I’ve been working with Volunteer San Diego for two years.  Working full time in life insurance and as a husband and father, I don’t have much time to donate.  That’s why I like working with Volunteer San Diego.  Their service projects are numerous and flexible as well.  Their projects seem to fit into any schedule and accomodate whatever area of service you are passionate about.

The particular project that suits my schedule and passion for service is Casino Night in El Cajon at Country Hills Healthcare.  I can’t get enough of blackjack and poker, so if I can bring a smile to a senior’s face at the same time as playing with chips and money, I know I’ve found my calling.  Blackjack and bingo are our usual games of choice, but I tend to hang out at the blackjack table. 

Dealing is my specialty.  I’m always surprised by the high quality of play there.  Former “high rollers” in the room perhaps?  Most of the players play “by the book” as they say, betting by the odds when it comes to hitting or staying.  It’s common after an hour filled with doubling down, splitting, and getting paid on blackjacks, for them to take all the dealer’s money. 

Sometimes they’re a bit cut-throat, which is just hilarious.  They’re only playing for nickels!  You might think some of them were playing with $25 chips instead as competitive as they get.  Just watch out if you’re dealing there, because if you miscount their cards, they’ll catch on, and let you know about your mistake.  I’m a financial planner, so it’s pretty embarassing (and hilarious) when I add up their cards incorrectly.

I personally get a great deal of satisfaction every time I go.  The seniors love it,

Client: They’re gonna buy my life insurance policy for $1 Million dollars? Fantastic! And I don’t have to pay premiums anymore? Where do I sign? Oh, wait… This sale is going to generate a $350,000 tax bill? I just can’t justify that. No thanks.

Here’s an exit strategy that can save this case. The Charitable Bargain Installment Sale. It’s traditionally been a strategy used for highly appreciated assets such as stocks and real estate, but it’s become an important tool for life settlement cases in the past few years due to the incredible tax problem they create.

The plan involves two strategies: An installment sale and a bargain sale.

Installment Sale — Rather than selling the policy and taking a lump sum, the seller, or settlor, takes an income stream (typically over 10 years). In the case above, a 75 year old client would receive approximately $130,000 annually for 10 years ($1.3 million cumulative).

The Bargain Sale – The settlor, or seller, exchanges the lump sum value of his policy for an installment payment from a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit foundation. Just before the sale, the seller transfers ownership of the policy to a foundation/charity. The foundation then sells the policy, but keeps a small percentage (the charitable bargain amount) and guarantees payments to the original seller pursuant to the installment agreeement.

Tax Benefits — In the case above we had an estimated $350,000 tax problem. However, if income is taken over 10 years, the tax is effectively stretched out over the term of the installment payments. So $35,000 over 10 years rather than one tax bill of $350,000. But the strategy does more than defer the taxable gain.

The bargain sale launches a huge tax deduction, typically 3-4 times the amount gifted to the foundation, wiping out (or at least taking a big chunk out of) your the seller’s $35,000 tax bill every year. The deduction can be stretched out over as many as 6 years.

There are additional tax and asset protection benefits to this strategy as well. For more information or for help with a case you’re working on, give me a call, Chris Huntley, at (619)564-4873, or email me at ChrisH@huntleywealth.com. I am a licensed life agent and IAR in San Diego, and a certified Charitable Bargain Installment Sale Advisor.

So I went to work and called over a dozen underwriters with the details of my case.  Female 48, 2-3 mm, 3 years ago, and what I found were varying responses.  Some underwriters viewed my case similarly to a melanoma case, and wouldn’t offer better than standard.  Some said they’d go as high as preferred, and a couple quoted me preferred plus.  From the two carriers that quoted preferred plus, she did not quite fit into one’s weight maximum, so we went with the other. 

A few important factors the underwriters were interested in were:

Number of Nevuses:  Was it just one?  Some said they would allow one, and some said two and still give a preferred offer.  Does the proposed insured have any other moles?

Location of Nevus:  As with melanoma and other skin cancer, some body parts, such as your arms and legs and trunk are lower risk than getting cancer or a nevus on your hand, foot, head, or neck.

Time since Removal:  This may be obvious, but the longer it’s been since the nevus was excised without reoccurence, the more favorable the offer.

