How To Choose A Term Life Insurance Policy 2023

Have you thought about what would happen to your family if you were to die too soon or unexpectedly? Making sure that your family can stay in their home without the stress of paying outstanding debt is important. But you want to make sure that taking care of this is affordable as well.

This is where a term life insurance policy can fit the bill. Term life is great in that it can fit into almost any budget as it is pure death insurance. Most of the time there are no bells and whistles like cash value accumulation or extra benefits. 

Term life insurance is, as the name implies, covers you for a determined amount a time, such as 10 years, 20 years or 30 years. The rate is locked in for that term and won't increase. We at Surf Financial Brokers, have one insurance carrier that offers a 40-year term which is great for younger people who want a policy that will stay the same price into their 60's. 

Which term should pick? That depends on what your needs are. Take into consideration things like your mortgage. If you have just purchased a home and have a 30 year mortgage, a thirty year term policy will be appropriate. But if you have just a few years left on your mortgage, you can lower the term. 

On the other hand, if you have small children, you may want to consider how long it will be until they are out of the house and on their own. We all know that kids aren't cheap and even if the mortgage is paid off, raising the children will still take money that won't be there if you were to pass away.

How much coverage do you need? The simple way to figure this out is to add up the total amount of the following:

• The balance on your mortgage. 
• Credit card debt.
• Balances on car loans
• Final expenses. When doing this I like to add in what I call "costs associated with death", which could be your medical deductible if you are in the hospital for a few days before passing away. And even though many have decided they don't want a funeral, there are those who do. I had a client who wanted to cover the cost of catering and an open bar. He wanted his friends to have a good time.
• Replacement of income. Figure in your annual income and multiply by 5 to help your spouse or significant other pay the expenses that will need to be addressed like car repairs or other emergencies that can pop up.
• Educational costs. If you have kids you may want to help them pay for college when you aren't around. 

It may look like a lot of money, and it probably is. Most people underestimate the amount of coverage they need, which can come back to bite your loved ones. If you aren't sure how much life insurance to purchase, use the calculator provided on our life insurance quoting tool. It will give you a more accurate number as to how much your family will need.

Another factor that may determine your term life insurance purchase may be a convertibility option. This means that at some point in the term the insurance carrier may allow you to convert to a permanent policy. I discussed this in a previous post. 

If you have any questions about purchasing a term life policy, drop us a note on our website. 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!

3 Ways To Set A Good Financial Example For Your Family

One of the most intriguing things I have learned in my many years of being a life insurance agent is how values are handed down from one generation of a family to the next. This is almost always true for everything, from work ethics to religious beliefs. Most notably I see it with financial practices. For example, parents who have bad credit will also have adult children who tend to be late paying bills, creating bad credit for themselves as well. 

One of the other areas where this is true is when it comes to life insurance. There are parents who don't buy life insurance because of various reasons, like thinking it's some sort of scam (yes, I've heard this!) or "Why do I need something I can't use?" (it's not for you, but for your family!). On the flipside of this, I have clients who know the value of life insurance because their parents had policies which paid out nicely. 

Sometimes they insists on buying whole life insurance because "that's what my mother said to buy", which is fine, but maybe a term policy is a better fit for their needs and budget. At least they're considering the purchase for their families. That's the first step in making sure that if something should happen their surviving loved ones will be financially secure.

I often hear stories from clients about how life insurance helped them. My wife is a great example. Her father passed away very unexpectedly when she was still in high school. He had a large policy that helped her and her siblings pay for college and pay many of the outstanding bills. We even used some to the proceeds years later to put a down payment on our home. Now my wife tells people how that policy was helpful, even though she doesn't sell insurance.

Too often, however, I hear stories of families struggling to make ends meet when one of the breadwinners in the family dies too soon. You can easily avoid leaving your loved ones all kinds of bills, like outstanding debts like mortgages, credit cards, car payments and funeral expenses. Shifting the burden of covering all those bills to a life insurance policy will give you and your family the peace of mind that lets you sleep well at night.

I often hear stories from clients about how life insurance helped them. My wife is a great example. Her father passed away very unexpectedly when she was still in high school. He had a large policy that helped her and her siblings pay for college and pay many of the outstanding bills. We even used some to the proceeds years later to put a down payment on our home. Now my wife tells people how that policy was helpful, even though she doesn't sell insurance.

On the other hand I also hear nightmarish stories about families struggling to pay bills and wondering if they can afford to stay in their homes because one of the breadwinners failed to take care of something as simple as buying a life insurance policy. 

