How To Make Life Insurance Work

Life insurance has come a long way since the days when it was known as burial insurance and used mainly to pay for funeral expenses. Today, life insurance is a crucial part of many estate plans. You can use it to leave much-needed income to your survivors, provide for your children’s education, pay off your mortgage, and simplify the transfer of assets. Life insurance can also be used to replace wealth lost due to the expenses and taxes that may follow your death, and to make gifts to charity at relatively little cost to you.

To illustrate how life insurance can help you plan your estate wisely, let’s compare what happened upon the death of two friends: Neil, who bought life insurance, and Bob, who did not. (Please note that these illustrations are hypothetical.)

Life insurance can protect your survivors financially by replacing your lost income

Neil bought life insurance to help ensure that his survivors wouldn’t suffer financially when he died. When Neil died and his paycheck stopped coming in, his family had enough money to maintain their lifestyle and live comfortably for years to come.

And since Neil’s life insurance proceeds were available very quickly, his family had cash to meet their short-term financial needs. Life insurance proceeds left to a named beneficiary don’t pass through the process of probate, so Neil’s family didn’t have to wait until his estate was settled to get the money they needed to pay bills.

But Bob didn’t buy life insurance, so his family wasn’t so lucky. Even though Bob left his assets to his family in his will, those assets couldn’t be distributed until after the probate of his estate was complete. Since probate typically takes six months or longer, Bob’s survivors had none of the financial flexibility that a life insurance policy would have provided in the difficult time following his death.

Life insurance can replace wealth that is lost due to expenses and taxes

Neil planned ahead and bought enough life insurance to cover the potential costs of settling his estate, including taxes, fees, and other debts that his estate would have to pay. By comparison, these expenses took a big bite out of Bob’s estate, which had to sell valuable assets to pay the taxes and expenses that arose as a result of his death.

Life insurance lets you give to charity, while your estate enjoys an estate tax deduction

Using life insurance, Neil was able to leave a substantial gift to his favorite charity. Since gifts to charity are estate tax deductible, this gift was not subject to estate taxes when he died. Bob always dreamed of leaving money to his alma mater, but his family couldn’t afford to give any money away when he died.

Life insurance won’t increase estate taxes — if you plan ahead

Before buying life insurance, Neil talked to his attorney about the potential tax consequences. Neil’s attorney told him that if his estate was large enough, it could be subject to federal and state estate taxes, depending on the applicable law at the time of his death. Neil and his attorney put a plan in place that would allow Neil’s survivors to use his life insurance policy to help pay for some of the potential estate taxes that might be owed at his death.

Be like Neil, not like Bob

Throughout his life, Bob worked hard to support his family. Neil did, too, but went one step further — he bought life insurance to protect his family after his death. Here’s how you can be like Neil:

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• 1. Use life insurance to ensure that your family has access to cash to help them meet both their short-term and long-term financial needs.
• 2. Plan ahead — buy enough life insurance to cover the potential costs of settling your estate and to ensure that the assets you leave to your survivors aren’t less than you intended.
• 3. Consider using life insurance to give to charity.

As you can see, these are just a few ways to make sure your life insurance policy is used efficiently. If you have any questions or comments, let us know. 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!

Happy New Year and Thank You!

The New Year has begun! Happy New Year to all and good riddance to 2020!

A few nights ago there was a primetime special on one of broadcast networks with a recap of 2020. The bulk of it was a chronological look at the Covid pandemic and how people and our leaders were reacting to it all. After watching about 15 minutes of this I had to change the channel to a ballgame thinking to myself, "I don't want to relive that again. And who doesn't know this stuff at point?" It was bad when it was happening and it still is bad in the rear view mirror. 

And that is where 2020 needs to be, in the rear view. There is no need in dissecting it and examining it under a microscope. We were all there and saw it firsthand.

Through it all a few good things did happen. Most of us have a newfound respect for our medical community, especially those nurses and doctors who have been doing their best in overcrowded hospitals. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the caregivers in nursing and assisted living facilities too. These folks have poured their blood, sweat and tears into their work, with some getting infected themselves. And a few have died in the process. We should be thankful for them and their efforts. 

Others should also be considered in the same vein. Grocery store workers, meat workers and others who help us get food on our tables should know they are more than "essential".

Yes, there have been some silver linings. People have learned how to get together when they can't be together, via virtual technology. We have adapted and overcome. Like they say, "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger." We as a society should come out of all of this stronger.

Speaking on behalf of myself and our network of agents at Surf Financial Brokers, I want to thank all of our clients who kept us going all year. Your faith in us to help with securing your financial goals is greatly appreciated. And to those of you who referred us, shared our information and even laughed at some of the dumb memes we shared, I say thank you.

