As I have mentioned previously, the Greek word for insurance is "asfalia", which literally translates to "security". The Greeks are not paying for someone to insure them, but instead are buying peace of mind, knowing that their families and loved ones are secure.
One of the recurring themes that insurance companies use when advertising, or even training their agents, is that their products give people the peace of mind. I worked with one company that had a brochure titled "What Keeps You Up At Night?", with the idea being that prospective clients would be so worried about what would happen to their families that they couldn't get to sleep. One can imagine that this may be the case for some people.
If only there was a way to get to these people when they were worrying about this. How could I help people who were in their pajamas?
That's why we have added several quoting tools onto our website. A concerned breadwinner can visit our site and run quotes for life, cancer, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance. We even have one for our combo dental, vision and hearing plan. And the best part is if someone sees a rate that fits into their budget they can start their application, all without a pushy salesman. (We aren't pushy.)
On the other hand, we make ourselves available if someone is looking for a little assistance, and we do have other insurance products, like disability and long term care, that we currently don't have the capability of quoting online. For those kinds of concerns, we ask that you book an appointment that is convenient for you from our site and we can help you out over the phone.
If you are in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina or South Carolina, and can't sleep, visit our site. In the meantime, please stay healthy!
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient, and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!
Two weeks ago I was asked to give a talk to a local networking group about long term care insurance, as well as other related subjects. Most of the material I discussed had to do with the products available to us, like long term care insurance, short term home healthcare insurance and life insurance with "living benefits" that can be used in the case of a chronic illness or cognitive impairment, like Alzheimer's or dementia.
As usual, I discussed the three stages of retirement which are the Go Go Years, the Slow Go Years and the No Go Years. Unfortunately, most people don't plan for the last part, which is what ultimately costs them the most money.
Take a couple of minutes and watch the video below which covers a short talk on the subject. If you have any questions or comments, please post them below and if you can, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube.
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient, and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!
Not that many people noticed, but I took a week off from the blog last week as I tried to regroup a bit. I wanted to use the time to consider a few options. Partly from general burn out and partly because coming up with a new insurance related topic three times a week is harder than I thought, I mulled some stuff over and have decided to make a few changes.
Part of the problem is that I continue to write another blog on sales and marketing twice a week. I appreciate that it makes me do research on new products and keeps my brain "flexing it's muscles", but it was becoming a bit much.
After some consideration I will be changing the format here a bit. There will probably be only one (two at most) blogs each week, with less text and more video. This helps me because I'm a decent writer but I can knock out a short video on a topic in a minute or two, which is about the same time it would take you to read one of my blogs.
I'm looking forward to sharing more information on life insurance, disability, long term care, accident and cancer insurance, as well as our other plans.
To start us off on a lighter note, here is a good submission for you. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please leave us a comment. Thanks and please subscribe.
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient, and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!
As an insurance agent I have come across a wide variety of opinions when it comes to people discussing their own deaths. I am constantly amazed at how people will open up with me so quickly. Maybe they trust an insurance agent more than their own family members.
Some of these folks believe they are heading into the afterlife, one way or another, while more than you would expect seem to feel that there is nothing after you die. But with all of these differing opinions, most do agree that their loved ones will still be around when they are gone and may have to pay some expensive bills as a result of their death.
And here is the rub. If we agree that there will be some costs involved when we go to our great reward, shouldn't we try to minimize those costs ahead of time? Wouldn't it be in the best interest of our surviving family members? It seems like common sense to say "yes". Especially when we know that no one lives forever.
So what can you do to make sure your family doesn't go broke paying their last respects to you? Here are a few ideas of simple tasks that don't need to be put off any longer.
Have a will. Your will directs the courts to help settle your estate per your wishes. It's very important to keep it updated every few years as your situation changes. And most importantly, make sure your family members know where to find it. Is your will in a safe, or a file at your attorney's office? And never leave it in a safe deposit box unless other family members have a key.
Have a living will. If you were seriously ill, would you want to be on life support or would you rather have the medical staff "pull the plug"? Your directives can keep your family from keeping you on life support when you would rather pass away.
Have a life insurance policy. As an attorney friend of mine always says, "A life insurance policy trumps a will." You don't have to wait for someone's estate to be settled because a life insurance policy is a binding contract between you and your insurance company. Remember that when someone dies, the funeral home, lawyer and others will have their hand out waiting to be paid. Your life insurance agent will be the one bringing you a check to pay those bills.
Pre-plan your funeral. Instead of your kids picking out a Cadillac coffin, you can decide for yourself how modest you want your funeral to be.