About a year ago I met a young widow whose husband died suddenly in a traffic accident. He left a ton of debt, including payments on a muscle car that she eventually sold at a loss because he was upside down on the payments. Her son, a bright kid who was about to graduate from high school, told me "I probably won't go to college because we just can't afford it." He is having to go with his "plan B" which is to enter the military and use the GI Bill down the road.

Making the purchase of a policy can be the deciding factor in whether or not your family can afford to stay in their home, go to college, or just pay off any debt you may have incurred. And life insurance is much less expensive than you may think. Here are a few steps you can take to make you a hero long after you are gone.

1. Go to our website and get a quote. Find a policy that fits in your budget.
2. Not sure how much life insurance to get? Use the "calculate" button to see how much coverage will be needed.
3. If you see a policy you like you can start the application immediately. 

By letting your family know they are taken care of if something should happen to you will send a great message to prepare for the unexpected. It's that easy. And if you have a question, you can just drop us a note. In the meantime, 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!

What the Big Deal With Replacing My Policy?

A few weeks ago I was with a client who needed some extra life insurance. Actually, she needed quite a bit more, and we found a very suitable policy that fit right into her budget. She was happy with it and decided to proceed with the application. I began asking all the questions and everything was going well until we came to the question about replacements. Why was the insurance company so interested in her current coverage and whether or not she was going to replace it with the new policy? 

You see, when you apply for a life insurance policy, the company wants to know if you already have coverage, and if so, which company is it with and are you going to keep it and just get additional coverage, or will you be replacing it all with the new policy? The insurance company isn't being nosy, but actually they are looking out for your best interest. 

The reason for this is that life insurance typically pays a large commission to the agent, around 70-80% for the first year, depending on the policy. After that first year, the agent's commission drops dramatically to around 5%. With this in mind, an unethical agent may try to replace your current policy to sell you something that will pay another large first-year commission.

This practice is known as "churning" as in "churning up fresh commissions" and is frowned upon by the industry, and in some states is illegal. 

The issue is that the replacement may not be in the best interest of the client. Replacing the policy with another may result in higher premiums, but that unscrupulous agent doesn't care. But the insurance carrier does, which is why they have added additional forms to the application packet asking all of those questions about your current policies. In essence, the insurance company wants to make sure that the agent is doing the right thing by you.

It's not just life insurance where this occurs either. Several years ago I was introduced to a very nice lady who had an issue with an annuity. She started out with about $250,000 that she had put into an annuity. The agent would call her every couple of years and tell her that he had something better, and would move her money to another annuity. Each time he did this he made a nice fat commission. 

But something else was happening as well. The move would cost her thousands in surrender charges and early withdrawal penalties. She showed me a folder with all of the paperwork and the agent must have moved her money at least three times. 

We called the current company where her money was housed and I asked what amount of money was there. She was down to about $85,000 and if I were to move it she was going to lose an additional $10,000. I recommended that she stay put and to stop answering calls from that other agent. 

When I let her know what that the agent's commission was (My estimate was around 7% each time he moved her money) she said, "Every time he talked me into changing companies I probably bought him a new car." She was right.

As you can see, those crazy questions are on the application because the company is looking out for you best interest. If you have any other insurance questions you would like answered, leave us a note in the comments section. And 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!

Do I Need To Put My Life Insurance Inside a Trust?

Since we are in the middle of tax season I have tried to keep this week's topics around insurance and taxes. The last one is a bit different but may be of use to some people.  

As the title of this post implies, we are going to take a quick look at trusts and why people use them for life insurance purposes. And like my previous posts, I am obligated to give my disclaimer that I am not a tax expert, so if you have more specific questions about the tax implications I recommend consulting a tax professional.

Why would anyone want to put life insurance inside of a trust, you ask? For several reasons, actually. For instance, there are those people who have special needs children and may be interested in funding their care as they become special needs adults. In that instance, we use a Special Needs Trust and a "second to die" life insurance policy to fund it when both parents pass away. 

However, for the purposes of this blog we will look at Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT). When we (or our attorney) create a trust, it's basically like creating a whole new entity, like a new person. The purpose of using the trust for life insurance is for estate tax purposes. The life insurance policy inside the trust is no longer part of the estate, so it can't be taxed. 

The current federal estate tax exemption is $11,700,000, which is very high and adjusted for inflation each year. However, the amount is scheduled to drop to $5,000,000 on December 31, 2025. And now that the Democrats are in control of congress it may drop sooner. 

I realize that for many people these numbers may seem extremely high. At the same time, I know a business owner who purchased a piece of land many years ago and opened a small restaurant. The value of that property increased dramatically over years since he bought it, so his house and business are close to reaching that $5m threshold. When I discussed it with him, he was totally unaware.

