Speaker Calls for More Use of Permanent Life in Buy-Sell Arrangements

Using term life insurance in a buy-sell arrangement today is the equivalent of hanging on to an old flip phone, a speaker told attendees Wednesday at a NAILBA 36 pre-show workshop.

Joe Ross, vice president of sales productivity and business development at AIG Financial Distributors, talked about the advantages of using permanent life insurance in buy-sell arrangements during a session with the title “Triple Trigger Buy-Sell: The Next Generation of Buy-Sell.”

The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies is bringing hundreds of insurance distributors to Hollywood, Florida, for its annual conference this week.

(Related: LIMRA Stands With You)

Ross led off his discussion by comparing iPhone vs. flip phones.

“Our family has four iPhones and we pay about $300 each month,” Ross said. “Over the course of 10 years, we’re paying $36,000—for our phones!”

When one of Ross’s daughter’s cracked the gorilla glass on her phone, the family trekked to Verizon to get it replaced. “While there, I saw they still sold the old flip phones,” Ross said. He said he was even more shocked when he saw they were going for $2.08 per month.

“The interesting thing is that people perceive value in the iPhone,” Ross said. “They perceive such a difference that they’re willing to pay more than 30 times the amount they pay for a flip phone.”

Ross then talked about buy-sell agreements, or agreements established to protect or continue a business should a co-owner die, go through a divorce or simply want to sell.