How to Approach Life Insurance with Married Couples

[jboussea]

I'd like to get some fundamentals or selling to young married couples.


Should they always buy separate policies. When is it a good idea to do joint policies?

How do you approach the breadwinner vs the stay at home.


How do you approach the breadwinner vs the other working parent making less

Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[DHK]

I'd like to get some fundamentals or selling to young married couples.


Should they always buy separate policies. When is it a good idea to do joint policies?

Joint policies - such as 1st to die or 2nd to die - are best for various strategies.
- First to die to benefit surviving spouse: Social security offset, reverse mortgage payoff, etc.
- Second to die to benefit beneficiaries: cover a less-than-ideal medical situation, estate taxes, leave a legacy, etc.

If we're looking primarily at costs, then an "additional insured" rider is usually available with most companies.

If we're looking at putting together life insurance retirement plans, set them up to be about equitable between the two. The cost of insurance on women is usually much less than on men, so either put in more cash or have a lower permanent death benefit.

How do you approach the breadwinner vs the stay at home.

How do you approach the breadwinner vs the other working parent making less

Does it matter? Talk to one person or the other. Most won't make a decision without talking it over with the other spouse. (Don't most men nowadays say "Well, honey, what do you think?")

The general rule of thumb is to not meet with one spouse that can't (or won't) make a decision separate from the other. However, sometimes it just makes sense to get the ball rolling with one spouse and then meet with them as a couple when you can - as long as the spouse you talked to doesn't try to explain everything... because they won't do it well.

 

[jboussea]

Joint policies - such as 1st to die or 2nd to die - are best for various strategies.
- First to die to benefit surviving spouse: Social security offset, reverse mortgage payoff, etc.
- Second to die to benefit beneficiaries: cover a less-than-ideal medical situation, estate taxes, leave a legacy, etc.

If we're looking primarily at costs, then an "additional insured" rider is usually available with most companies.

If we're looking at putting together life insurance retirement plans, set them up to be about equitable between the two. The cost of insurance on women is usually much less than on men, so either put in more cash or have a lower permanent death benefit.



Does it matter? Talk to one person or the other. Most won't make a decision without talking it over with the other spouse. (Don't most men nowadays say "Well, honey, what do you think?")

The general rule of thumb is to not meet with one spouse that can't (or won't) make a decision separate from the other. However, sometimes it just makes sense to get the ball rolling with one spouse and then meet with them as a couple when you can - as long as the spouse you talked to doesn't try to explain everything... because they won't do it well.

Thanks for the input..

I think you misunderstood the 2nd part.... I mean how do you approach each spouse in terms of product..do you sell a different type of product to each spouse.. For example.. Term for 1 and whole life for the other.

 

[pfg1]

Thanks for the input..

I think you misunderstood the 2nd part.... I mean how do you approach each spouse in terms of product..do you sell a different type of product to each spouse.. For example.. Term for 1 and whole life for the other.

It depends on their situation, needs, and wants. IMO, at a min they need to have a decent amount of covg...even a non working spouse. Term is often the best fit for younger couples that usually don't have alot of discretionary income.

 

[jboussea]

It depends on their situation, needs, and wants. IMO, at a min they need to have a decent amount of covg...even a non working spouse. Term is often the best fit for younger couples that usually don't have alot of discretionary income.

Is ther a scenario where you do whole life for the breadwinner and term for the other ...or is it better to do a joint

 

[DHK]

This business is an art and a science. The science is all the rules, regulations, and "rules of thumb" into everything.

The art... is packaging it in such a way that the client buys.


Not every husband wants to collect the maximum benefits on his wife's death. While he may need $2 million, he may also think that he doesn't want more than $250,000 on his wife and not need coverage after the kids are grown.

You sell them what they want to buy and make them a client first. You don't argue with them, but find out how THEY feel about things so you can package a recommendation that THEY want.

You can always add more coverage (subject to underwriting) and convert more later. After all, they're your clients now. It's far easier to advise a client than it is a prospect.

 

[BYSFG]

I'd like to get some fundamentals or selling to young married couples.


Should they always buy separate policies. When is it a good idea to do joint policies?

How do you approach the breadwinner vs the stay at home.


How do you approach the breadwinner vs the other working parent making less

Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I use this approach regardless if they are the bread winner or not because it addresses a simple fundamental in helping them understand.

Start by explaining the differences between Term and Permanent. Shouldnt take you more than 10 minutes unless they ask questions then you can dive in deeper. Usually questions are focused around the Cash Value part. Its not thorough but enough to help them differentiate some of the major pros and cons. Base it off of a pre set example so youll have some numbers to go by.

Areas I cover when talking/comparing about the two are:
-Affordability
-Cash Value/"Asset" - I use "Asset" loosely here for the purpose of helping clients understand as well as some financial institution or government based programs consider policies such as WL (surrender value) to be an "Asset"

-Length of Coverage
-Insurability - Such as purchasing another policy at end of term vs permanent

Ask them some questions, keep them engaged.
-So of the two, if you didn't have to worry about price, which one would you be more comfortable with to protect your family?

After this, do your needs analysis, find what numbers theyre comfortable with price wise and work within that range.

When I run this, I usually have them give me the lowest and the highest premium theyre comfortable with. Then I work within this range to try and meet what was determined based of off the needs analysis.

Usually itll be some sort of permanent policy for final expense purposes and then a term on top of that to cover/off set various financial obligations in case one of them dies prematurely. So in the end it may look something like:

$25k - $100k in perm. coverage
$500k+ in term coverage

...And of course while planning you'd go into the various riders as well etc. etc.

Bottom line, youre going to have to play it by ear. Like DHK said, sell them what they want. For me, I see this as empowering them and letting them take control and making the decision.

 

[jboussea]

I appreciate all your input DHK and bysfg ... So I guess my concern is really avoiding making rookie mistakes when it comes to dealing with a couple. I wouldn't want a seasoned vet s ring my client and saying .."well in your situation your agent should have done this or done that etc.." It sounds like there are no clear fundamentals ... It's all about listening and using common sense which I think I'm good at

I'm still struggling with when to do a joint policy... and also what are the best products for joint policies

 

[DHK]

Your best defense for that situation... is to not give them a real reason to meet with anyone else.

Send a monthly newsletter and do regular reviews. If you don't meet with the client after they buy, they'll be more apt to meet with other agents who may torpedo your original work.

 

[jboussea]

Your best defense for that situation... is to not give them a real reason to meet with anyone else.

Send a monthly newsletter and do regular reviews. If you don't meet with the client after they buy, they'll be more apt to meet with other agents who may torpedo your original work.

Monthly newsletter huh? I'll look into that.. I'm assuming Ips which you had recommended should have some tips about that... I definitely understand the yearly review but monthly contact with a client sounds excessive but maybe a newsletter is the way to go