Sixty-one percent of consumers who researched individual insurance or annuity products looked online, a significant increase over the 38 percent of consumers who looked online in 2006.

As 2012 comes to a close, investors are looking forward to 2013 and forecasting the potential direction of the economy and financial markets. However, much of the U.S. economic outlook in 2013 will depend on what happens in Washington in the next few weeks, with the looming fiscal cliff and its Dec. 31 deadline.

According to recent research from the LIFE Foundation and LIMRA, paying for long-term care services is a top financial concern for the majority of consumers today; yet, few of them say that they own long-term-care insurance, the very product that can provide them with a financial safety net to help pay for their care. In fact, research from LIMRA indicates that less than two percent of consumers have an LTCI policy in force.

Small-business owners are maintaining a positive outlook for the rest of the year, according to the latest Western Union Payments Small Business Barometer. The national survey, which monitors business owners’ financial confidence and money-management practices, found that U.S. entrepreneurs saw gratification in being small business owners and are optimistic about prospects for their revenue.

NAIFA President Robert O. Smith issued the following statement on the Nov. 6 federal election:

Seven out of 10 people aged 65 and over will require long-term care at some point during their lives, and more than 40 percent will need care in a nursing home, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

American business owners are optimistic about the health of their businesses but lack confidence in the economy, according to new research from Principal Financial Well Being Index: Business Owners.

With the presidential election just a few weeks away, a new survey is shedding some light on Americans’ retirement outlook. According to the 2012 Retirement & Politics Survey from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America Transition Boomers—consumers between the ages of 55 and 65 who are less than 10 years away from retirement--agree that rising health-care costs will have the greatest effect on their retirement outlook.

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First American Insurance Underwriters, Inc., the Needham, Mass.-based wholesale life insurance, annuity, long-term care and disability income firm, has named JoAnn H. Lemieux, LUTCF, as a brokerage manager, according to an announcement by Kenneth A. Shapiro, president.