Pre-pay your funeral. My own father did pre-plan but didn't pre-pay. From the time he had planned his funeral to the time he actually passed away, inflation had done some damage. The funeral director shook his head and said, "I'll do the best I can on these prices", and I could tell it wasn't the first time he had run into this situation.
This list may seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. The first two items and the last two items can be taken care of at the same time. Having a plan and letting your family know what it is can save them substantial money and they will know that, even in death, you are looking out for their best interest.
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient, and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!
When I first got into the insurance business I didn't have a mentor or anyone to "show me the ropes" per se. I learned quickly that my sales manager had a financial interest in me selling, and one would think that he would want me, as well as the rest of the agents on his team, to succeed. And while it was true to an extent, I also learned that I needed a mentor who did not have any skin in the game when it came to my success. Basically I needed someone who could be objective and give me sound advice who would be looking out for my interests.
Since no one was stepping up to the plate to help me, I started reading books about sales and any information I could find about successful insurance agents. There were many motivational books and most of them gave the same basic information. One day, I came across an article about an agent who was deemed "The Greatest Life Insurance Agent of All Time". His name was Ben Feldman and his story was quite remarkable.
I don't want to bore you with all of the details as you can look up the details on him with a simple Google search, but the simple fact is that he found a way to sell more life insurance as an agent than some entire companies at the time. When asked how he sold so many insurance policies he said, "I do not sell life insurance. I sell money."
You see, Mr. Feldman was able to clearly communicate what life insurance is. When a client buys a policy, they are actually buying a promise. That promise is that if the insured should die, the insurance company will pay a death claim which will exceed what the client has paid in.
Mr. Feldman also was noted as saying to his agents, "Don't sell life insurance. Sell what life insurance can do." In today's world of life insurance, a policy can do a lot for a family when the insured passes away, but with all of the living benefits available nowadays, people can use them while they are still living.
Let's face it, no one really wants to buy life insurance, or any other kind of insurance for that matter. It's not fun or something one can show off to their friends. But it is necessary, especially when others are dependent on us financially. Our children rely on us to provide housing and education, which costs money. Our parents, who always insists that they don't want to be a burden on anyone else, may ultimately rely on us to help with long term care costs if they haven't planned in advance.
And then there are others that may depend on us financially, like charities and churches. When a large donor passes away, that non-profit organization may need to find other donors to fill the missing gaps. And sometimes, those large donors will list the charity of their choice as a beneficiary on a policy.
Ben Feldman knew all of this and made sure he didn't sell just the steak, but the sizzle as well. Instead of saying he was selling life insurance, he would call it something like "a special educational package for your children's children."
So the next time you talk to a life insurance agent, remember, we don't just sell insurance, but we sell money, and a promise.
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient, and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!
A few weeks back I joined an online chat with some people I really didn't know but who had some valuable information to offer. Fortunately, these very nice people welcomed me to their group. One of them in particular, Adam Griggs who is the CEO of CLARAfi, dropped me a note a few days later, which began a conversation.
Adam took a look at some of my videos on YouTube, gave me a word of encouragement, and then suggested that I make a short video explaining my "how and why" I got into the insurance business. To be honest, I initially was thinking, "Yeah, no one really wants to hear that story." But since Adam took the time to watch a few videos, I thought the least I could do would be to consider his idea.
I thought back to my first venture into insurance back in 1985. Having graduated from college with no real job prospects, my father wanted me to work with him at his fledgling engineering firm. Keeping my eyes open for other opportunities, I begrudgingly went to work for him entering data into an MS-DOS program.
There were several issues with this situation, with a major problem being that I was not an engineer. My degree was in Business Management. Also, my old man, who was a micromanager to say the least, wanted me to live at home, work with him, and let him decide what I should eat for dinner. Also, that dinner would include discussions about work, which I had just suffered through a few hours earlier. I was quickly going crazy.
I needed to find a job where I could learn some real world business skills while getting out from under the old man's thumb. One morning I told my father I had a job interview in Raleigh, NC, about an hour away. I didn't really, but my plan was to go there and start looking for work. In the course of a few hours I had managed to find what I thought was a good opportunity with an insurance company.
The job wasn't exactly as presented by the recruiter, who had made it sound fairly easy work with banker's hours and great pay. Instead I found myself driving all hours of the day and night in rural areas doing what boiled down to door-to-door insurance sales. And the product was not something I would not purchase for myself. As a matter of fact, I met several people who were angry about their claims experiences. One even threatened to get his gun and shoot me.
After a few months of this, I realized that my coworkers were leaving and being replaced by a revolving door of new agents. It didn't take me long to jump ship as well, and being young and naïve, I got out of the insurance business altogether for about 15 years.