Insurance is a tough business. It's the only product I can think of that people buy in hopes of never having to use. Fortunately, there are those who understand and appreciate that bad things happen in life, and when those things occur, you can shift the responsibility to an insurance company. That's what our business is all about. 

Part of the optimism we have is due to the upgrades we have made to our business. Going "virtual" has meant implementing some different tools, especially on our website. The goal of our agency is to make it as easy as possible for our clients to find information they need on life insurance, disability insurance and long term care, along with cancer, accident and other ancillary insurance plans. We have even added quoting tools that an individual can use to find a plan in their budget. 

To make the process even easier we have even added our calendar to our website. When someone books a time for a phone appointment that works for their schedule, they can also let us know what they want to talk about. We have had some people say that buying an insurance policy from us was one much easier than expected. 

So as we look forward (instead of backwards) to a New Year, we hope that we will be hearing from you. Again, thank you for all of your referrals and I hope that your 2021 is the best year ever! 

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 Get A Term Life Insurance Quote?

We all know that life insurance is essential to every family's financial plan. Making sure your loved ones can stay in their home and continue to be financially stable gives one peace of mind. As a matter of fact, many of my clients have told me that they worry about what could happen to their family if the breadwinner of the family should die unexpectedly. Like many life insurance agents, I use this as the "what keeps you up at night?" conversation. 

Term life is affordable and is great to cover you during your "working years". That's usually the time when your family is growing, you are still paying off a mortgage and your kids will be going off to further their educations. A term life policy lets you determine the length of the term, whether it is 10, 20 or 30 years, or even longer depending on your age.

One of the problems we face in our everyday lives is that we just don't have the time to meet with an insurance agent to discuss our finances. There are too many other things going on in our lives that let us keep putting insurance off. There has to be a more convenient way to look for life insurance. 

What if you could look for an affordable term life policy when it is convenient for you? And what if you could just answer a few health questions and not have to bother with a nurse coming to your home or office to conduct an exam? With Covid still with us that is a concern! 

A few reasons you need to consider term life are:

• No exam needed* for most policies.
• You select the amount needed. 
• A Conversion Option that lets you change your policy to a permanent plan without health questions.
• A Return of Premium rider (optional) that offers the best of both worlds - life insurance protection if you need it and money back if you don't!

You can also cover a spouse or other additional insured, as well as cover your children.  The best part is that you can keep it within your budget!

To make it easy and convenient for you, we have made the link** available on our website, but in the meantime, you can click here to run your own quote. Have the quote emailed to you and one of our agents will be available for any questions you may have. 

Many of our clients in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee have taken advantage of how easy and simple it can be to run their own life insurance quote. No matter if you are in Knoxville, Nashville, Raleigh or Richmond, we can help you out. 

Being a virtual agency has also given our clients a peace of mind during the pandemic. By helping you right over the phone, you don't have to be concerned about your safety during these times. 

We know you money is tight these days and everyone is working on a slim budget. But we also know that if something were to happen to you or a family member, your families finances could be in turmoil. Take the financial burden off of your loved ones by looking into a term life insurance policy. The first step to financial security is getting a quote. 

We look forward to helping you and in the meantime, stay healthy!

*Up to $250,000

**The same link will help you run a quote for whole life and disability insurance. 

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 Get A Quote For Cancer Insurance?

First off, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! It's definitely been a tough year for everyone and as we move toward 2021 my wish is for all to be healthy and happy.

And speaking of healthy, we are currently enduring one of the deadliest pandemics in recent history. The cacophony of news coverage regarding Covid-19 is nearly drowning out the other health issues we face, including cancer. Unfortunately, there were some celebrities we lost this year due to cancer, including Chadwick Boseman, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Trebek. It seems as if the only times we are made aware that cancer is still with us is when we hear that famous people die from it.

As a vaccine for Covid-19 becomes more widely available, our population will still need to stave off cancer and be prepared for treating it. Statistically, 1 out of every 2 men and 1 out of every 3 women will face some sort of cancer in their lifetime*. While the medical side of the treatment has made great gains, the financial strains it puts on families is still enormous. 

This is where a cancer insurance plan can be a great fit for you. First and foremost, these plans are affordable. A few dollars each month can cover an individual with or without a spouse, as well as children. For those people who are concerned that cancer runs in their family, that is important. 

Also important is what a cancer plan can cover. Out-of-pocket expenses related to cancer can be exorbitant. For example, medical insurance may not cover the cost of experimental treatments or some medications. It most certainly does not cover the cost of travel or lodging if someone is receiving treatments in a hospital not located in their own town. All of these items add up. Not being able to work and losing income only makes the situation worse. 

