By historical standards, life insurance is currently as affordable as it’s ever been, yet Genworth recently found that many Americans remain underinsured. For the second year in a row, Genworth’s 2012 LifeJacket Study uncovered a significant gap between the amount of life insurance most Americans have and the amount they actually need. The study also revealed that adults actually have less life insurance coverage than they did in the previous year.
As financial professionals, we are charged with having a deeper understanding of our clients, asking new, more insightful questions and breaking down the barriers that keep families from being adequately covered. At Genworth, we aim to educate clients so they fully understand the need for sufficient coverage and how it fits into their overall financial plans.
Here are a few insights from the study:
Focus on small changes
The 2012 LifeJacket Study found that if consumers make even small changes, they can expand their life insurance budgets. Bringing a lunch to work once a week or cutting back on the purchase of coffee three times a month can save clients enough money to bridge their coverage gap and adequately meet their life insurance needs. If a financial professional shares these monetary comparisons, he or she can help connect the dots for a consumer.
Introduce helpful online tools
We continue finding that consumers are highly receptive to online tools that help them understand their specific needs. Pointing clients toward Genworth’s interactive online budget calculator helps demonstrate how clients can make small changes, as discussed above, that can easily add up to help them meet their needs.
In addition, life insurance calculators help financial professionals provide a more detailed assessment of a client’s individual requirements, making the life insurance purchasing process more personal. In bulletin board focus groups conducted as part of the LifeJacket Conversations Research in May 2011, 88% of respondents said using online consumer calculators would be helpful during the buying process.