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• Learn how to implement tactics for immediate results


• Learn how to work smarter - save time and make more money

Join us Wednesday morning at 9:30am MT to learn how to make four simple changes that can simplify and grow your business.

Don’t Wait For a Change, Make It Happen Now!

The New York Times recently posted an article about the increasing worth of a human life. While it varies from agency to agency, a human life according to US government is valued up to $9.1 million. While the US government has a standard valued a human life, when a private citizen has to calculate their own value for life insurance, their own valuation has to be based on a more personalized set of variables.

This means performing a needs analysis. Figuring out just how much insurance your clients need is the most important step of any insurance sale. Too much insurance and your client pays unnecessarily high premiums; too little insurance and your client’s family may be financially exposed in a catastrophe.  

As a financial advisor or insurance salesperson, knowing how to perform a needs analysis is fundamental but can quickly devolve into a monster. In this article, we will briefly cover needs analyses. There are two main types of needs analysis and they have both have pros and cons.

Human Life Value

The first is the Human Life Value assessment. This version of needs analysis is commonly used in legal cases because, in tort law, the goal is to compensate a plaintiff as if a wrongful action was never committed. In this way, the way the Human Life Value calculation works is to multiply the yearly income by the number of years the individual planned to work (or planned to receive income). This calculates the lost income of the individual so that beneficiaries will have the same financial stability as if the proposed insured was still earning income. While simple, the Human Life Needs analysis is typically higher than the other form of needs assessment, Capital Needs Valuation.  

Capital Needs Value

Capital Needs value is a goal based assessment where the client lists out all the goals they would want for their beneficiaries if they were not able to provide for them. These would include paying off the mortgage, final expenses, college funds for dependents, paying off other kinds of debt, and providing enough capital for beneficiaries to live on. This type of analysis is in inherently more complex as there are more variables to determine and calculate. 

Using these values

Some financial advisors have been known to do both kinds of needs analysis and then split the difference or advise that anywhere in between the two numbers would be sufficient to insulate a family from catastrophic loss. It’s also recommended to perform these need assessments yearly to make sure you clients insurance coverage changes as their needs change, whether it be from your client having another child, or changes in income.

To help with both of these strategies, National Brokerage has built in the Needs Analysis Calculator into the One-E-System that is free to use and help you and your clients perform a Capital Needs Value assessment. It combines both types of strategies to give a solid number to base insurance needs on. This tool delivers a breakdown of the needs assessment helpful in both in the sale of life insurance and in coverage justification to the carrier. The OES Needs Assessment tool can show clients exactly why an amount of insurance is need. It can be displayed in a convenient PDF document that can be saved to client’s profile in the OES. This PDF can also be sent off to the carrier in order to show the carrier just why the amount of insurance applied for is needed.

If you would like help with National Brokerage’s Insurance Needs Calculator or any other OES feature, you can contact your rep at (800) 377 – 6344, via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook.

And to learn more about Life Insurance Needs, join us this Monday, January 30, for our Advanced Case Webcast entitled “Making Sure Your Clients have Sufficient Coverage.”  Click here to join.

A Gleason score is the grade of a prostate cancer.  It is represented by two values added together for a total score from 2-10.  The lower the Gleason score, the better.  Most prostate cancer cases we see in underwriting involve a Gleason score of 6 or 7.  Prudential will not consider any prostate cancer case where the total Gleason score is 8, 9 or 10 regardless of age or how the cancer was treated.  Other carriers may consider a Gleason 8 after a 1-5 year postpone period.  The postpone period depends on the age at diagnosis, the stage, the pre-treatment PSA, and how the cancer was treated.  Higher Gleason scores are considered on an individual basis, but we rarely see Gleason scores higher than 8. 

Did you know electronic cigarettes have nicotine in them?  Carriers issue tobacco rates for any use of electronic cigarettes even if the urinalysis is negative.  The exception is Prudential.  They consider electronic cigarettes for Non-Smoker Plus rates. 

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• Not your Ordinary product Training
• Advanced sales concepts
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Industry News:

 Genworth Financial re-enters the Fixed index Annuity market in 2012 by launching its new fixed index annuities in late December of 2011. Pat Foley, president of U.S. life insurance distribution and marketing for Genworth financial, feels Genworth can become a player in the ever growing fixed index annuity market. He is no stranger to the game as he once lead Allianz Life in the past, Allianz is now the number one FIA provider in the independent market. With 10,000 people turning 65 every day for the next 20 years, long term investments and income planning is playing a key role in safe money strategies and Genworth Financial plans to capture their piece of the pie. In other news:

• Great American’s Income Sustainer Income rider is now approved as of January 16^th in the state of WA
• Do not forget to complete your Annuity specific training prior to solicitation of business.