Of course the financial stress on a family as a result of a cancer diagnosis is not the priority at the time. The main goal is to be cancer free and survive. But alleviating the money problems as they happen can be fruitful after treatments end and relieve stress. 

So what can one do to make sure they (or their loved ones) don't have to face the harsh reality of financial insecurity of a cancer diagnosis? The first step is to find a cancer insurance plan that meets their needs and fits in a budget. 

When discussing needs, there are several questions to be answered. 

• Are you trying to cover yourself, you and a spouse, or the entire family?
• Would you like your policy to pay a lump sum of money all at once or would you like to receive your benefits as you are undergoing treatments?
• Does the plan offer optional riders which can increase or decrease my premium?

This is why we are in the process of adding a cancer insurance quoting tool to our website. It gives you an opportunity to see how a "treatment option" plan works, along with the benefits and optional riders. From there, you can click on the "Get Quote" button and enter the information needed. If you like what you see you can even proceed to beginning the process of applying. On the whole, the process can take about 10 minutes. 

Of course, if you have questions about any of this, we are available to help. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

*American Cancer Society

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! 

Christmas Wishes

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a bad year. For me personally it began with my father being hospitalized, followed by my own hospital stay (pancreatitis) and then the subsequent passing of my father. A month later, things started to shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Millions of people around the world, and hundreds of thousands here in America, have been infected by the illness. Businesses and financial institutions have suffered, forcing the layoffs, furloughs and terminations of millions of jobs. What we thought was going to be a "V-shaped" recovery in the spring has become a deep financial recession.

As we go through this ordeal there is still hope. Vaccines are now becoming available and my gut tells me that by spring of 2021 we'll start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It won't be a quick recovery, but more like a aircraft carrier trying to make a U-turn. Slow but steady advances. 

I also think that once things get back to normal (whatever that is) we will still have challenges. There will be some changes in the way we do things, like conducting business. The pandemic has created more "virtual" opportunities for businesses. As I've mentioned previously, we were in the process of starting to change months before the virus, but had to expedite things when we realized that traditional networking and sales processes were going to be disrupted. 

With all of this in mind, I have made a list of Christmas wishes for Santa to take a look at. Here it is. 

1. End the pandemic. The health and welfare of not just the USA but all countries needs to get back to a good place. Not being able to see loved ones, especially those who are already sick or in a facility, is heartbreaking. And it's taking a toll on the healthcare providers too.
2. Political calm. Our country is severely divided and I honestly don't think it is sustainable. Maybe we need something (not a war) to unify us again. A return to civility would be nice too. In the old days people would say, "I don't agree with you but I'll defend your right to your opinion." People don't say that anymore. It's just, "We're right and you're wrong." That needs to change.
3. More business opportunities. This is both on a micro and macro level. Of course, I want you all to go to my website and noodle around for life insurance and disability insurance quotes. And booking an appointment to talk to me about your insurance needs would be awesome too. But I also want everyone to get back to making money, supporting their families and feeling less stressful about their finances. 

There are a few good things to come out of all of this. Our new appreciation for those frontline workers and caregivers in medical centers and hospitals comes to mind. We learned that we can be very flexible when it comes to ways to do business, from conference calls to no-contact food delivery. We also found out how fragile our economy really is, with people from all backgrounds lined up for food distributions. Perhaps our leaders will consider this in the future. And the residual effects of this will still be with us for years to come.

As we end 2020, let's also remember those who didn't make it as well as those who are still fighting the good fight. Keep your head up and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year!

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! 

Have Life Insurance? You May Need More

You probably need life insurance if others are depending on you. If the only coverage you have is through your job, though, you may not have enough.

Fortunately, buying life insurance has gotten easier in some ways during the pandemic. Plus, coverage may be cheaper than you think.

The rising COVID-19 death toll has led more people to at least think about their life insurance needs, and many have taken action. One in  four Americans who have life insurance say they purchased or increased their coverage because of COVID-19, according to a NerdWallet survey conducted Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 by The Harris Poll. Many of those who purchased or increased their coverage were motivated by fear of being diagnosed with the disease (30%) or knowing someone who had (29%).

A survey by insurance industry trade group LIMRA this summer found nearly 6 in 10 Americans (58%) say they have a heightened awareness about the importance of life insurance, and about 3 out of 10 (32%) who were shopping for life insurance said it was in response to COVID-19. The number of term policies, the most popular type of life insurance, rose 10% in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, LIMRA found. That was the largest increase in 18 years.

“Obviously, the pandemic is making people much more sensitive to their mortality,” says Alison Salka, LIMRA research director. “So we see more people aware of the need for life insurance.”

This is very similar to the months after 9/11 when people realized they could die sooner or unexpectedly.  

