Joe’s Wife Is Missing, So Is His Ability to Protect Her
At the peak of the COVID pandemic, my friend Joe hadn’t seen his wife for over five months. He had rushed her to the hospital and had to watch from the door while the gurney wheeled her away. It turned out she had an aneurism that needed immediate attention. The doctors saved her life, but...
Marijuana and Life Insurance: Your Preferred Rating Doesn’t Have To Go Up in Smoke
The issue of marijuana use continues to evolve no matter where you live. While your state, like here in California, may have legalized the drug, the federal government still classifies the substance as illegal. As states push on despite the federal laws, the question of marijuana use is a hotly debated topic inside the insurance...
What? George Died???
One of the things I’ve learned in this job is that we can’t always prevent bad news, but what we do can lessen the impact of that bad news. Here’s an example: Problem George died. He was lean and active and vibrant. You’ll never find a healthier sixty-year-old. He was a partner in a well-run...
Is Renting Your Insurance Better? It Depends…
Fred and Barney are the same age and in good health. They both need the same amount of life insurance protection and they both have discretionary income. Fred is a saver and Barney is a spender. As a saver, Fred doesn’t like to rent things-he likes to accumulate. Since he’s already saving it makes sense...
Life Insurance Needs to be Treated Like One of the Systems on a Submarine
Ronald Reagan popularized the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In many cases, that’s good advice. If, however, you’re a crew member on a submarine (like I was) – it’s not good advice at all. We were trained to a higher standard of care. We made sure it was working, but it was...
5 Reasons Millennials Need Life Insurance (Even if You Don’t Have Kids)
There’s always time, right? That’s not always the case. Millennials have student loan debt, medical insurance, rent, utility bills, and not to mention, many concerts to attend. You want to travel and go to the new Vietnamese restaurant that opened up in the city and live the work hard, play hard lifestyle. You have a...
What’s the Right Life Insurance Premium?
Fred’s attorney had no indication of whether Fred’s life insurance policy was healthy or not. According to Fred, it hadn’t been looked at in almost ten years. Familiar with how we’ve added value to other clients in the past, the attorney asked us to review the policy for Fred. Here’s what we found. Problem The...
Avoid Being a Victim of Life Insurance Fraud Pt. 2
Life insurance fraud is an unpleasant experience. Consumers across the country are frequently targeted. Last week, we provided four ways you can help avoid life insurance fraud. But there are more. Here are three more ways that you and your family can avoid being victimized by an unethical company or agent. Shop around Just like all...
Avoid Being a Victim of Life Insurance Fraud – Part 1
There’s no doubt that life insurance fraud is a serious problem, yet this issue victimizes many. There are unfortunately occasional instances where families are taken advantage of by companies and individuals who prey on consumers’ lack of knowledge in the industry. These tips can keep you informed on the basics of life insurance to help...
Solution: Split-Dollar Life Insurance
We’ve all been in situations where something interesting caught our attention until it started getting complicated. It might be a really good idea, but the fog of the complexity quickly overwhelms the simplicity. At that point the interesting thing gets lost in the jungle and we walk away. That’s a normal reaction. Sometimes, however, it’s...