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4 juicy disability insurance awareness market segments

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The Council for Disability Awareness (CDA) wants to show insurance agents that conversations about paycheck protection can be warm, positive conversations.

Insurers formed the CDA in 2005 to tell consumers, employers and agents who are new to income protection why disability insurance matters. This year, in spite of the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on some issuers, and the effects of low interest rates on all, 18 companies have stepped up to help the CDA participate in the 2016 Disability Insurance Awareness Month (DIAM) campaign.

See also: Disability Insurance Awareness Month starts today

Carol Harnett, the president of the CDA, said she learned something important when CDA board members went around and shared their own experiences with disability insurance.

“Even people in the industry may struggle to talk about this,” she said. “Nobody wants to admit to frailty. But disability insurance doesn’t have to be about traumatic injury. It can be about happy times.”

Disability insurance can be about something positive, like paying for time off to have a baby, Harnett said. She said it can also be about having the resources to better manage difficult times.

The CDA has posted a package of DIAM 2016 materials on its website. The group is hoping agents, including life and health agents who have not been selling much disability insurance themselves, will share its prewritten social media posts and post blog entries, and simply remember to tell any consumers they meet that insuring the ability to earn a paycheck is a fine idea.

The CDA has tied the DIAM materials to four major, underserved market segments. To find out more about where the CDA sees disability prospects ripe for the picking, read on.

Strawberries

1. Millennials

They’re young, they’re usually healthy, and they usually have no cash.

In the DIAM downloadable guide for young people, the CDA focuses on the basics: Telling young prospects how to get out of debt. The CDA also gives young consumers advice about how to save money, and how to use insurance to protect themselves against the unexpected. 

See also: 5 ways to ensure your next IDI sale breezes through underwriting

 

Image: USDA/Ken Hammond

Mixed vegetables

2. Families

In the DIAM guide for families, the CDA talks about what new parents need to know about money.

The guide includes detailed instructions about the topics new parents need to address such as wills, life insurance and disability insurance. The guide also includes links to online calculators readers can use to get personalized ideas about how to proceed.

See also: 7 time-tested disability insurance sales tips

  

Image: USDA/Scott Bauer 

Apples

3. Empty nesters

Workers with grown children may have a harder time qualifying for medically underwritten individual disability insurance than younger workers, but some can still qualify. Some may have choices about whether to supplement employer-sponsored group disability coverage with supplemental coverage they can pay for themselves.

See also: Short-term disability claims: The cartoon

Image: USDA/Scott Bauer 

Grapes

4. Pre-retirees

Many pre-retirees are rapidly aging out of the ability to get conventional individual disability insurance or employer-sponsored coverage. Some may still have access to group, voluntary and worksite disability products through their employers.

The sooner they start thinking about planning for long-term care (LTC) costs, the better.

Some may need advice about claiming private disability benefits or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Those who are acting as caregivers for spouses or aging parents may need help with understanding leave benefits.

See also: 

5 videos to boost your inner Disability Awareness warrior

Your client doesn’t “need” SSDI? Really?

  

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Image: USDA/Bob Nichols


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