In 2000, I decided to give insurance another go, but this time would be different. I wanted to learn the business from multiple perspectives, so I worked for various companies as an independent agent. Each company had its own way of doing things, from how they prospected for clients to the ways they collected premiums. I learned how some insurance carriers' products were better than others and when those products were suitable for clients.
About this same time, I had an aunt who had been in a nursing home for over 20 years. She had fallen and broken her hip when I was still in high school. My parents had been left with the responsibility of taking care of her bills and I watched them struggle. Even though my father's engineering firm was doing okay, his finances were stretched. A long term care policy would have been a great help, had one been available for her (and subsequently my parents) when she had gone into a facility.
That's when I realized that selling insurance was more than just a job, but a way to help people who were in bad situations by convincing them to mitigate their financial risks ahead of time. There were plenty of examples of insurance policies keeping people from financial ruin, from strangers to those close to me.
For example, my wife's father had died unexpectedly before I had met her, and his life insurance policy helped her graduate from college and take care of other necessities. We even used some of the proceeds years later to make a down payment on our home.
Making sure that people have the right amount of insurance, their beneficiaries are up-to-date and keeping it all in a budget can be tough. Insurance is a product that most people don't want to buy, so the job is more about convincing them they need it. Because of this, the stereotypical insurance salesperson is high pressure. I prefer to say I use "good pressure", because my intention isn't to get the sale, but to make sure that when something bad happens, my clients won't have to move out of their homes or take a second job to pay the bills.
When someone goes to my website and books a phone appointment to discuss life, disability or long term care insurance with me, I may give them a bit of a nudge to make sure their needs are met. It's all done with their best interests in mind. And that is why I do what I do.
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient, and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!
One of the most confusing issues about buying life insurance is knowing how much you will need at different points of your life. As your personal situation changes over time, so will your life insurance needs. Marriage, having children, buying a home or starting a business can mean incremental differences in your coverage.
And as you get older, your life insurance needs typically decrease. The kids have gone off to college or are on their own, the mortgage is paid and other debt has hopefully been eliminated. With all of this change going on, it makes sense to know what your foreseeable needs will be and adjust accordingly.
Sure, you could just buy one very large term policy to cover the next 20 to 30 years, but what happens after that? Burial insurance sounds good, but what if you should have some health issues that could prevent you from buying an affordable policy? The non-medical policies are okay, but they can be expensive.
This is when you should consider a strategy known as "laddering". Laddering is the practice of purchasing several term policies for different lengths of time and different face amounts. Since the policies are set to expire at different times, you only pay for the amount of coverage you need throughout your different life stages.
As an example, let's say that "Bob" is 35 years old, in good health and a non-smoker. After a quick review, Bob discovers he needs $1 million over the next 30 years. If he were to purchase a policy for $1 million, if may cost him about $75 each month, or $900 each year. Over the course of 30 years, Bob would pay $27,000.
However, if Bob decided to purchase three smaller policies that had different terms, it would look something like this:
First policy - A 10-year term with a death benefit of $500,000 ($14 each month)
Second policy - A 20-year term with a death benefit of $300,000 ($16 each month)
Third policy - A 30-year term with a death benefit of $200,000 ($21 each month)
The total amount of coverage is $1 million, but the amount of premium Bob pays on a monthly basis is different throughout the years. And this saves Bob money.
For the first 10 years, Bob pays $51 each month. At the end of the 10th year, the $500,000 will expire, which means Bob only pays $37 each month from year 11 through 20. At the end of the 20th year, the $300,000 policy will expire, which means Bob will only pay $21 each month from the 21st year until the end of the coverage period.
Bob's total premium over the 30 years is $13,080, which means he'll save $13,920! Not bad. And that difference could have been invested into a retirement plan or something else.
As you can see, Bob saved a ton of money plus he got the coverage he needed. During the first 10 years, Bob had $1 million dollars of coverage to pay off his mortgage and other financial obligates. In the second 10 years, with his mortgage principle decreasing, he still had $500,000 of coverage, which would have been sufficient at that point. Finally, in the last 10 years, his spouse could pay off the remaining bit of mortgage as well as take care of his funeral expenses and any other debts with the remaining $200,000.
Even though buying multiple policies may seem like more work, if they are all purchased at the same time through the same carrier, the bill can be consolidated and the savings will be well worth the time and effort.
If you have questions about laddering your policies or anything else related to life insurance please drop us a note or book a short phone appointment with us. In the meantime, please stay healthy!
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient, and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!