Another thing to consider is that you can name a trustee, who may be a family member but can also be a friend or even your attorney. This trustee can use the policy proceeds (death benefit) for your beneficiaries without giving them full control of the monies. This is important if you have small children, a second marriage or if your beneficiaries can't manage the money on their own. 

My advice when it comes to these kinds of situations is to consult a good estate attorney who has experience in these matters. Just because an attorney can make a will does not necessarily mean they understand trusts. When the word "irrevocable" is in the name it means you can't change things later. As a good attorney friend of mine once said to me, "Get a lawyer who has done this before. You don't want one to practice on your client."

There are a few rules you need to be aware of. Some are:

1. You can transfer existing policies into the trust but there is a three year lookback, so if you die in the first three years the death proceeds will be included in your estate and potentially taxed. 
2. The estate is a separate entity and will need it's own tax identification number. Because of this, your premiums will need to be "gifted" to the trust. The trust will, in turn, pay the premiums to the insurance company.

Overall, a trust can be a great way to use life insurance to pay estate taxes. And as I stated earlier, it's best to consult an estate attorney and a tax professional if you have questions. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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! 

Does A Tax Free Retirement Plan Exist?

Keeping with the theme of taxes this week, I wanted to share some information on a life insurance plan and how to use it to your advantage when it comes to taxes, or should I say "tax avoidance". One product in particular may help you supplement your retirement without having Uncle Sam reaching into your pocket. 

First, I have to again give the obligatory disclaimer that I am not a tax expert and if you have questions or concerns regarding any of this you should consult your own tax professional. 

As an insurance agent I have worked with many products and, for the most part, my clients are made up of middle class people. Many of them are small business owners (less than 50 employees) or self-employed individuals in sales or other related professions. In a nutshell, I'm not working with a lot of millionaires.

Life insurance for most of these people is usually term, which is affordable, but does not offer many other features other than a death benefit. When I ask about their retirement plans they usually have a small amount of money put away, but not much. (After the Great Recession of 2008 many used their 401(k) plans to pay their bills). 

With this in mind, I let them know that life insurance has a special status when it comes to taxes. The death benefit is almost always non-taxable. Once people figured this out they started taking advantage of this and companies developed policies like whole life and universal life insurance that could build some cash value internally.

These policies also allowed for "over funding", which means you can pay additional premiums into the policy, over and above the stated price of the insurance, with the intention of having some money accumulating. The IRS made some guidelines to prevent the abuse of this loophole, by declaring a policy with too much premium going in as a Modified Endowment Contract* (MEC). 

However, permanent life insurance policies do allow one to access that cash value inside the policy. How they access the money is the tricky part (it's not that tricky) to avoid paying any taxes on it. 

Taking the cash out of the policy as a loan removes the tax burden on insured person because everyone assumes that the loan will be repaid. And if the person dies before repayment, that loan is deducted from the death benefit. And this is where these policies are most effective. 

Because that loan is tax-free, one can over fund a policy to its maximum (without becoming a MEC) and use that money as a "retirement supplement" without paying a dime to the government. 

Here is where I have to give another disclaimer. First and foremost, these are life insurance policies and NOT investment vehicles. For years when the interest rates were high, agents sold universal life as a way to make money instead of protecting money. This practice is frowned upon in our industry.

And since it is life insurance, an insured age, tobacco usage and medical history can affect the cost of the policy, as well as the cash accumulation. A 30 year old healthy non-smoker will get much more out of this plan than a 40 year old obese smoker with high blood pressure and diabetes.

Even though this can be done with a whole life insurance policy, the most efficient way to do this is with an indexed universal life (IUL) policy. I will acknowledge that there are detractors to these policies who see the problems from the past when traditional universal life policies failed to provide the cash when interest rates began to fall. 

The secret here is to structure an IUL properly from the beginning. If done properly, an insured can access the money in the policy in the form of a loan for many years. 

If you would like information on how to use a life insurance policy a tax-free retirement supplement, let us know. In the meantime, please stay healthy.

*When a policy becomes a MEC it also becomes taxable. Since no one wants that too happen we, as life insurance agents, will run an illustration to get as close to a MEC without having it become one. 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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! 

Can Cannabis Users Get Life Insurance?

I recently had a conversation with one of our marketing partners on the subject of how various life insurance companies deal with insuring cannabis users. It was a good talk and I learned a few things (which is always a good thing).

A little background first. Back in the 1990's, only around 24% of the population was in favor of legalizing (actually "decriminalization" is the correct term) marijuana, but views have changed a bit and that number is currently around 66%.  With more and more states making cannabis legal in some form or fashion over the last 20 years, the insurance industry has had to adapt and alter their own guidelines. 

