On July 20, NAIFA participated in the #GettingMillennialsInsured Twitter chat hosted by LIMRA and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). The chat was an informative and insightful discussion with LIMRA, ACLI, NAIFA partner Life Happens, and Life Happens President & CEO Faisa Stafford.

Participants discussed: 

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer attitudes toward life insurance 
• How to increase awareness of the need for life insurance 
• How to dispel misconceptions about life insurance 
• How to increase access to life insurance 

Total U.S. life insurance new annualized premium increased 17% in the first quarter of 2022, representing the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit premium growth, according to LIMRA’s First Quarter 2022 U.S. Retail Life Insurance Sales Survey.

“Nearly half of life insurers reported premium gains in the first quarter but the majority of the growth came from the top 10 carriers. Nine of the top 10 reported double-digit growth. Combined, their sales increased 32% from last year,” said John Carroll, senior vice president, head of insurance and annuities, LIMRA and LOMA. “While the overall number of policies sold was lower than the record sales set in first quarter 2021, policy sales matched pre-pandemic levels.”

Vinny Dallo, ChFC, CLU, CLTC, LUTCF, serves as President-Elect for NAIFA- New York and has been a loyal NAIFA member since 2005. He practices with Kappan Financial, LLC, in Fairport, NY, where he specializes in personal financial planning.

Vinny’s introduction to the financial services industry is rather unique. He was initially brought on to the MetLife team as a call center manager. He excelled in the position after creating a subscription service that called MetLife advisors’ current clients to strengthen their existing relationships. For a minimal price, advisors both new and established, could sign up for these “warm appointments” that ultimately lead to stronger advisor-client relationships and increased production. Vinny’s initial job as a call center manager enabled him to see the ins-and-outs of a career as a financial advisor with MetLife before pursuing it himself.

Later, the top recruiter in his office questioned why he wasn’t pursuing a career as an advisor, as it was the “perfect fit for him.” That prompted Vinny to pursue a long-term professional goal to have a “helpful impact on other people.”  He soon found his new path gave him a strong sense of fulfillment. He  even enjoyed reading through the dense, sometimes overly complicated, financial portfolios of his clients that they felt to be daunting.

After several years in restaurant management, Erik Mickalson decided it was time for a change. He applied for a job at American Family Insurance, where his aunt and uncle were long-time agents. He got the job, but not because of nepotism—the recruiter who hired him didn’t find out about his family ties until months later.

After 16 years with American Family, Mickalson says the best thing about his job is being able to help people and protect families every day. He’s a multiline agent, but his bread and butter are life, home, auto, and commercial property insurance. While he works with a diverse array of clients, many of his clients are families like his own with middle-grade children. He jokes that his children’s soccer games are a great way to find prospects.

For Tori Chaulk, insurance runs in the family—it just skipped a few generations. Her great-grandmother was an insurance agent with Farm Bureau, and she was fascinated by it when she was growing up. So, when she graduated from the University of Tennessee, she decided to give it a try. 

Being an insurance agent turned out to be a perfect fit for Chaulk. She loves meeting new people every day and helping them find the right solutions for their unique situations. At Trey Bowen Legacy Insurance and Globe Life, she helps her clients with life insurance and property and casualty insurance. She’s especially passionate about life insurance, even though it can be a hard topic to talk about with clients. “[Life insurance] is the guaranteed insurance that you're going to use,” she says. “So, I’d rather help somebody plan for their family after they're not here rather than it be too late.”

In 2007, David Kikoen, LUTCF, CLTC, RICP, was a senior account executive in the subprime mortgage business. When the Great Recession hit, he decided to transition into insurance and financial services. He admits he didn’t know much about financial planning when he started, but he learned quickly and soon thrived in his new role. Now, Kikoen is a licensed insurance agent and financial services professional with over 13 years of experience at New York Life.

We are increasingly aware of the importance of staying secure in a world where cyber threats increase day by day. Heightened awareness around the Ukraine-Russia geopolitical tensions has taken cybersecurity to the next level. There are alerts and notices coming across multiple sources from regulatory bodies to industry-specific regulators, government agencies, consulting firms, and more. Samples include White House Cybersecurity Briefing,  CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency), NYDFS, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Intelligence Warning, and Accenture’s Cyber Threat Intelligence group.

Alongside these continued tensions between Russia and Ukraine is the potential for increased cyber threat activity. With military attacks, we should assume there will be accompanying cyber attacks.

Stephen Kagawa, FSS, LUTCF, founder and CEO of The Pacific Bridge Companies (TPBC), has a vision—to help families protect what they love through TPBC’s platform, Aloha Financial Advisors. As Kagawa explains, “Aloha Financial Advisors is all about doing good and having advisors who are rooted in their vision of a better world driven by their core values.”

Where It All Began

The story of Kagawa’s passion for reaching underserved communities goes back nearly a century. In 1933, his grandfather, Lawrence Takeo “L.T.” Kagawa, was disappointed to learn that life insurance companies either refused to write policies for people of color or demanded higher premiums than that of their Caucasian neighbors. He partnered with A.P. Giannini, founder of Bank of America and Transamerica, and helped bring affordable life insurance to all people of color.

John Raley, LACP, FSCP, CLTC, MBA, has served Main Street USA for over 40 years and looks forward to many more. 

Getting Started 

Fresh out of college, Raley knew he wanted to go into the insurance industry. There was just one problem—none of the insurance agencies were hiring new college grads. They wanted to hire established members of the community because that’s the way it had always been done. But Raley wasn’t deterred. When he interviewed with American Family Insurance, he said to the hiring manager, “If I was successful and I became a manager like you, basically you're telling me that you really don't have any control over who you hire, who you surround yourself with.” The hiring manager called Raley back the next day and offered him a job. Over 40 years later, Raley's still with the company that took a chance on him when no one else would. 

LIMRA and Life Happens have published the results of their 2022 Insurance Barometer Study. The new study surveyed 8,517 individuals and shows two key trends: life insurance is key to financial security and gender gaps extend to life insurance coverage.

Financial Security with Life Insurance

While financial insecurity affects all age groups, more life insurance owners (68%) report feeling financially secure than non-owners (47%). Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic had increased awareness of the need for life insurance and 31% of those surveyed say they are more likely to buy life insurance this year.