely, your clients don’t know June is National Annuity Awareness month. That’s because most clients are not looking for a retirement product, they are pursuing their retirement priorities. While client values may differ wildly from one to another, a recent LIMRA study reports more than a third of pre-retirees share a similar mindset. Based […]
AllianzIM Introduces Next-Generation Risk Management Offering With Launch of Buffered Outcome ETFs
{June 2nd, 2020} by Allianz Life
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Allianz Investment Management LLC (AllianzIM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life®), today introduces its new exchange-traded fund (ETF) product line with the launch of the AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer10 Apr ETF (NYSE Arca: AZAA) and the AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Apr ETF (NYSE Arca: […]
Winning Culture and Proven Ownership Model Attracts Tri-State Financial to Partner with Integrity Marketing Group
{June 2nd, 2020} by Integrity Marketing Group
DALLAS, June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Integrity Marketing Group, LLC (“Integrity”), the nation’s largest independent distributor of life and health insurance products, today announced it has acquired Tri-State Financial (“Tri-State”), headquartered in New Jersey. Tri-State is an independently owned affiliate of Integrity platform partner Family First Life (“FFL”) and has been one of the largest marketing partners for FFL […]
Selling Life Insurance As “Investments”
{June 2nd, 2020} by Charlie Gipple
This message is prompted by hearing about yet another agent last week (not associated with CG Financial Group) that got herself in trouble by selling cash value life insurance as an “investment” without regard to the actual death benefit need. As you may or may not know, prior to starting CG Financial Group, I spent […]
$15,000 in Scholarships Aims to Encourage Minorities and Women to Pursue a Career in Financial Planning
{June 2nd, 2020} by Advisors Excel
TOPEKA, Kan., June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Advisors Excel has recently announced the creation of three, $5,000 scholarships aimed at encouraging minorities and women to pursue a degree in Kansas State University’s Personal Financial Planning (PFP) program. Each scholarship can be renewed annually. “For the 20 years I’ve been in the financial services industry, there have been many discussions about the lack […]
John Hancock Rolls Out New Digital Tools for FAs Serving Retirement Plans
{June 2nd, 2020} by Alex Padalka
John HancockRetirement says it added new features to help advisors better serve retirement plan clients digitally in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. The company has introduced two new tools. One is Onboarding Resource Center, which provides access to enrollment materials, demos, presentations and participant education flyers, among other features. Another is Plan Manager, which […]
Twin Cities Financial Firms Speak Out After Floyd’s Killing, Protests
{June 2nd, 2020} by Janet Levaux
In Minneapolis, appeals for peace were made Monday from the brother of George Floyd, a black man who died as a white police officer pinned his neck down a week ago. Such calls also have been also been made by financial services firms based in the region. The killing have sparked several nights of protests that […]
BlackRock to mix target-dates and annuities
{June 2nd, 2020} by Emile Hallez
BlackRock is taking another stab at the combination of target-date funds and annuities, on Wednesday, announcing a new product in conjunction with Equitable and Brighthouse Financial. Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews
Life Insurance Groups Address George Floyd Death, Denounce Racism
{June 2nd, 2020} by John Hilton
Several life insurance groups joined to release a statement this afternoon addressing racism, the George Floyd death and resulting “tumult, hurt and anger” across U.S communities. Community leaders are weary after five days of civil unrest in the United States following the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer […]
AIG Exec: 5 Ways To Protect Clients From Elder Fraud
{June 2nd, 2020} by John Hilton
Only one in 44 cases of elder fraud is actually reported, according to the National Adult Protective Services Association. But the issue is attracting more attention, with some states passing laws to give authorities more tools to fight elder fraud. Agents and advisors are often best positioned to witness and report suspicious incidents, said Michele […]
Arizona House Sends Best-Interest Annuity Rules To Gov. Ducey
{June 2nd, 2020} by John Hilton
The Arizona House of Representatives this week approved and sent to Gov. Doug Ducey a bill to adopt a model regulation for annuity sales that requires financial professionals to act in the best interests of the consumer. If Ducey signs the bill, Arizona would become the second state to adopt best-interest rules modeled on a […]
Term Life Premium Up 8%, Offsetting Tough 1Q: LIMRA
{June 2nd, 2020} by John Hilton
Term life insurance new premium rose 8% in the first quarter, with 40% of term life writers reporting double-digit increases, according to LIMRA data. The term premium increase is the highest since the second quarter 2007, according to LIMRA’s First Quarter 2020 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Sales Survey. Sixty percent of term life writers reported […]
Americans Hazy on Death and Debt: Ethos
{June 2nd, 2020} by Allison Bell
Many U.S. consumers are hazy about what happens to debt after death. Ethos, a company that sells life insurance online, has published data on that knowledge gap in a summary of results from a survey of 1,978 U.S. adults ages 20 and older. A polling firm conducted the survey for Ethos in December, before COVID-19 […]
Why Life Insurers Need Insurtech Firms: Idea File
{June 2nd, 2020} by Allison Bell
Life insurers have been spending heavily on computers and software for generations, and they’re still hungry for more. As hard as times may be, most of the 36 life insurers that participated in a recent Novarica survey said they’re planning to maintain their information technology (IT) budgets, and several said they’re on track to increase […]
5 Ideas from a Retirement Expert’s New Paper, for Annuity Sellers
{June 2nd, 2020} by Allison Bell
The Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Treasury Department have managed to buffer the U.S. stock market and the U.S. bond market against most of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Portfolio managers at life insurers and pension funds have generally done what was necessary to keep the sky from falling, today. But Olivia Mitchell, the International […]
Equitable and Brighthouse to Power BlackRock Annuitization Option
{June 2nd, 2020} by Allison Bell
BlackRock Inc. has picked life insurance units of Equitable Holdings and Brighthouse Financial Inc. to help it provide an annuity-based lifetime income program for U.S. retirement plan sponsors. The new LifePath Paycheck program will combine a 401(k) plan or other defined contribution plan with a target date investment arrangement — a fund designed to tilt […]
News SEC Takes Action to Stop Ponzi Scheme Selling ‘Annuities’
{June 2nd, 2020} by Melanie Waddell
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against a California-registered investment advisor and his entities to halt an ongoing Ponzi scheme targeting senior citizens in Southern California. According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least January 2018 through the present, Paul Horton […]
A Primer for Annuity Newbies
{June 2nd, 2020} by Kerry Pechter
Here, by popular demand, I offer a 10-minute tour of annuity products, using the same classification system that I used when writing Annuities for Dummies. Many advisers have joined the Retirement Income Journal community recently, and many of them are new to the world of annuities. I’ve been asked to create a quick tutorial on this […]
Income Annuity Pricing For An 85-Year-Old Female
{June 2nd, 2020} by Wade Pfau
We looked at longevity insurance as it applies to a sixty-five-year-old female purchasing a deferred income annuity with income starting at eighty-five. We may also consider the alternative of just waiting until age eighty-five and then buying an immediate annuity. During those twenty years, interest rates and mortality tables can change in unexpected ways, which […]
Social Security Is Worth More Than You Think, but Needs Your Help
{June 2nd, 2020} by Jeff Sommer
The stock market has been erratic, real estate is hurting, bond yields are painfully low and dividends are shrinking. In the coronavirus recession, most financial assets have been disturbingly volatile. But one widely held financial asset, perhaps the most important one for the vast majority of Americans, has performed splendidly: their stake in Social Security. […]
Annuity sales falter, but clients flock to this product
{June 2nd, 2020} by Tobias Salinger
The economic fallout from the coronavirus is tilting the annuity marketplace in favor of structured products even as overall sales falter. Click HERE to read the full story via Financial Planning ………………………………………………………………………………….. Low interest rates drew clients to structured products in the first quarter, boosting the fastest growing segment of the annuities […]
The Reg BI Battle Comes to a Head
{June 2nd, 2020} by Melanie Waddell
Will XY Planning Network and the seven state attorneys general succeed in stopping the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest in its tracks? We’ll know soon enough, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit agreed to hear oral arguments in the case on June 2. The appeals court said in early […]
IRS Floats Plan to Update Withholding Rules for Annuity Payments
{June 2nd, 2020} by Melanie Waddell
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued a proposed regulation Wednesday updating the federal income tax withholding rules for periodic retirement and annuity payments made after Dec. 31. Chris Shankle, senior vice president at Argent Retirement Plan Advisors and a member of the AICPA Employee Benefits Tax Technical Resource Panel, told ThinkAdvisor in a Wednesday […]
Life and Health Community Grieves for George Floyd
{June 2nd, 2020} by Allison Bell
Life, health and annuity groups and companies have stood up to condemn the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis May 25 as Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, took a knee to his neck, while he was being videotaped, as onlookers asked him to get up. The killing has sparked […]
Fidelity National Closes on Fidelity & Guaranty Life
{June 2nd, 2020} by Allison Bell
The U.S. individual annuity now has a major new player: Fidelity National Financial Inc. The Jacksonville, Florida-title insurer closed on FGL Holdings Monday. FGL is the George Town, Cayman Islands-based holding company that controls Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company (F&G), which has its main offices in Des Moines, Iowa. F&G generated $3.6 billion in annuity […]
3 Local Influencers You Want to Know
{June 2nd, 2020} by Bryce Sanders
Centers of Influence. We basically define them as people who can send business to us. Accountants and lawyers come to mind. Try a different mindset. Look for the people who can connect you with other people — the ones everyone trusts. There’s a story here. The Established Local We have a 50ish friend retired from […]
DOL Fiduciary Rule Reboot Lands at OMB
{June 2nd, 2020} by Melanie Waddell
The Labor Department has sent its fiduciary rule to align with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest to the Office of Management and Budget for review. Preston Rutledge, assistant secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, who was charged with spearheading a new fiduciary rule to align with Reg BI, left […]
Lincoln Financial Group’s New Technology Offering Delivers Improved Experience for Employers
{June 1st, 2020} by Lincoln Financial Group
RADNOR, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As part of its commitment to enhancing the customer experience, Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE: LNC) announced today a new partnership with industry-leading benefits technology firm PlanSource. Tied to Lincoln Financial’s Group Benefits business and its multi-year technology investment strategy, the partnership will help deliver a consumer-friendly employee benefits purchasing experience for individuals, while supporting key broker […]
The average life insurance rate by age, sex, and coverage type
{June 1st, 2020} by Liz Knueven
Life insurance is surprisingly affordable. The average cost of life insurance is $44 per month, according to data from S&P Global. Across all life insurance policies — including more expensive and guaranteed-to-pay-out whole life policies, in addition to cheaper, temporary term life policies — that breaks down to $538 in premiums per year, or about […]