So how does all of this affect the rates of cannabis users? Can they get a life insurance policy and what happens to the rates?

You actually may be surprised to know that there are plenty of carriers out there who are insuring cannabis users, and they are not just limited to those no-exam companies.

Actually, one can still be approved a traditional life insurance policy if they use marijuana. Like policies for tobacco users, which have slightly higher premiums, many companies treat cannabis the same. 

But there are a few factors to figure into the equation when they determine rates. Some of these are gender, general health condition and if the applicant is using marijuana recreationally or as a medical prescription. 

When you consider that tobacco has more known negative health affects than marijuana, the rates can be comparable to "smoker" rates, or even less in some cases. Ultimately, the most successful way to get the best life insurance rates is to shop around and compare multiple insurance companies. That way one can find out what policies are out there and best suit their needs.

At Surf Financial Brokers we offer a very easy-to-use quoting tool that asks about cannabis use, with a good selection of carriers, their rates and other information. And if someone sees a policy they like, they can even start an application.

Keep in mind that when it comes to calculating insurance rates for cannabis users there is not a homogenous answer. Each company sets it's own rates and underwriting guidelines. Therefore, how companies view marijuana use will vary from carrier to carrier.

One thing to keep in mind is that marijuana is used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions, from pain to anxiety. The insurance company's underwriters may be more concerned with those medical conditions that require treatment with marijuana than the actual prescription. 

This means that one's premiums could be higher as a result of health risks like cancer or auto-immune diseases which are being treated with cannabis, instead of the cannabis use itself.

But there are those people who use marijuana not for medicinal purposes but just recreational use. For those folks, many insurers will still issue a policy. How the policy is issued (as a tobacco smoker or non-smoker) is determined by usage, frequency and other factors. As mentioned earlier, each company has their own guidelines.

Underwriters may as more questions concerning how one uses marijuana (edibles, smoking, tincture, etc.) and quantities. They may also be concerned about any other drug usage, including alcohol. Much like long term care insurance underwriting, they might try to "connect the dots" to see if the applicant has general "lifestyle" concerns. 

Most of the underwriter's questions will be about frequency. The less often one partakes of cannabis, the lower their life insurance rates can be potentially. Someone who smokes once a month will have a lower rate (in some cases it doesn't affect the rate at all) than the person who enjoys a joint daily.

If you are an occasional user and still need life insurance, let us know. Or take a look at our quoting tool and run a quote for yourself. In the meantime, please stay healthy! 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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!

Can I Change My Health Insurance Now?

For people who have been without health insurance during the pandemic, relief may be in sight. President Biden signed an executive order this past January to open up the federal health insurance marketplace for three months so uninsured people can buy a plan and those with plans can make changes.

Since 2016 the number of Americans without health insurance has reached 30 million by 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic has made a bad situation even worse with millions losing their jobs and the insurance coverage that comes with it.

Typically the enrollment period runs from November thru early December. If one needed to get coverage outside of that window of time, they had to have a life-changing event, such as the birth of a child or loss of coverage from an employer. These changes would trigger a Special Enrollment Period (SEP). 

The new enrollment period started on February 15 and continues for three months, much longer than usual enrollment periods. With that the Biden administration plans to run an outreach campaign with paid advertising and direct-to-consumer marketing in hopes of attracting new people to the insurance pool.

The enrollment window for people in states that use the federal marketplace is open to anyone who is uninsured and would normally be eligible to buy coverage on the exchange. Those with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level (about $51,500 for one person or $106,000 for a family of four) are eligible for premium tax credits that can substantially reduce their costs. 

With the new special enrollment period, how long someone has been uninsured isn't relevant, nor do people have to provide documentation that they have lost their coverage through work.

For those who already have a marketplace plan but want to change to a different plan, this is a great opportunity to do so. Otherwise they would have to wait until the end of the year. Also, now is a great time to update information regarding job status and income as well.

Healthcare.gov has become easier to manage for the consumer in the last few years when it comes to making changes or looking for forms. Especially now that we are in tax season, many people will need their 1095-A form. 

At Surf Financial we have made getting health insurance easy to apply for our friends in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia*. By going through our portal to the Health Sherpa system they can see rates and compare them easily.

An interesting wrinkle of late in all of that some of the "Blues" (Blue Cross and Blue Choice) have decided to send letters out indicating that there would be some pretty hefty rate increases starting April 1. From the letters I've seen the clients are going to be subject to increases of around 19%. In my estimation I think the insurance companies are using the SEP as a reason to increase their prices now instead of waiting for the end of the year. 

