June Is National Annuity Awareness Month

The purpose of an annual review is to make sure your clients remain focused on their goals and adjust accordingly. But every now and then, a client will call you mid-year asking to change something carefully prepared for them. You know what I’m talking about. A client you have known for a while. A reasonable man or woman. They come in and say they just heard about this great product on TV. They really want it. You stare at them, stone-faced. It came out of the blue. You are familiar with that product. You know it is not for them. But they are enthused about it. More importantly, they demand the product! What do you do?

How do we win the hearts and minds of today’s consumers?

A new LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute study found that the more knowledge someone has about annuities, the more likely he or she is to have a positive attitude about them and eventually own one.

At the 98th LIMRA Annual Conference in New York, Robert A. Kerzner, CLU, ChFC, president and CEO of LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global, examined the changes in consumers’ demographics and expectations and explored the impact of their changes on the financial-services industry.

A LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute survey reveals that among consumers aged 50 -75 with $100,000 or more in household income, women are more likely than men to be concerned about running out of money in retirement (46 percent vs. 35 percent).

According to the annual New Year’s Resolution Survey from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, a staggering 84 percent of Americans surveyed said that they will not include financial planning in their resolutions this year. This lack of financial focus is at the highest level in the survey’s four-year history, exceeding the 80 percent of respondents who ignored financial planning when making resolutions for 2012 and 67 percent from the inaugural 2009 survey.

Although they face the prospect of living more years in retirement than men, women nearing retirement underestimate how much they will need to pay for their future health care costs even more so than men nearing retirement, according to a Nationwide Financial survey.

A growing number of wealthy investors are using smart phones for talking, texting, and emailing, and are spending more time on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and even Twitter. This is according to new research from the Spectrem Group, a strategic consulting and market research firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets.

Ike Trotter, financial advisor, spoke to NAIFA audience members about the importance and misconceptions of estate planning.

With ongoing tax law changes, product enhancements, insurance carriers entering or leaving different markets and new riders, how do you keep up with all of these changes?