This case demonstrates the value of using an independent life insurance agent.  Had my client gone to her State Farm or Farmers agent, she most likely would have gotten standard or worse.  As with any medical condition, you’re best chance for preferred or better rates are to shop the case out amongst all the carriers to see who will treat your condition the most leniently.  For quotes on life insurance with an atypical nevus, call me at 619-564-4873 or use the quoting form on the right.

In fact, we’ve had success getting standard offers for some clients who are compliant with all their doctor’s treatment and check up routine.  Some insurance companies will even give preferred plus rates (the best offer there is) to people with mild, well-controlled bipolar disorder. 

And if you have bipolar disorder, that’s your best chance at seeing standard or better life insurance rates.  My successful offers in the past were people who take their medication as prescribed, not just when they feel a bout of depression coming on.  They lead a normal family and social life, haven’t had any suicide attempts, or been hospitalized for bipolar disorder. 

Another thing life insurance underwriters look at when considering a bipolar case is whether or not the proposed insured exhibits a stable work life.  If bipolar disorder prevents you from holding down a job or working normal hours at a job, underwriters will be less likely to see you as someone who leads a “normal” life.  I know this criteria doesn’t seem fair, especially since 10% of U.S. citizens don’t have a job now.  I’m just saying that’s what they’ll want to see.  If you’re currently unemployed, your past employment history will be reviewed.  It will also be tough to get life insurance if you’re on Social Security Disability Income for your bipolar disorder. 

Ideal bipolar candidate for standard or better life insurance rates:  No hospitalizations or suicide attempts, super compliant with medications (the fewer the better), not taking antipsychotic medications like Zyprexa or Seroquel, leads a stable life in areas related to your career, social settings, family life, and in the community, and doesn’t drink excessively or do drugs.

Bottom line is that good, and even great rates are out there for people with bipolar disorder, if you go to a life insurance agent who is willing to ask you a lot of questions, and if you’re willing to answer them all honestly.  Your agent should work with several life insurance companies to find you the best deal, since a lot of them are still in the dark ages when it comes to bipolar disorder.

1.  Send your mother a dozen roses.  Call her and tell her you love her.  You may never see her again.

2.  Make love on a train.  You’ll want to cross that off your list before you take your life in your hands.

3.  Skydive.  What have you got to lose?

4.  Write your will.  A trust would be even better since a will doesn’t avoid probate.

5.  Make peace with God.  (And don’t blow it by spewing profanities while ascending to eat.)

6.  Bring a yak bucket and keep it close by.  You don’t want your vomit spraying all over the city from 160 feet in the air.

7.  Purchase a big life insurance policy.  I recommend at least a $1 Million death benefit to help your wife with paying the mortgage, raising your children and putting them through college, and to replace your income.  You can get a quote in the box to the right.

Most term life insurance policies actually cover you to age 95.  When you buy a life insurance policy, let’s say at age 40, you could buy an annual renewable policy, which goes up every year since you’re older and for insurance purposes, are just a little riskier to insure.  So annual renewable life insurance policies are available, but they’re not very popular since the premiums go up every year.  Your premiums for a $1,000,000 male non-smoker might be $250 for the first year.  Then $265 in year 2, $275 in year 3, and so on, until 10 years later when you’ll pay about $450 for the coverage.  This is an example of annual renewable life insurance.

Since most people would rather plan their budget around fixed expenses, many insurance carriers offer level term life insurance policies.  In essence, they’ll still cover you until age 95, but for a fixed term, say 10 years, or 15, 20, or 30 years, your premium (payment) is fixed.  In the example above for 10 year term life insurance, they would add up the premium for each of the first 10 years and divide it by 10, and that would be your premium for the first 10 years.  So essentially, 10 year level term life insurance just charges you an average premium for your first 10 years you’ll be covered.  Then in years 11 and up, or in the case above, from ages 50 to 95, it reverts to annual renewable insurance coverage.

If you can understand that, then you’ll see the importance of locking in as long of a level term as you think you might possibly need coverage, because once the level term is up, your premiums will skyrocket, and eventually become unaffordable.

1.      Give your mother a dozen roses and tell her you love her.  Farewells to other friends and family would also be appropriate.

2.      Remember to take your blood pressure and/or cholesterol medication.  You won’t stand a chance without your Zocor!

