Offering Final Expense

What life insurance do you have in place?

That one question, what life insurance do you have in place, can get your clients talking about their life insurance.

Don't ask "Do you have life insurance?" as that can result in a quick no and a wall of defense going up.  They may think "Great, this agent is trying to sell me some life insurance." 

However, when you ask what life insurance they have, they may shift their thinking to what insurance they have rather than a hard no to you.

1035 Exchanges

You may be able to update an older policy and give their life insurance some new life. If they have a paid-up policy, you may be able to roll the cash value into a new plan and give them more death benefits.

One of the questions you may get from a client is "Why do I need life insurance in retirement?" 

Obviously, funeral expenses, but there are others.

Travel - If they have children or family in other parts of the country who need to get to a funeral quickly, last-minute travel can be very expensive.  Think about $1,000 for a round-trip ticket, so a family of 4 would have $4,000 in airfare alone.  Plus renting a car, hotel, meals, etc.

Debt - If your client has any debt, it may not go away once they pass away.  Leaving a tax-free lump sum can offset or eliminate the debt for their family. 

Offer some guidance.  My grandfather passed away a number of years ago.  I was living in Columba, MO and he lived in Las Vegas.  He fell on a Tuesday and passed away that Friday.  I had 3 days to get to Las Vegas.  It was expensive, but I made it.  My grandfather had all his plans in place.  All I had to do was show up and spend the last few days with him.  No worry about expenses, no worry about planning, I was able to peacefully enjoy the last few days of my grandfather’s time here on Earth.  I have seen other families struggle with paying for a funeral, arguing about final wishes, etc.

Even if your clients say they have enough life insurance in place, I would suggest you offer them some professional advice, which is to make sure their family knows their final wishes or document them so that if they become impaired, their family can truly enjoy their last time with them and not spend it arguing.  Offering this demonstrates you are there to actually give advice and not just push products. 

This is why it is important to ask your clients:

“What life insurance do you have in place?”