If you do not currently have health insurance and need some, check out the portal above and you can start shopping for insurance. And if you already have coverage but are interested in changing, you can do the same. And if you have questions, drop us a note. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

*Those are the states we are licensed in currently.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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!

Do People Have Enough Life Insurance?

Many Americans do not have nearly enough life insurance to support their families’ needs. In fact, about 44% of families say they would face financial hardship in six months if the primary wage earner were to die, noted David Levenson, president and CEO of LL Global, in a recent video presentation. Now, a group of life insurance organizations is aiming to change that.

LL Global, the parent organization of life insurance researcher LIMRA and LOMA, is helping lead an effort with industry trade associations and more than 60 of their largest member companies and distribution partners to close the life insurance coverage gap. One initiative is encouraging financial professionals to engage with their existing clients to look at the adequacy of their protection. 

"Most people think it’s just to pay for funeral expenses; but the word ‘life insurance’ is really a misnomer," Elsie Theodore, a Virginia-based regional vice president of Primerica, told Investopedia. "Can anyone really insure someone’s life? No, ‘life insurance’ is really income replacement. Its purpose is to replace the income of the breadwinners in the household."

As a general rule, she added, “When you are trying to determine how much coverage you should have, you must first look at your annual income then multiply by 10. You make $100,000 a year, your life insurance should be at least $1 million.”

That number may seem high but the priority is making sure that loved ones can stay in their home, take care of the everyday bills and even provide for education costs if children are still in the picture.

A major problem today, Theodore noted, is that many people rely solely on the group life insurance provided by their employer, which is often inadequate. Typically those policies only provide coverage for one or two years salary replacement. Also, they may or may not be portable, which means if the the employee changes jobs the policy might not be there when their family needs it most. 

According LIMRA’s research, about 60 million American households don’t have the proper protection for their families, with an average deficiency of $200,000.2

What's more, the problem is worse than it was in the past. While 63% of Americans had life insurance coverage a decade ago, that number had dropped to 54% by 2020, LIMRA says.

There are a lot of contributing factors to the incomplete coverage, including changes in individual life
distribution, employment-based benefits, worker participation rates, family and household make-up, and population demographics. People also have competing financial priorities.

In addition, there are misconceptions about price point, need, and ease of purchasing, particularly among Millennials. This is ironic when you realize that most of them grew up with phones and most agencies are trying their best to make insurance coverage accessible on mobile devices.

As LIMRA points out, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility of life and focused more Americans on the role of life insurance.

Theodore recounted one particularly sad situation: "After a few attempts to get this one client to sit with me and get her plan started, she called me because she had 13 members of her family die from COVID-19 and not a single one had insurance. That was an unfortunate wake-up call.”

The life insurance industry has also responded to the pandemic by adapting its sales practices. Companies have made significant advancements in the ability to deliver a fully digital purchase experience so consumers can choose to buy a policy when, how, and where they want. Understandably, insurance carriers are increasing the availability of web based applications and decreasing the requirements for in person medical exams. 

If you aren't sure if you have enough coverage, let us help. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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!

How Can I Get Quotes For Life Insurance?

Over the last year or so, we at Surf Financial Brokers have made changes in our business model to make it a lot easier for our clients to purchase various types of insurance. Even before the Covid pandemic forced businesses to go virtual, we were thinking of ways to alter our business model. The events of 2020 just forced us to speed up the process. 

The most noticeable changes were on our website, which originally just had product information and some contact forms to let us know when someone had questions or needed a quote for life insurance, dental or cancer plans, hospital and accident coverage. 

Over the past 12 months we have added some buttons on our "Products and Quotes" page which allow people to get their own quotes and, in some cases, start an application. There was one area where we were lacking and that was the life insurance quoting tool, which only quoted one of our carriers. As of this week, that has changed. 

After some intense negotiations* we have entered into an agreement with a national brokerage firm to use a quoting tool that is consumer friendly and offers quotes from multiple insurance carriers. These are top tier companies who offer great life insurance products. The easy-to-use format helps get a more accurate quote**. 

One of the nice parts of this quoting tool is that it let's the client know if which policies require paramed exams. For some people, the thought of a nurse with a needle will deter them from getting the coverage they need. Besides telling you which policies won't require an exam, this tool also gives other information. Do you want to know which policies include living benefits, for instance? That will show up as well. 

Say someone is looking for a rate for coverage and they see several term policies pop up. That's great, but they want permanent coverage. This person can just click on the "Permanent" button and the quoting system finds those rates too. It is all very easy to use.