Still, LIMRA has estimated that 30 million American households don’t have coverage, and another 30 million don’t have enough. The average coverage gap between what people have and what they need is about $200,000, LIMRA says.

People think that if they have life insurance through their job it is more than enough, but they haven't really crunched the numbers to see how much their family will need if they die prematurely.

Employer-provided life insurance policies are typically capped at certain dollar amounts, such as $20,000 or $50,000, or limit coverage to one to two times an employee’s annual pay. That may seem like a lot, but parents with young children may need 10 times their salary or more to replace their incomes until the kids are grown.

Even if your need is more modest — your partner requires your income to pay the mortgage, for example — an employer-provided policy might fall short. Plus, you typically lose your coverage if you lose your job, as many Americans have during the pandemic.

Having your own policy means your beneficiaries will remain protected. And thanks in part to the pandemic, you may be able to get coverage faster and without a medical exam (no needles!).

Increasingly, insurers are automating and accelerating the application process, LIMRA’s Salka says. Instead of sending someone to your home to check vital signs and collect blood and urine specimens, some insurers are waiving exams or are exclusively using exam and lab data provided by the applicant’s physician. This trend was already underway, but social distancing and other pandemic challenges mean more insurers are adopting these practices.

Life insurance is often cheaper than people expect. A 30-year-old woman in excellent health might pay $193 a year for 20-year term policy for $500,000. A 40-year-old man, also in excellent health, might pay $341 for the same coverage.

Term insurance covers people for a specified period of time, which is typically 10, 20 or 30 years. (In a previous post we mentioned there are now terms up to 40 and 45 years) Term policies are significantly less expensive than permanent life insurance, which has additional features such as a cash value that can be borrowed against and that grows over time.

But the higher costs of permanent policies can tempt some buyers to skimp on coverage. If you do need life insurance — and you probably do if someone would be financially impacted by your death  — then your priority should be getting enough.

How much do you need? We usually consider things like:

• Final expense and other costs associated with death. For instance, if you were in the hospital before passing away.
• Debt. Items like the balance on your mortgage, credit cards and car loans. 
• Education costs if you have kids and want to take care of  your education. 
• Income replacement. Your family will still have day-to-day bills to take care of, like car repairs or needing a new stove. 

If you have need any help or have questions drop us a note or book a phone appointment. 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!

Why Younger People Should Invest In Life Insurance

Younger adults have always been a difficult market for life insurance agents. They typically feel they are indestructible and will live forever. On top of that is the feeling that life insurance is unnecessary because they tend to marry later in life and don't have the responsibility of family. Nothing could be farther from the truth though.

Our young adults are missing one vital piece of information that could really work in their favor and that is they could be leveraging their good health and young age. Just because they don't think they have a need for life insurance now doesn't mean that they won't need it in a few years. 

Life insurance is cheaper for those who are younger, healthier and don't smoke. Everyone knows that. And for those who are in their 20's, taking advantage of this could really benefit them as they age. Whether they are looking for just a term policy or something that can build cash value down the road, there's a good probability that our younger people can get a great deal.

For instance, purchasing an Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policy and overfunding it from a young age offers a much better opportunity of growth than a traditional whole life policy would. These policies also include features like early withdrawal for income streams, living benefits that you can use while you're still alive, and some tax advantages. 

I often tell the story of a young attorney who really didn't care about the life insurance portion of the policy as much as he wanted a safe place to put his money and retire a bit earlier than most. The illustration I rand for him showed some great tax-free withdrawals (in the form of a loan) as well as the peace of mind knowing that if something were to happen to him his wife would be okay financially. 

That same policy for one of his colleagues who was just a couple of years older but was overweight and a smoker couldn't produce the same results. For him, the "cost of insurance" would have been taken most of the gains of the policy off the table. Again, health matters.

But let's say you don't have the income to spare like the young attorney did but you still want to lock in on a great rate for life insurance. Traditional term policies were always the way to go for coverage during your working years. The problem was that the terms usually maxed out at 30 years, leaving people uninsured (or uninsurable if their health got bad) when they needed the coverage most. 

For these people, we now have a carrier offering a 40- and 45-year term policy, which can lock in a rate to age 65 or even 70 years old. Of course, underwriting is still applicable, but it's still a great deal. These policies are aimed at the "millennial" market who are forward thinking and know that the future will be here faster than expected. 

If you are young, healthy and don't smoke (or know someone who falls into this category), use the "Get a Quote" button on the upper right of this page to see if a term policy would fit in your budget. And if you want an illustration for our IUL product, book a a phone appointment and we'll be happy to talk with you to find out what your goal is. 

In the meantime, stay healthy and let us know if we can help you secure your family's financial future.

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!