It is once again the time of year when our industry brings national attention and awareness to the importance of life insurance by celebrating Life Insurance Awareness Month. I hope all of you will take some time and use this opportunity to reach out to your prospects and clients and remind them of the importance of this miraculous product and to make sure they have the proper amount of coverage.

Recently, the Kinder Brothers reminded us that life insurance not only makes sense at every stage of life, but also serves as the financial cornerstone of a financial plan and is an asset class all by itself.

Life insurance for every stage of life:

Most people will need more life insurance when they reach 65 than they need at 35, if they are married with two children and a mortgage. Times have changed, but many advisors are still selling life insurance as if people are going to die at 65 years of age. With today's mortality tables, people need long-term, permanent life insurance. The current statistics show that for every 100 people starting their careers at age 25, by the time they are 65, only 13 will be dead. That means 87 are still alive. There's a good chance they'll need more life insurance then than they do now. They will need personal permanent life insurance. The old axiom is still true that people are going to die before 65 or after 65-- one or the other. Most will die after 65. The older they get, the more needs they have. We want to be selling life insurance for all stages of life.

Below is an outline that shows the importance of life insurance for every stage of life:

CHILDREN

• Guarantee Insurability
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Lower Premiums

SINGLE

• Guarantee Insurability
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Lower Premiums
• Debt Protection

MARRIED/NO CHILDREN

• Guarantee Insurability
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection

MARRIED W/CHILDREN

• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection
• Future Funding for Emergency
• Education Fund

EMPTY NESTERS

• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection
• Future Funding for Emergency
• Maximize Pension
• Social Security Offset
• Replace Group Insurance
• Gifts

SENIORS

• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection
• Future Funding for Emergency
• Maximize Pension
• Social Security Offset
• Replace Group Insurance
• Gifts
• Equalization of Inheritances
• Legacy/Charity
• Wealth Replacement
• Dynasty Trust Funding

As one can see from the bullet points above, having life insurance at every stage of life is perhaps one of the most responsible and intelligent decisions a person can make.

LIMRA provides some sobering facts that demonstrate both the opportunity and the concern at hand. Affluent households earning over $100,000plus per year report that one out of three do not have enough coverage. Half of U.S. households (58 million households) say they need more coverage--the highest level LIMRA has ever reported.

Several years ago, Phil Richards shared the best sales practice of Doug Weisenberger, who took the idea Phil shared with him about the State Farm letter he received on his home owner’s coverage. From that conversation, Doug sent the following letter to his clients:

«Date»

«Name»

«Address»

Dear «Greeting»:

As a service to our clients, we are contacting you to ensure you have adequate life insurance coverage. Our records show that you have $«F_CB_LIFE_BENE» of life protection in force.

If you have more coverage than our records indicate, please let us know so we can update our records.

If this amount is correct but you feel it may be insufficient to cover your risks, please call us and we will set up a time to review your needs and develop a solution.

I can be reached at «AdvisorPhoneBus».

Best regards,

«AdvisorName»

As you read this letter, I encourage you to think about two things:

1. When will I be sending my clients a letter/email like the compliance-approved one above? I suggest you meet with your administration team and set up a time to send such a letter. As this is the month to do it, you may want to even say that because this is Life Insurance Awareness Month, you are doing this as a service to your client.
2. I want each of us to do this letter/exercise for ourselves and our personal situations. Many professionals fall into the trap of “vocational irony,” which is the doctor who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. It is the nutrition expert who is overweight. It is when a professional is very good at her profession, but is unable or unwilling to use her expertise to help her own family.

In essence, it is the cobbler’s story all of us are familiar with: We are so busy making shoes for the entire village that we neglect the needs of our children.

I hope all of you will use this month to capitalize on the opportunity at hand, and in a comfortable manner, leverage Life Insurance Awareness Month by educating and motivating your clients to be responsible with the obligations and commitments they have chosen in their lives.

I also hope all of us will make sure that we are practicing what we preach by doing this exercise, and if need be, making the appropriate adjustments to our own life insurance needs.

Let’s make sure none of us is the cobbler.

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By Ed Deutschlander, CLU, CLF