Another great piece of information is the estimated length of time it takes to actually get a policy issued. Listed as "Average Approval Time", this lets our client know how long, on average, it is taking for life insurance polices to get approved. These are estimates, but when one runs a few quotes they can see how each insurance carrier stacks up. 

But that is just part of this system. Let's assume that our client sees a quote they like. What do they do next? Our client can click on  the "Apply In Minutes"  button and begin completing an application. It really is a very easy process and only takes a few minutes. 

Looking for coverage never has been easier. Try our new quoting tool to find a policy that fits into your budget and make sure that your family will be financially secure if something should happen to you. Give it a try and let us know what you think. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Remember, life insurance is to give you peace of mind. If you have questions, let us know. And in the meantime, please stay healthy!

*Not really, but it sounds good.

**Rates are estimates and are subject to underwriting.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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! 

4 Things To Consider Before You Buy Cancer Insurance

If you currently do not have a cancer insurance policy, you may be wondering why anyone would need or want one. In my experience as an agent over the last 20+ years, I found that the people who purchase a cancer insurance plan do so because they either have concerns about cancer in their family history or they know of someone, a friend or co-worker, who has been diagnosed with cancer. In the case of the latter, there is a realization that their health insurance does not cover all of the costs associated with a cancer diagnosis. 

Many times I have sat down with an employee of a business where I am enrolling benefits and hear how one of the other employees has recently been diagnosed with an invasive cancer. This creates a type of "wake up call" for the other members of the staff because they just assumed that their major medical coverage would cover all of the bills. 

With all of this in mind, I thought it would be a good time to cover a few things to consider before you purchase a cancer plan. 

1. Cancer plans cover a lot of out-of-pocket expenses. Items like co-pays, deductibles, travel and lodging (if you need to go to a hospital that is not in your area) and experimental treatments not covered by your insurance are just a few of the items that can cost you thousands of dollars. 

2. Not all cancer plans work the same way. Some plans are considered to be "treatment plans", which means that they will reimburse you as you are receiving treatments. Keeping in mind that cancer treatments can go on for months, and in some cases years, these plans can be "richer" as they will continue to pay out as you continue to submit claims. 

On the other hand, some carriers will offer "lump sum" plans, which will pay you a one-time lump sum of money upon diagnosis of cancer. These plans vary in price as you choose the amount of money you will need at the time of the application, some going as high as $75,000. 

I have found that some people who choose the lump sum plan do so for the convenience of only having to file a claim once and it is easier to understand. They also may want just enough to cover their deductibles. There are no wrong answers as it is a matter of preference.

3. You may not be able to get a cancer plan if you have been recently diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately, we meet people who have just gotten a "clean bill of health" and want a policy. For those people we have to break the news that they may have to wait several years before being covered by a policy. 

4. If you have a policy already you may want to keep it. Most of the insurance companies that sell cancer insurance rarely increase the rates of their policies. Instead, they keep the old policies on the books and will develop or enhance "new policies". For example, one carrier has a policy with a "benefit builder", which means it pays more the longer you keep the policy. However, that policy is no longer being sold, but the company will let you keep it if you want it. 

As treatments evolve, so do the policies. A good example is one of the "lump sum" policies we offer that includes genomic testing. A tissue sample of the cancer is sent to a lab, which in turn will send treatment suggestions to the doctors, all at no extra charge. 

If you would like information about cancer coverage for you or your family, drop by our website or leave us a note. In the meantime, stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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! 

Do You Need Dental, Vision Or Hearing Insurance?

On occasion I work with enrollment companies helping people with their voluntary benefits. We have the usual line-up of products, with life insurance and disability plans available for the employees that we meet with. By far, the most requested products are the dental and vision plans. As a matter of fact, the employees will walk in to our one-on-one meetings and say something along the lines of "all I want is my dental and vision". 

There are those of us, myself included, who don't have access to group policies through an employer. For people who are small business owners, contract employees or otherwise self-employed, getting a good individual plan has been difficult. 

On an individual basis, dental plans are available but can be rather pricey. There are usually waiting periods as well, which can make the product unattractive to many people. With all of this in mind, I have been a bit resistant in including a dental plan in our line up of products. That is, until now. 

We have recently begun to offer a plan through one of our carriers, Manhattan Life, which solves many of the issues we have been concerned with. And even better, this plan not only covers dental, but vision and hearing too!

Another reason we have begun to offer these plans is because Medicare does not provide coverage for dental, hearing or vision and many of our clients have requested information for these services of late.  

Here are a few of the basic features*:

• No networks. You can go to any provider.
• A $100 deductible per year per person.
• The plan is available to people from ages 18-85. 
• You can include up to 3 children.
• You can choose your annual maximum benefit of either $1000 or $1500
• Guaranteed Issue (No health questions)
• Guaranteed Renewable. You can keep it as long as your like as long as you pay the premiums.
• No waiting period for preventative and basic dental services.
• Benefits for hearing exams and hearing aids.