Annuities in the News:

Article (Click on the Title): Do you Need and Annuity? (Great Source for Annuity Info)

Hot Product: Genworth Life Insurance Co.

• 7 and 10 year Surrender Schedule
• 5% Bonus on the 10 year Option
• 10% free withdrawals
• Issues 0-80
• 8% Simple Interest Income rider Option

National Brokerage News:

MyConcierge LTC Service:

Long Term Care Resources (LTCR) is proud to team up with National Brokerage agents to offer you a turn-key program to add to your client service offering and to grow revenue. We have your team of LTC experts ready to take the case from the start to the finish line. Even if you are not licensed for LTC, we have a referral program available. The sole purpose of the new MyConcierge LTC program is to make it incredibly easy for you to offer LTC Insurance expertise and underwriting. It's as easy as you introducing one of our agents to your clients and we run with it from there. All you do is enjoy the commissions.

Sales Quote of the Week:

"If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will."

• A true process and system for selling annuities
• Training, pre-approach materials, sales presentations and MUCH more!
• Coming soon: Annuity Agent Portal

Annuity Training
Every Friday 11am EST.
Register To Attend

•          Not your Ordinary product Training

•          Advanced sales concepts

•          Access to Point of Sale Material

•          Ask about our Exclusive Lead Programs

Industry News:

On December 12^th 2011  Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) announced they will no longer sell variable annuity and individual life products in the U.S. With the ever growing market of fixed Indexed annuities, many variable annuities companies are jumping ship and joining the safe money strategy market. Sun Life is following in the footsteps of ING and other variable annuity companies as they close distribution on their variable annuity business and taking the “if you can’t beat them join them” mentality as they file Fixed index annuity products to be sold in 2012. In other industry News:

•                     Allianz has discontinued the MasterDex 10 Plus Annuity in the state of Florida as of January 20th 2012

•           ING has re-introduced the 15k minimum low band for the Secure Index 5 with the return of premium option

•           Aviva has reduced the roll-up rate by .50 basis points on both premium bands for their Lifetime Income rider.  

Annuities in the News:

Here's a useful article from (Monday, December 19, 2011) Wall Street Journal. It shows how to use tax efficient withdrawals to reduce taxes and gain more from Social Security by planning out withdrawals from taxable savings, IRAs and Roth IRAs.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203802204577066164082847438.html

The strategy featured is from Dean Barber, a Charter Master Elite member. This is an example of the kind of proactive retirement tax planning you should be talking about with clients, prospects and professional contacts. It's good outflow material and will get a conversation started that may end up in new business for you!!

From: Ed Slott

Hot Product: Safe Return – Great American Life Insurance Company

•          10 year Surrender Schedule

•         Return of premium and Bail out options

•         10% free withdrawals

•          Issues 0-85

•         10% Simple Interest Income rider Option

National Brokerage News:

MyConcierge LTC Service:

Long Term Care Resources (LTCR) is proud to team up with National Brokerage agents to offer you a turn-key program to add to your client service offering and to grow revenue. We have your team of LTC experts to take the case from the start to the finish line. Even if you are not licensed for LTC, we have a referral program available. The sole purpose of the new MyConcierge LTC program is to make it incredibly easy for you to offer LTC Insurance expertise and underwriting. It's as easy as you introducing one of our agents to your clients and we run with it from there. All you do is enjoy the commissions.

Contact LTCR via phone or email to submit a new referral or get status on your existing cases:

·         Phone: 800-377-6344 x 1909

·         Email: MyConciergeLTC@natbrokers.com

Sales Quote of the Week:

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days”

Did you know that some surgically treated cancers can be consider for better than standard rates with some carriers?  See below for details from 4 carriers:  Hancock, ING, PRU, and Transamerica.  These cases must be well followed for preferred consideration.

Hancock:  Possible preferred consideration once they have qualified for standard rates for a period of 5 years.

Thyroid cancer – papillary or follicular type, Stage I (some Stage II if age 45 & over)

Uterine cancer – Stage IA or IB, well or moderately differentiated

Testicular cancer – Seminoma type, Stage I

ING:  Possible preferred consideration, single incidence of one cancer only, no radiation or chemotherapy treatment, cancer free for at least 10 years:

              Breast cancer in-situ with no family history of breast cancer

              Cervical cancer in-situ

              Endometrial cancer – Stage 1A

              Melanoma in-situ with no family history of melanoma

             Melanoma – Stage 1A (less than 1mm thickness, no ulceration, not Clark’s level 4 or 5, with no family history of melanoma

              Bladder cancer - Stage 0, papillary type

              Testicular cancer, seminoma type, Grade 1, Stage 1

              Thyroid cancer, papillary type, Stage 1

PRU:  Possible preferred consideration:

Prostate cancer – radical prostatectomy performed more than 1 year ago, age 61 & over, Gleason score of 6 or less, organ confined, no vascular or neural invasion on path report, PSA currently not detectable & pre-treatment PSA was less than 10.