3.      Bring a yak bucket and keep in your car for the ride home.  You never know.

4.      Get a complete physical done by your doctor along with labwork so your good health is well documented, which will give your family good grounds to sue when you stroke out.

5.      Make love on a train.  Smoke a cigar or cigarette after.  No sense in worrying about getting addicted.

6.      Write your will.  A trust would be even better because a will doesn’t avoid probate.

7.      Wear new pairs of socks and underwear.  You’ll impress the heck out of the nurses at the hospital.

8.      Skydive.  What have you got to lose?

9.      Make peace with God. (And don’t blow it by staring at the hot nurses at the Grill)

10.  Purchase a big life insurance policy.  I recommend at least a $1 Million death benefit to help your wife with paying the mortgage, raising your children and putting them through college, and to replace your income.  You can get a quote in the box to the right.

We love you Heart Attack Grill!  Just kidding about #4.  Not kidding about the rest.

Twelve months ago, this life insurance blog didn’t exist.  In the past 6 months, I’ve taken 24 life insurance applications from leads I’ve generated solely through this website, with just over $30,000 commission as a result of thoseapps.  Let me stop for a second here and say I realize that $30,000 is not a whole lot of money, but if you compare what this blog has generated with my other website (HuntleyWealth.com), the results are amazing. 

I spent thousands on that Huntley Wealth site, and have never generated one sale from it, and here I have this simple blog bringing in over 500 visitors per month and converting the traffic into leads.  It’s really quite laughable when you compare the two sites.  My Huntley Wealth site is beautiful, but it was set up all wrong so no one can find it on a google search. 

In fact, twelve months ago, I had no web presence at all.  Now, you can do a Google search for terms such as “insurance for cigar smokers” or “life insurance that pays you back”, and I’m on the 1st page!  A year ago, I was only licensed in the state of California.  Now I hold non-resident licenses in 15 states and am selling life insurance all over the U.S..  My insurance buddies and general agency have begun asking me how I built a website that successfully generates sales so quickly.  Well, let me start by telling you what hasn’t worked for me.  

I’ve been a life insurance agent for just over 5 years and have tried numerous methods to market my insurance business, none of which have succeeded until I learned how to sell life insurance on my website.  Here’s a quick run-down of some of the marketing techniques I’ve tried that have not been successful:  Mail campaigns (postcards and letters), networking groups, referral incentive programs (gave away a 42″ HDTV once), advertising on websites’ banner ads and in newspapers, and the most costly of all… purchasing life insurance leads.  None of these worked for me, at least not well.

HERE’S WHAT WORKED FOR ME.  Finally, an insurance buddy referred me to this website about Building an Online Insurance Agency.

Rick Liuag, the owner of this site, changed my outlook on sales completely.  I realized that most prospects these days are searching the web for information about life insurance before they buy it, and I needed a way to capture some of that market.  You can probably guess he introduced me to the idea of creating this blog.  I would recommend this website to anyone who is opening a new insurance business or already an insurance agent and wants to market your business effectively online.  Thank you, Rick!

When a famous actress like Brittany Murphy dies at a young age, google gets inundated with questions about whether or not the star took drugs and if they owned life insurance, and how much.  The drug searches seem logical.  It’s less commonly known, however, why another popular search is for details about the deceased actor’s life insurance policy.  People want to know whether or not he/she had one, how much the death benefit is, and if it’s going to pay out if they died of a drug overdose.  So let’s answer these questions.

If Brittany Murphy purchased her life insurance policy less than two years ago, the policy is said to be in its contestability period.  During this period, if the insured dies, the life insurance carrier has the right to go back to the original application and launch an investigation into whether or not the insured lied about anything on the application.  If they did, and if they find a material misrepresentation (such as answering no to a question about whether they’ve ever taken any types of non prescription drugs when in fact they have), then the insurance carrier can deny the claim.

This exact thing happened when RBC/Liberty Life Insurance Co. learned that Heath Ledger had died.  He had taken out a policy just 6 months before his death.  Technically, they should not have paid out the $10 Million death benefit because he lied on his application about his drug use, which would have altered their decision to issue a policy.  Unfortunately, his lawyers sued RBC and it was such bad PR for them that they reached a settlement with the family to quite them.  Not fair but it happens when famous people are involved.

