You Think You Won’t Qualify for Life Insurance, but You’re Wrong

You Think You Won’t Qualify for Life Insurance, but You’re Wrong

Think you can’t qualify for life insurance? Think again.

You want to protect your loved ones for the future once you’re no longer around to provide for them. We all do. Life insurance gives you that peace of mind that your family will be taken care of after you’re gone.

However, you’re also worried that your health issues mean you won’t qualify for life insurance because it is meant for healthy people only. So what do you do?

Don’t despair—there is good life insurance out there for you! Whether you have diabetes, heart disease, mental health issues, kidney or liver problems, or almost any other health condition, you can qualify for life insurance!

Looking at the Big Picture

About 85% of consumers agree that most people need life insurance, but only 59% are actually insured, according to the 2017 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens and LIMRA. Why?

Let’s look at the facts. There are plenty of reasons why someone may not have life insurance or may not qualify for it, including:

• Recent heart disease
• Heart disease prior to the age of 50
• Any recent major disease (cancer, liver, kidney issues)
• Major mental health issues (such as suicide attempts)
• Kidney and/or liver disease
• Wrongly assuming they won’t qualify

Surprised by that last point? You’re not alone. Many Americans wrongly assume they won’t qualify for life insurance, and thus, never attempt to get insured. We are here to put an end to the myth that only healthy people can get life insurance.

We are here to put an end to the myth that only healthy people can get life insurance.

Overcoming Roadblocks

Actually, almost any health history can be insured. The right company can get you insured at an affordable rate, even if you are dealing with any of the issues I listed above.

Take a man in his late 40s, who had suffered a severe heart attack in his early 40s, and while he had been declined elsewhere, we were able to find a company that would insure him.

Another great example is mental health issues, many times consumers with mood disorder and or depression with multiple medications are not insurable. But every company’s underwriting department has unique needs to fill, so recently an individual who had been declined multiple times for mood disorder was able to secure permanent insurance because he has a steady job, and the mental health issues didn’t impact his daily living.

If you are dealing with health conditions, life insurance companies love seeing that you’re working to improve or properly maintain your health.

So if you are over 50, have had heart disease, and it has been resolved for a few years, you can qualify for life insurance.

If you control your diabetes through diet and medication, you can qualify.

If you maintain your mental health with medication and lead a normal life, you can qualify.

Basically, follow your doctor’s orders and you are much more likely to qualify. And that means being able to get financial protection with life insurance that your loved ones need and deserve.

Get the Long-Term Care (Tweetable!) Facts

Get the Long-Term Care (Tweetable!) Facts

It’s Long-Term Care Insurance Awareness Month. Stop! Before you come to the rash conclusion that “It’s nursing home insurance for old people. I don’t need that!” please just spend two minutes with this video. (And know that 80% of people who need care get it in their home!)

Here is some additional information about long-term care and long-term care insurance that you may not know. These facts are “tweetable,” meaning you can simply click on them and they’ll generate your tweet for you. Spread the word!

70% of people 65+ will need long-term care at some point in their lives. #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

Women outlive men by 5 years, so are more likely to live alone when they’re older. #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

Medicare doesn’t pay for unskilled help with Activities of Daily Living, which are most long-term care services #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

Women need long-term care longer (3.7 years) than men (2.2 years). #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

20% of today’s 65 year-olds will need long-term care support for 5+ years. #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

80% of long-term care at home is provided by unpaid caregivers who spend 20 hours/week. #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

58% of long-term care caregivers have intensive responsibilities like assisting with bathing or feeding #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

8% of people ages 40-50 have a disability that could require long-term care services. #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

69% of people age 90+ have a disability. #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

Chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure make you more likely to need long-term care. #ThinkLTCI Click To Tweet (Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2017 longtermcare.gov)

Cost of a home health aide services is $21.50/hour on average. Click To Tweet (Source: Genworth 2017 Cost of Care Survey)

Cost of assisted living facilities is $123/day or $3,750/month on average. Click To Tweet (Source: Genworth 2017 Cost of Care Survey)

Adult day health care services are $70/day on average. Click To Tweet (Source: Genworth 2017 Cost of Care Survey)

Semi-private room nursing home care is $235/day or $7,148/month on average. Click To Tweet (Source: Genworth 2017 Cost of Care Survey)

Private room nursing home care is $267/day or $8,121/month on average. Click To Tweet (Source: Genworth 2017 Cost of Care Survey)

3 Ways Life Insurance Can Help Maximize Your Retirement

3 Ways Life Insurance Can Help Maximize Your Retirement

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who owns a permanent life insurance policy (or are thinking about getting one!) you’ve probably done it primarily to protect your loved ones. But over time, many of your financial obligations may have ended. That’s when your policy can take on a new life—as a powerful tool to make your retirement more secure and enjoyable.

