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Life Health > Life Insurance > Term Insurance

Use long term care insurance to help your clients protect themselves

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As the health care debate drags on, and the uncertainty of the government’s ability to provide health care for everyone at a reasonable price is top of mind, we, as trusted financial advisors are ethically bound to offer our clients options to supplement their health care woes.

One such health care component is that of long term care. Unless you are in such dire financial straits that you become eligible for your state’s Medicaid program, the situation becoming more and more common are the families who have established a secure retirement portfolio, but have left themselves vulnerable to long term care expenses. This alone will unravel one’s financial dignity.

It’s a sobering fact–more than half of those who need long term care will use up their savings within one year. And, while the type and length of long term care your clients may one day require is impossible to predict, it is more important than ever to have the long term care discussion with your clients today to ensure they are prepared no matter what their personal outcome may be. Doing so will ensure family members are spared the financial burden as well as the arduous task of making long term care decisions on behalf of your clients, should they be unfit to make the decisions themselves.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Our products were built for times and circumstances just like this. Imagine the change in fortune for families who accepted your advice and took advantage of the unique attributes life insurance, annuities and long term care provide. From spending down to the very last penny into poverty and despair to tax-free death benefits, guaranteed lifetime income and peace of mind from an annuity to pay for long term care expenses on your clients’ terms is the destination we can guide them to. Some call this selling insurance, I call it dignified estate planning.

There has never been a more appropriate time than now for financial advisors to not only talk to clients and prospects about how to effectively grow their assets, but also how to protect themselves from the liability of living too long, dying too soon, or becoming disabled or needing long-term care. Life insurance is one of those unparalleled financial tools that can guarantee if you consume all your assets while you are living to maintain your lifestyle, those dollars can be recreated when needed for a surviving spouse or to pass on a legacy to children or charities.

Estate planning is about the last chapter of a great book. So, what’s the message your client is leaving? Is it one of debts and broken dreams or a message of lasting love and peace of mind? John D. Rockefeller once said “leave something behind.” Mark Twain said “people who die without life insurance should have to come back and clean up the mess they left behind.” The choice is yours.


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