If Brittany Murphy bought her policy more than two years ago, she’s in the clear.  Even if we do find out she died of a drug overdose, and even if she lied about drug use on her insurance application, they’ll still have to pay out.  In fact, you can even commit suicide after the two year contestability period and the carrier still has to pay out.

Next, why would Brittany Murphy need life insurance.  It is publicized that she earned several million dollars during her acting career.  She earned $1,000,000 for her role in “Uptown Girls” and $4,000,000 for her her role in “Little Black Book”.  It is not public knowledge, but it would make sense that her two biggest paydays were for “8 Mile” and “Just Married”, and she appeared in at least a dozen other films that hit the big screen.  So let’s just assume she made $15,000,000 during her career, and her net worth at the time of her death was $10,000,000.<

If you die with a net worth of $10 Million in 2009, you have to worry about estate taxes.  The IRS will only allow you to transfer $3.5 Million tax free to your beneficiaries.  After that, every dollar you pass down gets taxed at a rate of 45%.  In this case, 45% times $6.5 Million would equal a $2,925,000 tax bill her estate would owe.  Here's where life insurance comes into play.  Life insurance is often used to pay estate taxes.  So with a net worth of $10,000,000 you can see that a policy with about a $3 Million death benefit would be in order just to pay the tax bill.  Then, of course, you have her loss of income that life insurance can be used to replace.

Now, since Murphy had no children, she probably left most of her estate to her husband.  You can leave an unlimited amount of money to your spouse without incurring a tax bill, but then he will have to worry about estate planning down the line.  I've also read Murphy was extremely close to her mother, and wouldn't be surprised if she left half of her estate or more to her.  In this case, her estate would owe taxes on whatever portion given to her mother that exceeded $3.5 Million.

It’s hard to imagine getting excited about a life insurance product, but with 100% return of premium at any time during the life of the policy and long term care benefits to boot, the revolutionary, new Lincoln Money Guard Reserve is as exciting as it gets in the insurance world. 

3 Key Benefits of LincolnMoney Guard Reserve

1. Return of Premium:  The Money Guard solves a big issue raised by opponents to return of premium life insurance… lack of liquidity.  You see, with a traditional term life insurance policy, you could add a return of premium, and theoretically get back 100% of your premium, but not unless you kept your policy in force for the entire term.  So say you bought a 15 year term policy, and decided after 10 years you no longer needed the policy.  You might only get back 50% of the premiums you’ve put it up to that point. 

If you cancelled the policy after just two or three years, you might not get back anything at all.  As you near the end of the term, you get back a higher percentage.  Not so with LincolnMoney Guard Reserve.  You could deposit your premium today, and later if you decide you no longer need the coverage, get back 100% of your premiums, whether it’s 5 years from now or 5 months from now, no strings attached (less any long term benefits paid out or loans & withdrawals taken, of course).

2. Long Term Care:  For a typical client (65 year old female, non smoker), a $100,000 single premium could provide up to $500,000 of long term care reimbursement benefits if she gets sick and needs care, and the benefits are income tax free.  I’ve read that 60% of people 65 and older will need some form of long term care during their life.  The question is how will they pay for it? 

According to the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the average cost for a private room in a nursing home is $77,745 per year, and the average annual cost of living in an assisted living facility is $35,628.  Medicare does not cover extended nursing home care stays, so you can see where an extra $500,000 could provide substantial protection for baby boomers’ and seniors’ nest eggs.

Of course, the big difference between traditional long term care insurance and Lincoln Money Guard Reserve is that with the traditional variety, if you don’t use it, you lose it, right?  With Money Guard Reserve, if you don’t use it, you can either get your money back or if you die without using it, your deposit blossoms into a life insurance death benefit.

3.  Life Insurance:  Unlike traditional LTC policies, Money Guard Reserve clients don’t just get to use its benefits if they get sick.  If they never use the long term care benefits, their beneficiaries will receive and income tax free death benefit.  So take the 65 year old, typical, female client again.  For that same client, a $100,000 single premium provides $166,000 of life insurance.

I think the Money Guard Reserve would sell wonderfully if its only two components were long term care insurance with return of premium at any time.  But this product also adds life insurance!  Add the fact that there’s no medical exam, and the policy gets issued in just a couple weeks, and the Lincoln Money Guard Reserve is a slam dunk.

For an illustration of how the Money Guard Reserve could help you, call me, Chris Huntley, at (619)564-4873.