Industry News

The Board of Directors of Prudential Insurance has approved payment of approximately $1.7 billion in dividends in 2019 for participating individual life insurance policies and annuity contracts in Prudential’s Closed Block. The 2019 payment represents a continuation of the 2018 dividend scales for 2019. Learn more. The post Prudential Declares 2019 Dividend Scales appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

The Term Conversion Plus program has been extended to year-end. Add AXA’s Long-Term Care Services Rider with only a streamlined questionnaire and no additional medical requirements. Learn about AXA’s three conversion programs in this simple chart. The post AXA Term Conversion Plus Program Extended Due to Popular Demand appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently implemented an updated version of the Short Form Request for Individual Tax Return Transcript – Form 4506T-EZ (revised September 2018). Effective January 1, 2019, only the new September 2018 version of Form 4506T-EZ will be accepted by the IRS to initiate a request for an Individual Tax Return Transcript. […] The post Updated IRS Form 4506T-EZ – Effective January 1, 2019 appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

Effective December 1, 2018, we knocked down our Term Life Answers rates AND reduced our monthly modal factor to .086 – saving your clients money on their monthly premium payments. Learn more. The post Mutual of Omaha Lowers Term Rates appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

Effective January 1, 2019, the Protective Advantage Choice UL product will be repriced with a slight rate increase. Additionally, Protective Advantage Choice UL will become “non-illustrated,” meaning product illustrations will only show guaranteed values. Current policy values will be available on MyProtective.com, upon request from Protective’s customer service team (1.800.866.9933), and will continue to be […] The post Changes Coming to Protective Advantage Choice UL Jan 1, 2019 appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

In keeping with a goal of focusing on annuity products and features that provide the greatest value for you and your clients, AIG is simplifying their fixed annuity product portfolio with some administrative updates that reduce complexity and can help them serve you better. Learn more. The post AIG Fixed Annuity Product Updates appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

Legal & General America now has competitive options for affordable, longer duration coverage. In addition to 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30, their guaranteed level OPTerm series no has 35 and 40 year durations. Learn more. The post Introducing 35 and 40 year Term from LGA appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

You’ll be able to get an underwriting decision in an instant, with Automated Underwriting on our Living Promise (Final Expense) e-Applications. Learn more. The post Coming Soon: Automated Underwriting for Mutual of Omaha Living Promise appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

Effective November 16, 2018, the following rate changes are being made to the indexed universal life (IUL) product, Indexed Explorer Plus. The post Effective 11/16/18: Rate Changes to Columbus Indexed Explorer Plus appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

With the recent announcement from Voya to cease new individual life insurance sales at the end of 2018, Lincoln’s Underwriting and New Business team will be offering considerations and flexibility to better serve clients during this time of potential elevated need in the industry. FAQs. Overview. The post Consideration for New Voya Applications appeared first on Insurance Designers of America.

A settlement has been reached in the years-long law suit over increases in non-guaranteed costs of insurance for universal life policy owners.

On October 4th Transamerica announced a $195 million settlement for increases announced in 2015 and 2016 that affects over 100,000 policy owners.

Ron Sussman, CEO of CPI Companies was an expert witness in the case and an advocate for policy owner rights.

Policy owners will receive payments credited to their cash value and a 5 year moratorium on any future rate increases.

More information to follow.

Happy to share my first article in INN Magazine Article: http://www.insurancenewsnetmagazine.com/article/%E2%80%98unscheduled-policy-loans-can-create-sales-opportunities-3524#.W4Vo_ehKiHs To Learn More: https://mailchi.mp/07aa3321648b/policyloanrescue

Still think that term policy your client doesn’t need anymore is worthless? THINK AGAIN! We recently worked with a 75-year old client who owned a $1.5M term policy. The policy was approaching the end of the guarantee period, the client did not want to pay to convert, and planned to let the policy lapse. We explored a life settlement option and the client was able to sell the policy for $232,000, instead of letting it lapse and walking away with nothing.

Agent's need to educate their client's about these opportunities, as too many are missed. Contact us if you'd like to learn more.

Read CEO, Ron Sussman's latest article published on InsuranceNewsNet.com website: https://insurancenewsnet.com/innarticle/commentary-have-we-created-a-national-shadow-retirement-system

Congresses change from C-CPI to CPI-U for indexing inflation could lead to a reduction in the daily per diem limits for your client's LTC or Chronic Illness Rider. Help your client's plan accordingly for the unexpected reduction and make sure they understand the impact it will have whether they own an indemnity or reimbursement style rider. Click the image below for more info

Beginning late January 2018 John Hancock will notify LTC policyholders (including those from the block acquired from Fortis) that their premiums are increasing. The effective date will begin with policies with anniversaries on or after May 1, 2018.

Implementation is state specific and continues increases that, for some policy holders, began in 2012.

Please contact our office for more details.

For policy holders that are healthy, consider switching to newer linked benefit products with premium guarantees such as the Secure Lifetime GUL from American General.

Recently two carriers, North American and Protective Life, Announced decreased cap rates for their newly issued and in-force blocks of IUL products. This repricing of options reduces the index cap rate, and the maximum illustrated rate for index segments that are initiated or renew in 2018.

Indexed Universal Life cap and participation rates are determined by the carrier's options budget and the cost of options as determined by the options provider. These rates can be counterintuitive in a rising equities market where interest rates continue to moderate to the low side or fall.

We may be seeing the tip of the iceberg. Protective and North American are two conservative companies that tend to treat their policyholders very well. But there a...

If you've ever asked your investment advisor for data on mutual funds or ETF's you know that there is a plethora of information available from a large number of sources. The source of the original purchase is irrelevant because the data is required by SEC and FINRA and is available through a simple internet search.

You can research any fund, manager, or investment company and easily find the performance and cost structure. This makes investing easy and accessible for any purchaser.

Now, try the same thing with your permanent life insurance policy. It is virtually impossible. Not only is there no repository of data, but the issuers go out their way to make sure you do not receive the information.

Insurance carriers protect your data so wel...

Life insurance policies need to change to meet the needs of new generations of purchasers. The idea that the benefits of a policy are only for the purchasers beneficiaries is outdated and in desperate need of a makeover.

American General has the only solution: Secure Lifetime GUL 3 is life insurance for the living.

This product provides three opportunities for clients to benefit while they are alive:

1. Opt Out. After year 25 clients can elect to terminate the policy and receive a full refund of all premiums paid.

2. Use the death benefit to pay for LTC or chronic illness. Indemnity based benefit. No need to provide receipts. Pay for home care by a family member or use for any other purpose.

3. At age 85 receive the net death benefit in 10 e...