Thyroid cancer – papillary or papillary follicular type, not high risk types, no vascular or wide invasion, diagnosed at ages under 45, Stage 1 only, treatment concluded, one occurrence.

          Testicular cancer – Stage 1, seminoma, 3 years after completion of surgery, surgical intervention only.

Transamerica: Possible preferred consideration if disease free for 10 years, surgically treated only, no radiation or chemotherapy treatment, appropriate surveillance and follow-up, low stage and grade:

• Non-melanoma skin cancers

• Thyroid cancer

• Breast cancer

• Testicular cancer

• Endometrial cancer

• Cervical cancer

• Benign, but aggressive tumors

• Certain in-situ cancers eligible after 5 years disease free

The frequency of DUIs increases during the holidays.  Did you know most carriers charge a flat extra for a single DUI in the first 2-3 years?  Well, not at Prudential.  At PRU a single DUI event after 12 months can qualify for non-smoker plus rates (Table A during the first 12 months) provided there is no criticism of alcohol use habits.  For a 50 year old male in California looking for $500k 20 year term, that could mean a savings of $1,364 per year or more.

Set and Execute your 2012 goals. National Brokerage has the game plan and resources you need to run a better marketing strategy for 2012.

National Brokerage offers the best FREE tools to manage your business including:

• Customer Management
• E-Quoting and E-Applications
• Life Case Status
• Marketing Resources

Rush ahead of your competition without spending a dime. Huddle up with us this Wednesday to set your 2012 Goals with National Brokerage.

Why Permanent Life

Universal Life is popular with those seeking permanent life insurance or those seeking an investment vehicle for retirement. While all permanent life insurance offers both of these features, Universal life offers the advantage of flexibility to conform to changing financial needs. This is in contrast to Whole Life products which typically have fixed premiums set by the carrier.

In contrast, the Universal Life policy holder has the option to pick the premium they would like to pay each month.  Typically, the policy holder is given a range of premiums to pay each month-- a minimum premium amount and a maximum.  The client can pay whatever premium they would like within that range. The more premium paid, the more the deaths benefits upon death and the more cash available to build equity. 

UL and Cash Accumulation

 The cash accumulation of equity is one of the primary appeals of Universal Life insurance. With a permanent insurance policy, premiums are invested and create equity for the policy holder. That equity can be borrowed against, or used to pay premium costs of the policy. After a given number of years, the income from the cash accumulation is often enough to cover the entire premium costs. If the policy is surrendered, the equity built up inside the policy can be collected (after surrender charges). Or, should the policy holder die, beneficiaries would collect the accumulated cash on top of any specified death benefits.

Getting Universal Life insurance is typically easier than Term Insurance as well. Because carriers make significantly more money with UL and it can be used as an investment product for policy holders, carriers are typically more liberal with underwriting guidelines. It’s not unusual for a carrier to have a completely separate underwriting table for Universal Life. For clients just barely declined from Term Insurance, Universal Life may be an appropriate substitute.

UL and Taxes

Additionally, Universal Life, because it is primarily intended as a life insurance policy, may have certain tax benefits advantageous to the policy holder depending on their financial strategy. For example, because equity is built within the policy, the accumulated value is not taxable until it is withdrawn from the policy and thus deferring the taxes. For specific tax advantages, policy holders should consult a tax professional.

If you would like to know more about what Universal Life products offer and how to sell them, feel free to contact us by email, twitter, facebook or calling your rep at (800) 377 - 6344.

For clients whose A1c is elevated on the insurance labs and have not been diagnosed with diabetes, carriers will typically rate in the Table 2 range.  At American General, if the A1c is elevated up to 6.4 in a client who does not have a history of diabetes, they will consider for standard rates.

Every financial advisor knows you should keep in touch with your clients to make sure they know what’s happening with their money. Regular communication means you stay informed of any changes in their financial needs and can offer new business. But let’s face fact. Not everyone gets this kind of treatment.  As a result, potential business slips by.

Up to a quarter of a financial advisor’s income comes through existing clients.