(For a more detailed list of services, click here.) 

As mentioned above, not having a network means you can go to any provider. One thing to keep in mind though is that your doctor may or may not file your claim for you. The patient may have to pay the bill in full and submit the claim on their own. Because of this we recommend asking your doctor before receiving services so there are no surprises.  

One of the nice parts of this plan is that if one does not use the full maximum benefit for dental, they can use the balance for vision or hearing services. One of our partner agents was telling me how he only used a small portion of his benefits on the dental plan one year, so he used the balance to get new eyeglasses. That's maximizing your plan!

We have added a quoting tool to our website, but for your convenience you can run your own quote here.  If you like your quote you can even begin the application, which is easy to complete and only takes a few minutes.

Not everyone wants or needs dental insurance. But for those who do, we hope you take a few minutes to look at the plan and run your own quote. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

*Plans vary from state to state. Be sure to ask for a brochure for your state.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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!

An Interview With Our Own Insurance Goddess

From time to time I like to talk with someone I know and admire, hoping that they will instill some wisdom that can help me succeed. So last week I talked with my good friend and colleague, Jeanne Doran aka The Insurance Goddess. We discussed how she and I met and I asked for her permission to use some of her sage advice in the blog. As a gracious lady, she said yes. 

I met Jeanne about 10 years ago when I was selling health insurance (pre-Obamacare). She was working for the Gilston Agency in Charleston, SC and I was contracted through them to sell a major medical coverage. I'm not sure if she was a CSR but she helped me over the phone and email with some issues occasionally. Always helpful and a bit sarcastic (like me!), I kept in contact with her, even after she had moved on from Gilston and had become an independent agent. I had a life insurance carrier that I liked to use and got Jeanne contracted with them. 

More importantly though, I would call Jeanne when I had questions about health insurance. She was, and still is, a great resource when an answer is needed quickly. Over the years we have remained friends and I was enthused when she finally accepted my offer to work with Surf Financial Brokers. She even let me put her picture on the website! 

Without further ado, here is a snippet of our conversation.

Me: I know you told me this before, but it wasn't your idea to go into the insurance business, was it?

Jeanne: Honesty, my husband recommended I work in the insurance business. He thinks I'm good with people.

Me: Well, you are. How do you find your prospective clients?

Jeanne: My business primarily referral based. Once I have assisted a client with their insurance needs we look at other options to round them out.

Me: That makes sense. How do you prepare for a client meeting?

Jeanne: Typically I cross evaluate types of plans within the product line they are looking for.   For instance, if it's a health case I look at BCBSSC (Blue Cross), United, and Aetna, then look at the costs versus the benefits and share those details at the "meeting". And I always keep in mind there may be something more for them to round them out.

Me: Do you attend any kinds of networking groups?

Jeanne: I only am in one networking group at this time and it's industry based.

Me: Not counting my book, do you recommend any good books on sales? 

Jeanne: The Tipping Point. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The Power of Positive Thinking

Me: Malcolm Gladwell is a favorite of mine too.  Do you have a mentor?  

Jeanne: My first Mentor was David Gilston.  He is a broker who has stood the test of time. He'd say, "when the rules change, teach me the rules, and I will win every time."

Me: How have you become a mentor for others?

Jeanne: I have a circle of fellow agents who are part of my "team" and we bounce ideas off each other!  I like to think I am their mentor!!

Me: Well, you are the Insurance Goddess! On a different note, has Covid affected your practice?  

Jeanne: Yes, I rarely meet prospects in person any more.  I am learning to be effective with Zoom and am always looking for the best ways to connect.

Me: What did you do with your first commission check?  

Jeanne: Now that was a long time ago, so I must have used it to pay household bills!!!

Me: We have all dealt with strange people from time to time. Have you ever had a strange or unusual encounter with a client?

Jeanne: Have I EVER! I was assisting one lady with her health benefits and her husband, who had a type of early onset Alzheimer's, strode by the table several times, pacing back and forth. Finally he went upstairs and when he came back down, he did not have anything on but his shirt. 

Me: I hope you got them both "covered". 

I hope you learned a little about Jeanne as we pull back the curtain to take a peek at a day in the life of an insurance agent.  And in the meantime, please stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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!

We Get Referrals From Influencers

Last week I received one of the highest compliments an insurance agent can get. My client, whom I have worked with off and on for several years, handed me a sheet of paper with about a dozen names on it. "These are friends of mine. Some are family. I told them what a good job you do and how you don't pressure me into anything. They are expecting you to call them."

