0:04

[inaudible] .

0:04

Hello and welcome to assurities podcast

0:07

tips from the insurance pros. In

0:09

this series we talk with insurance

0:11

pros as they share ideas and

0:14

insights that you can use today. I'm

0:16

your host Matt and I'm excited to bring

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you a new topic for this month. Disability

0:21

income insurance. Assurity

0:23

has been a leader in income protection for decades,

0:26

dating back to 1890. We're

0:28

committed to the market and to your sales success.

0:31

That's why we're excited to have disability

0:33

insurance expert of more than 18 years.

0:36

Jeff Peterson with us today. Jeff

0:39

is the president and CEO of true Luma.

0:42

He'll be sharing his considerable experience

0:44

leading a successful brokerage focused

0:46

on DUI . Welcome, Jeff,

0:48

it's great to have you here with us today.

0:51

Matt, thanks for having me and thanks for

0:53

providing the a platform to

0:55

talk about income protection.

0:57

Absolutely. It's an important topic. Can

0:59

you tell us a little bit more about your background

1:02

and company?

1:03

I've been in the insurance business

1:05

since 1991 started

1:08

as a queer agent with Connecticut

1:10

Mutual and was in personal

1:12

production for about 11 or 12

1:14

years. Um, well in

1:17

personal production. Did a lot of work in the

1:19

disability space and through

1:21

a series of circumstances

1:24

found myself in a position to

1:26

move into a wholesaling

1:28

at type of role, which I did

1:30

when we formed true Luma and now

1:33

act as a one stop DIY

1:35

shop for advisors . So

1:38

to help them find the appropriate income protection

1:40

products for their clients.

1:41

Fantastic. So how do

1:43

you go about educating producers

1:45

on how to approach perspective clients

1:48

about the need for income protection?

1:50

We do a lot of web based training,

1:52

small group training sessions,

1:54

individual meetings with advisors to talk

1:57

to them about their business and their clientele

1:59

to see how they can incorporate the

2:02

AI into the conversations that they're having

2:05

with with clients. But it is interesting

2:07

because as we meet with advisors

2:10

that have conversations about income protection,

2:12

what we find is that most of them

2:14

are actually currently having conversations

2:17

about income protection, although they may not realize

2:19

it . They're talking to clients about life insurance

2:22

and while life insurance has many uses,

2:25

at the end of the day, the majority of people

2:27

purchase life insurance to replace their income

2:29

should they die or pass away

2:31

prematurely. The problem

2:34

is is that this only covers half of the

2:36

income risk clients are exposed to

2:38

greater risk as we all are aware of

2:41

is the financial aid emotional devastation

2:43

that is caused by a disability.

2:46

So once advisors see at the entire

2:48

income protection picture, it's typically

2:50

only a small or a few small

2:53

tweaks they need to make to the conversations that they're

2:55

having with clients to connect the life

2:57

and Dei or disability insurance together

3:00

to create a comprehensive income protection

3:02

program.

3:03

Sometimes producers focus on

3:05

doctors, lawyers, and other professionals

3:08

for disability income insurance. Can

3:10

you talk about the need for income protection

3:12

that's out there for everyone, not just white

3:15

collar groups?

3:16

You know, I think it's important for

3:18

anybody and everyone who

3:21

relies on their there on their income. There

3:23

was a recent study done by CareerBuilder

3:26

that found that 78% of full time

3:28

workers live paycheck to paycheck.

3:30

And I think that's fascinating about this is that it

3:32

includes individuals that are earning

3:35

six figure incomes and other

3:37

survey by go banking rate to shows

3:39

that only 23% of respondents

3:41

with incomes over $150,000

3:43

per year had less

3:47

than a thousand dollars in the emergency reserve fund. So that , but the

3:49

point is is regardless of what someone

3:51

does or how much they earn

3:54

and would be putting in a very difficult financial

3:56

situation , uh , should an injury or

3:58

illness prevent them from working.

4:00

Sure. Now, no matter

4:02

what you say, there's always going to be objections.

4:05

Do you think that the objections to disability insurance

4:07

have changed over the years and how do

4:09

you help producers address objections

4:11

when trying to sell disability income insurance?

4:14

Yes .

4:14

You know, I sold my first disability

4:17

policy over 20 years ago and

4:19

the objections by saw

4:22

them are the same as the objections we

4:25

see now. There really hasn't been

4:28

much of a change. The most

4:30

common objection that we tend to see is

4:32

that of price or cost.

4:34

And there are some tools that advisors can use to combat

4:37

this. I think getting a budget from

4:39

clients is very important because it allows

4:41

the advisor to design a program

4:44

that is affordable for the client. We

4:47

always use percentage of income when talking

4:49

about cost or premium. So

4:51

you know the typical income replacement

4:54

type of plan is going to run somewhere

4:56

between one and 3% of

4:58

an individual's annual earnings. And

5:01

then also a, it's very helpful if advisors

5:03

can compare the monthly premium

5:06

to you , the annual benefit or the total

5:08

potential benefit that a policy may pay

5:10

out. So comparing that smaller

5:12

number to the much larger number

5:15

that the insured may receive.

5:17

We hope you're enjoying the podcast so far.