One of the first rules of business says that sales from an existing client are far easier and more efficient than soliciting new business. Don’t let easy sales pass you by because you’re too busy to keep your name in front of your clients. National Brokerage offers automatic emails, tasking, and newsletters to keep your name in front of your clients so when they have monetary questions, they know exactly who to call.

Build relationships the easy way. 

“Remember” your clients’ birthdays with automatic birthday, holiday, and anniversary emails. Simply enable and setup these emails once and personalized emails will be sent to each of your clients.  Want to make a special day even more special?  Automatic birthday and holiday tasking will remind you to make a phone call giving you a chance to talk to your clients as more than an order-taker.

Don’t keep your clients in the dark.

Let your new clients know their underwriting status with automatic case status emails. You can even set up auto-generated tasks that will remind you to periodically follow up with clients that you haven’t worked with in a while.

Create your own newsletters in your One-E-System Mass Emailer to keep your clients informed with what’s happening with your business. Educate, market products to, and communicate with the people that build your income. Did your business expand into offering new products like Long Term Care Insurance? Let your clients know in your newsletters.

Learn how to set up your residual marketing campaign by watching our demonstration of Automated Marketing or how to send your newsletters with our Mass Emailer. Questions or comments? Talk to your rep or contact us by phone, email, twitter, or facebook.

In this prolonged period of economic risks and low interest rates, annuities provide a flexible variety of products to help your clients manage their financial risks. Annuities are attractive because they provide a fixed steady income for retirees much like Social Security but offer a better return than CD’s, savings, and other low-risk investments. Once the premiums are paid, clients can sit back and receive a steady income.

Most fixed and indexed annuities do not have any up-front fees, loads, or charges. Only in the situation where the client would like to attach some kind of rider or benefit to the policy outside its normal contract obligation would any fee be a part of the fixed or fixed index annuity contract. Because fixed annuities are safe for the client, many annuities have a cap, a participation rate, and a surrender schedule that are tied to the individual contract that allow for the insuring company to guarantee rates.

Unlike in fixed annuities, variable annuities do have fees associated with the individual funds placed inside the investment.  The fees are usually calculated on a daily basis and are shown on the annual statement. Having the fees in a variable annuity is a higher risk investment strategy with a higher return prospect.

While fixed annuities are attractive because of their inherent low-risk to the investment, they are also fully exposed to inflation risks. Payments in fixed annuities are consistent regardless of market conditions. Indexed and variable annuities however, despite being associated with a more aggressive investing strategy, offer a hedge against inflation by being attached to a stock index or mutual fund. The positive correlation between stocks and inflation means your client’s income adjusts with inflation.

Insurance companies are some of the largest and most stable financial bodies to invest in. However, annuities are not insured by the FDIC and are subject to the credit risk of the institution itself. As such, financial advisors should be careful to research and have a level of understanding for the strategic financial outlook of the insurance company they are recommending to their clients. Annuities can give your clients income for twenty years or more making it necessary to look as far out as possible to ensure your client is not left out in the wind should the company fail.

Not all annuities are created equal, and in today’s economic environment it is important to be a trusted advisor that knows and can explain to your clients the benefits and risks of these products to meet their specific financial goals.

To know more about annuities, feel free to call to your Rep or Nate Arroyo at (800) 377-6344 x1155 or by email NateA@natbrokers.com . You can also contact National Brokerage via e-mail, facebook, or twitter with your questions.

New, Low Cost Limited Medical Plans Now Available
Great Commissions!

Get in the door at your local restaurant chains, hotels, churches, associations, grocery stores and agricultural businesses. Other target markets include uninsured, declined, independent contractors and those who cannot afford traditional major medical coverage.

• Hospital benefit up to $3,500/day
• Added Benefits: doctor visits, emergency room, accidental injury, surgery and anesthesia
• Guaranteed issue – no health questions asked
• Easy to quote - no census requirement
• No complex participation requirements
• Gap coverage for high deductible health plans
• No working requirement
  

Did you know that carriers sometimes recheck the MIB before placing policies in force?  They can do this at any time on any case, but typically it happens when more than 30 days passes from the date of issue until delivery requirements are received and on cases with dual submissions. 

Example:  A client applies with more than one carrier simultaneously.  Carrier #1 does not require an APS so their underwriting process gets done quickly and the policy is issued standard.  Carrier #2 requires an APS and uncovers an unadmitted history of cancer and they rate the case with a flat extra.  While waiting for carrier #2 to finish their underwriting, more than 30 days passes from the time carrier #1 issued their policy to the time they received the delivery requirements.  Carrier #1 rechecks the MIB before placing the policy in force and the info uncovered causes them to rescind the issued policy. 

