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Three things you wish your life insurance agent had said.
The three examples of what you wish they would say are below.
First, the two main points are this:
1) You should have a written plan which includes advice on life insurance that is the result of collaborative experts including a Certified Financial Planner, Estate Planning Attorney and life insurance agent. The actual purchase of insurance is almost a non-event - you are simply carrying out the plan.
2) Be wise to the fact that insurance agents are compensated by product commission. This creates a natural conflict-of-interest in insurance sales which is not going away anytime soon. Only work with someone that has access to all the major carriers and is an independent agent. (For example not a "New York Life" agent.) The Written Plan should state what you need and the life insurance agent should have been one of the experts collaborating - they know the actual products that the other experts do not.
In an ideal world, here are three statements a life insurance provider would make when first meeting you:
"Do you have a written financial plan? Have you fulfilled the life insurance needs stated in the plan? We would like to review the plan and be considered to provide the life insurance."
"When you hire a CFP to help you assemble your plan, we would like to interview to be the insurance expert on your team."
"We serve as the life insurance expert on teams of cross-functional experts that provide comprehensive advice. It's best to purchase life insurance in the context of a comprehensive plan. Let me know if you would like to learn more."
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What to Do Next
The most important first step is to understand what is most important to you, establish goals that are in alignment. Then choose someone that can bring a team of independent experts together and formulate the advice to make it happen. That said, it is normal to want to jump right into investing. We regularly analyze folk's current investment strategy with nothing expected in return. (We'll analyze other aspects of your strategy if you wish.) We look at: - Overall Performance (vs. benchmarks & our model portfolios)
- Portfolio Design
- Diversification
- Fees & Expenses
Give us a call. 760-804-0910 |