Permanent life insurance can open up options for you in retirement in three unique ways:

1. It can help protect you against the risk of outliving your assets. Structured correctly, your policy can provide supplemental retirement income via policy loans and withdrawals. Having a policy to draw from can take the pressure off investment accounts if the market is sluggish, giving them time to rebound. Some policies may also provide options for long-term care benefits. At any time, you may also decide to annuitize the policy, converting it into a guaranteed lifelong income stream.

2. It can maximize a pension. While a traditional pension is fading fast in America, those who can still count on this benefit are often faced with a choice between taking a higher single life distribution, or a lower amount that covers a surviving spouse as well. Life insurance can supplement a surviving spouse’s income, enabling couples to enjoy the higher, single-life pension—together.

3. It can make leaving a legacy easy. According to The Wall Street Journal, permanent life insurance is “a fantastically useful and flexible estate-planning tool,” commonly used to pass on assets to loved ones. Policy proceeds are generally income-tax free and paid directly to your beneficiaries in a cash lump sum—avoiding probate and Uncle Sam in one pass. Your policy can also be used to pay estate taxes, ensure the continuity of a family business, or perhaps leave a legacy for a favorite charity or institution.

Having a policy to draw from can take the pressure off investment accounts if the market is sluggish, giving them time to rebound.

If you do expect your estate to be taxed, you can even establish a life insurance trust, which allows wealth to pass to your heirs outside of your estate, generally free of both estate and income taxes.

Where to start? A policy review.

If you’ve had a life insurance policy for awhile, schedule a policy review with your life insurance agent or financial advisor. By the time you reach mid-life, you may have a mix of coverage—term, permanent, group or even an executive compensation package.

Your licensed insurance agent or financial advisor can help you assess your situation and adjust a current policy or structure a new policy to help you achieve your retirement planning goals.

If you have no coverage at all, there’s no better time than today to get started. Life insurance is a long-term financial tool. It can take decades to build permanent policy values to a place where you can use them toward your retirement goals. And, health profiles can change at any time. If you’re healthy, you can lock in that insurability now and look forward to years of tax-deferred (yes!) policy growth.

Retired already? The best thing you can do is meet annually with your personal advisors to ensure your plans stay on track. Market conditions and family circumstances change, so that even the best-laid plans require course adjustments over time.

Experts Weigh in on Key to Financial Fitness

Experts Weigh in on Key to Financial Fitness

We asked some top advisors what their advice is for being financially fit. Here’s what they shared with us. How many of these can you tick off?

It’s about the flow. Watch your cash flow and live within your means—that’s the starting point. Once that’s under control, plan for the future, including what if something happens to you. What is the impact of that on those left behind and especially if there is debt left behind? That’s where life insurance comes in.

—Aurora Tancock, CFP, FLMI, AIAA, president of Aurora Tancock Financial Services

Set goals. Just as exercise becomes a key tool to achieve health goals, life insurance is the same in your financial fitness program. Among the many goals you can achieve through life insurance are: saving for future projects, plan for retirement and protecting the financial well-being of your family.

—Ana Sofía Rodríguez D, M.B.A., associate director of Grupo Inverseguros

See no evil. Make sure you can leave your family no worse off than they currently are. A lot of people are insurance poor. There’s nothing evil about insurance. It allows your family to maintain same standard of living that they’re accustomed to if something were to happen.

The second is to buy products before the need is there. If you can’t afford all of what you need, start off with what you can afford. For example, start with term life insurance, instead of permanent, and then when you can, change it to a permanent solution.

—Corry Collins, CFP, ChFC, CHS, of Maritime Wealth Management

Get help. I would suggest people start working with an advisor as soon as possible. It’s much easier to fix the financial “mess” of 30-year-old than a 55-year-old. And then, don’t let life get in the way of keeping up with your plan. I think annual reviews are great for keeping people on track.

—Jennifer Mann, LUTCF, CLU, ChFC, CFP, vice president of the Chicago office of Lenox Advisors

Give it a dry run. I’d ask, “Do you have a spending or savings plan?” You need something to help you understand if you are spending more than you’re earning and whether you’re saving enough. It’s great if you can get on a spending plan and stick to it and reevaluate it periodically.

Then reduce and eliminate your debt—but you’ve have to want to do it! Remember, 98% of the people work for 2% of the people. The lenders are the ones you’re working for.

Then have a dry run, what happens if … You have to go through your plan to see if you have enough life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care … what are the survivor needs going to be? etc. and then create a plan to live on that budget, so you can fund the things for later. By saving to today, you can have your earnings pay for your salary later.

—Ed Skelly, ChFC, CLU, RICP, RFC, founder and president of Sterling Financial Partners

 

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