This is an example of a real case scenario and another reason National Brokerage does not recommend simultaneous/dual submissions.

Design and Hosting

Everything you need to build your website is ready out of the box and free for our contracted agents. National Brokerage pays for the domain, hosting, and e-mail accounts. We offer 8 different website templates in our Website Builder application with every template designed to look professional and unique. The titles, text paragraphs, images, and logos are customizable to make your website represents your business. These templates are dynamically generated allowing us to host your website on our servers so you don’t pay a dime for hosting or bandwidth costs.

Instant Quoter

Websites from National Brokerage offer a free instant quoter that creates leads you can import into OES with a click of a button.  When prospective clients navigate to your site, they are offered a request for instant quote form where they can submit their contact information. From there, you will be notified by e-mail of your new sales lead. These leads are compatible with your OES account and can be found on your website management page from which they can be exported to your OES customers with one click.

Domain Names

Every website has a domain name (e.g. www.yourdomainname.com). National Brokerage saves you the costs and headaches of registering the domain name for your website by purchasing domain names for our contracted agents.  If you already own a domain name, we offer the ability to make our website and e-mail to work with it too. 

Support

National Brokerage has a series of instructional web videos as a quick any-time reference for agents looking to make their own website.  These instructional videos cover everything from how to upload an image to managing a newsfeed. You can navigate to these videos by either the Help link in the Website Builder or by navigating to National Brokerage's Vimeo Video Portfolio

Staff Support

If you still have questions about creating a website, feel free to call your Rep. We are always looking for ways to improve this feature, please don’t hesitate to contact us via e-mail, facebook, twitter, or call your National Brokerage Representative at 800-377-6344 with your suggestions.

Did you know that all carriers require a flat extra for crop dusters and it’s higher if the aircraft was not build specifically for crop dusting?  If you have a crop duster flying an aircraft that was specifically built for aerial application, the flat extra will start at $5 per thousand.  If the aircraft was modified for aerial application, the flat extra will start at $7.50 per thousand. 

Also, if they have a lot of hours experience, some carriers may consider lowering the flat extra by $2.50 per thousand.  It will depend on the total aviation hours of experience and the total hours of crop dusting experience.  Also, Genworth may allow preferred as the base rate when a non-medical flat extra is required and the client otherwise qualifies.

Did you know that all carriers except Prudential require a flat extra after a single suicide attempt for the next 5-6 years?  A single suicide attempt is a postpone in the first year for all carriers.  After the first year, carriers like Aviva, Axa, and Banner require a flat extra of $7.50 per thousand for the next 5 years. Carriers like American General, Genworth, ING, and Transamerica require a flat extra of $5 per thousand for the next 4 years. Prudential never charges a flat extra for a single suicide attempt.  They rate Table D for the first 3 years (after the one year postpone period), then Table 2 thereafter.  Keep this in mind for your next case of a single suicide attempt more than 12 months ago, but less than 5 years. 

We at National Brokerage are pleased to present a new, exclusive lead and marketing opportunity. Thanks to all who participated in our exclusive leads conference call. Here is the reference material you’ll need to:

• Learn how to reshape your business model.
• See firsthand how to harness the power of national TV advertising, generating stronger leads while lowering your overall marketing cost.
• Hear from producers like you who have been pilots in their area for this program.

For reference material please visit the links below:

• Link to the recording of the September 7, 2011 conference call
  http://vimeo.com/natbrokers/review/28767248/eab76e1678

• Link to a full 20-minute webinar for your reference:
  http://www2.onlinemeetingnow.com/register/?id=f372d14678

• ·       Link to current commercial:
  http://www.annuitychoice.net/commercial/

• ·      Link to secure your share(s):
  http://www.annuitychoice.net/agents/congratulations.html

Annuity Choice Representatives  
Note: You MUST reference National Brokerage to get the Charter Membership Rate
Mary Powers: (630) 765-3555
Jodi Perry: (571) 229-6091

Did you know on some prostate cancers in older age men the treatment recommendation can sometimes be just to observe the cancer or what’s known as “watchful waiting?”  These kinds of cases can be difficult to quote.  Some carriers like West Coast Life do not allow any consideration on watch and wait scenarios and Prudential only allows consideration if the Gleason Score is 2-4 (We almost never see Gleason scores this low).  Some best carrier options for this type of situation where the PSA is stable include American General, North American, Transamerica, or United of Omaha and offers will depend on pathology details of the biopsies, all PSA results, urology exam results, and age of the male.  If the PSA is rising in a watch and wait scenario, expect a decline.