5:20

We'll be right back after this.

5:25

[inaudible]

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golf expires Bohemian charm.

5:28

Set your goals high this year and join us

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or buddies , top producers in Prague at the 2020

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leaders conference. Learn more and leaders.assurity.com

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forward slash 2020

5:42

[inaudible]

5:44

now, what tips do you provide producers

5:46

to help them get their DIY applications through

5:48

underwriting?

5:49

That's a great question.

5:53

Advisers if they could do some field underwriting,

5:56

it's certainly very valuable

5:58

and to a certain extent a bit of a loss start

6:00

. What we find is that it not

6:02

only saves time and effort during

6:04

the underwriting process that also can make

6:07

placing policies easier. Should

6:09

the underwriting decision come back with

6:11

an exclusion or some type of modification

6:13

because those can be discussed up front

6:16

so the client's aware of it and almost

6:18

expecting it when the policy comes

6:20

back. Always encourage advisors

6:23

to take the time to complete the application,

6:26

answer all the questions and provide detailed

6:29

again, say it's a lot of time and headaches

6:32

and then lastly, get in the habit of asking

6:34

for tax returns. As the general

6:36

rule of thumb. I always ask for complete

6:38

copies of the last two years worth of tax

6:40

returns. Sometimes it's

6:42

not needed, but it's good to

6:44

get in that habit.

6:46

Great. What's one piece of advice

6:48

that you would share about how to sell more

6:50

disability income insurance?

6:53

The key here is to ask,

6:55

ask, ask, ask him and ask again

6:58

and ask everyone that you talk to.

7:01

Most advisors just don't bring

7:03

it up and that's why they

7:05

don't sell it. So you don't have

7:07

to have a Polish script or be an

7:09

expert on disability

7:11

insurance. But if you start asking

7:14

questions about income replacement

7:17

and what would happen, can the event to

7:19

an illness or injury doors

7:21

open and a lot of cases

7:23

are swollen .

7:24

Well, let's go back to talking about

7:26

prospective clients. How do you

7:28

help producers talk to small business

7:30

owners in particular?

7:32

The small business owners are unique

7:36

obviously, and they also have

7:38

many needs. There's certainly the need

7:40

of replacing their income should

7:42

they become sick or hurt and able

7:44

to run the business. Sometimes

7:47

business owners feel that if they

7:49

were not able to work at the business itself

7:52

continues to run. And one of the questions

7:54

that I often will ask if we get

7:56

that response , um, you know , the business

7:59

runs itself, it doesn't really need me. It's all

8:01

then why do you come in every single day at

8:04

six o'clock in the morning and stick around

8:06

here until six o'clock at night? It's

8:08

a shot of reality. And the fact is is that the

8:10

business runs because the business owners , they're

8:13

also overhead expense can be

8:15

a nice conversation to have with these small

8:17

business owners. So should

8:20

you not be able to come in and run the business?

8:23

How are we going to keep the doors open and with

8:25

those overhead expense policies that

8:27

can cover the fixed expenses. A

8:29

lot of business owners liked that concept.

8:33

So aside from small business owners

8:35

are white collar markets. Are there any other

8:37

markets that you specifically like to focus

8:39

on? You earlier mentioned the need for everybody

8:41

to look at disability insurance. Are

8:43

there any niches that you like to look for?

8:46

Yeah , we have advisors that work

8:49

and all kinds of different

8:51

niches. Doctors, dentists,

8:53

the attorneys, you know, three them are obvious

8:55

ones. Veterinarians,

8:58

hygentist engineers.

9:02

We have worked with folks

9:05

who work primarily with contractors,

9:07

so it's really across the board. But I

9:10

think what it comes down to is you know

9:12

, what type of markets do

9:14

advisors have and then how

9:17

can we go about developing those markets

9:19

and finding, you know, those are the key triggers

9:21

that get people really thinking about

9:24

income protection.

9:25

Well Jeff, thank you for joining us today.

9:28

We appreciate you taking the time to talk

9:30

about the important role of disability income

9:32

insurance. Thank you

9:34

for giving me the platform and

9:37

to our listeners, thanks for tuning into assurities

9:40

podcast series tips from the insurance pros.

9:43

Stay tuned for our next episode to

9:45

get more ideas on successfully selling

9:47

disability income insurance. In

9:50

the meantime, if you'd like to learn more

9:52

about assurities disability income insurance

9:54

product, head over to assurity, dii.com

9:58

you can also email us@podcastatassurety.com

10:02

and we'll be happy to connect you with one of our regional

10:04

reps in your area to take a deeper dive.

10:07

Thanks for listening.

10:11

[inaudible]

10:11

these are use only not for use with the general public,

10:13

not for use in New York. Assurity has a marketing name

10:15

for the Mutual Holding Company, assurity group Inc

10:17

and its subsidiaries. Those subsidiaries include

10:20

but are not limited to a surety life insurance company,

10:22

and it's already life insurance company of New York insurance

10:25

products and services are offered by a surety life insurance company

10:27

in all states except New York. In New York, insurance

10:29

products and services are offered by a surety life insurance company

10:31

of New York, Albany, New York product

10:34

availability, features and rates may vary by state.

10:40

[inaudible] .