This was a big surprise because I mention referrals from time to time but don't push for them as much as I probably should. There have been times when I have been chastised by my sales manager for not using the litany of Jedi mind tricks we are taught. Having a nice list of names presented to me is a different matter altogether.

There are times when I will explain to a client how they can take "ownership" in my business by giving referrals. The reasoning is that if a client refers me to a friend or family member, I can spend more time working with that person instead of prospecting. One of the many dirty little secrets of the insurance business is that we spend a lot of time just trying to get clients, especially at the beginning of an agent's career. It can take time away from helping the clients we have so clients feel they are helping themselves when them give us someone to see.

A former coworker of mine used to say that the hardest part of the job was finding someone to talk to. It's true. It's a constant battle to find new clients when you sell something that people really don't want to think about. I've heard people say things like, "I'm saving up for a car" or "I'm saving up for a down payment on a house." Nobody says, "I'm saving my money for an insurance policy." 

One of the reasons a lot of agents don't like to ask for referrals is because many clients don't care to give them because they have gotten burned in the process. A typical example goes like this. Bob, the agent, meets his new prospect, Mary and asks her for a referral. She reluctantly gives Bob the name of a coworker, Jim. Bob calls Jim, who isn't interested and berates Mary. "Why did you give that guy my name? I thought we were friends!" Jim says to Mary. Mary is hurt and never gives another referral.

There are several problems here but the obvious one is that Bob hasn't proven himself to be a good agent. Mary just met the guy for goodness sake! How would she know if he is going to be a decent agent or if his insurance products are worthwhile?

This is why, on those occasions when I do get referrals, they come from clients I already work with, who have had time to see that I'm working for them. Those clients are "influencers" in a way because they hold sway with their friends and family members.

So when someone, like my client who gave me that list of names to call, takes the time to do something like that, I know I have earned it. It really is the best compliment someone can give me. That list will potentially make me some money, but what it really does is let me know that my client has taken ownership of my insurance practice. And she is trusting me to work with those people and with the same degree of professionalism I did with her. 

We appreciate all referrals and introductions at Surf Financial Brokers and look forward to helping you and your friends. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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!

4 Advantages of Using Our Quoting Tool

People have asked me when I was going to get the quoting buttons for cancer insurance, accident insurance and hospital indemnity plan* on the Surf Financial Brokers website. Well, after some technical glitches they are finally there. And the best part is that they work! 

One of the running myths in the insurance business is that people want personalized service. That is true for some of the public, but let's face it, a vast number of people have been purchasing homeowners and car insurance online for years. They are comfortable with the DIY approach and not having an agent, but rather filing claims and handling other service issues through a call center. That's perfectly acceptable for these folks, while others do want someone nearby to answer their questions. 

Running your own quote on our site is awesome for several reasons. 

1. You can cover whomever you want. Whether you need coverage for yourself, you and a spouse, you and your kids or the whole family, you decide who is covered. 
2. You can customize it to fit your needs. There are plenty of riders that you may or may not be interested in. 
3. You can fit it in your budget. While deciding who to cover and what optional riders you like you can see the premium as you go. 
4. You don't need an appointment. We know you are busy so you can use our quoting tools when it is convenient to you. And if you have questions, drop us a note or book an appointment using our online calendar. 

And it is extremely easy to run a quote. When visiting our Products and Quotes page you will see buttons for Hospital Insurance, Accident Insurance and Cancer Insurance. Simply click on the one you are interested in. A page will appear with some information on the product along with a "Get Quote" button. From there it is just a matter of entering your information and getting an insurance quote.

Along with these products, there is also a "Get A Quote" button for life insurance and disability insurance**. The life insurance button let's you choose from term or whole life with options such as Return of Premium term life. There is even a tool to help you determine how much coverage you need.

For disability insurance, you let the calculator know what kind of work you do and your annual income. Disability insurance helps you to insure your paycheck in case you become sick or hurt and are unable to work, you can still pay the bills. 

We ask that you give it a try. If you have questions or concerns, let us know. And if you like it, we would appreciate referrals. Referring us helps us to grow our agency by spending more time with our clients and less time prospecting.  

We have attempted to create a virtual agency that can take care of people either way. If someone prefers to run a quote and apply for coverage without the help of one of our agents, that is absolutely fine. But there are those times when one wants a real person to answer their questions, and we can do that for them as well. 

Run a quote and give us some feedback. And in the meantime, please stay healthy!

*Not all insurance products are available in all states. 

**Rates are estimates based on your information and are subject to underwriting. 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. 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!