Some clients think they don’t want Whole Life insurance. Others say they absolutely hate it! Often, clients don’t even know what a Whole Life policy is, though they may already own one and be very happy with it! What they do “know” is that they want “cheap term” insurance; what the popular press calls “cool.” Still worse, many brokers don’t know the difference between Universal and Whole Life insurance.
I was called yesterday by a client who has owned a solid Whole Life policy for 20 years. She isn’t paying premiums on it because the dividends are large enough to pay premiums. The policy is doing fine. Without understanding what she had, a broker told her she would have no life insurance soon because the cash value would erode and disappear. This was misinformation that unnecessarily scared the client and potentially eroded her confidence in me and in her insurance company.
We, as experts, need to inform ourselves as well as our clients about the benefits of the different types of life insurance, rather than caving to the easy sale of what is “popular.”
As professionals, we shouldn’t let the client dictate what policy is right for her if she doesn’t understand her options, or even what she already has.
Companies need to support us by talking publicly and enthusiastically about permanent life insurance and the benefits it has to offer. It can be such a “cool”, valuable and unique financial product!
Share the value of whole life, universal life, variable life and term with your clients. Use your expertise and explain the benefits of permanent life insurance so the client can have a clear understanding of his available options.
And please don’t scare clients about what they have in a permanent policy until you’ve seen an in-force illustration of their policy, so you don’t misinform, replace and leave the client in a worse insurance position than you found them. Some people need insurance for their whole life!
