An estimated 102 million adult Americans are either entirely uninsured or underinsured, meaning they either have no life insurance or lack sufficient coverage. According to the LIMRA and Life Happens Insurance Barometer Study, about 42% of U.S. adults say they need life insurance or need to increase their existing policies.

The study also shows half of consumers would be interested in a policy that could create retirement income, would pay for long-term care services, cover critical illness costs or provide funds to cover emergencies. Half also noted they ideally would like a policy that could be customized multiple times, based on personal life events and changes.

Most people dream about the “perfect” life insurance policy covering the above services, which could help in living a retirement filled with vacations and potentially more frivolous spending based on their retirement strategy’s success. Who doesn’t want to live the “golden years” like the golden years by being able to choose most of their future plans and how they leave their legacy? That’s the goal of most people.

However, consumers sometimes need a reality check. If everyone was living this dream, then 102 million people would not have any worries – and they would have a life insurance policy that alleviates most, if not a lot, of these fears.

That’s why financial professionals exist as independent insurance agents and advisors in hopes of providing this future protection through a life insurance policy designed to take into consideration a lot of potential factors. Annuities help with guaranteed lifetime income (based on claims-paying ability of the carrier). Life insurance leaves a legacy, but the client also can leverage living benefits such as long-term care provisions or other benefit riders.

Once again, AIP Marketing Alliance will circle back to today when planning for tomorrow. Annuities require prospects who have a certain amount of income to earmark toward their selected product. If the income isn’t available, then annuities may not fit within their best interest and retirement strategy. Life insurance policies are based on multiple factors – specifically carrier underwriting reviews – and these reviews could lead to a decline depending on poor medical exam results, your customer’s negative lifestyle habits (smoking, exercise, etc.) or BOTH!

As a financial professional, have you found yourself in this position during an appointment? Or found out “the hard way” that underwriting has declined their life insurance request for something the client didn’t share with you upfront about their health or potential lifestyle habits?

What do you do at that point? How can you support your valued client by providing an option to leave a positive legacy with their loved ones with less worry about the funeral costs and other potential final expense debt? Maybe it’s time for you to revisit adding final expense insurance to your product portfolio.

Final expense insurance goes by many different industry names (burial or funeral insurance, FE, guaranteed issue, simplified issue) and products vary among most insurance carriers. Some of the commonalities among FE products involve the reasons why more consumers are open to these policies: up to $25,000 in coverage, fixed death benefit and guaranteed premiums, and the most popular reason, no medical exam is required in most cases.

The target market for final expense clients is the 45 to 85 years old bracket, which with today’s sandwich generation concept, could help financial professionals in many different ways. For example, parents who didn’t plan well for retirement may want to have their funeral and other final expenses covered but did not purchase a life insurance policy when their health and wealth were in a better situation(s). Clients with an incurable disease or not in the best of health usually want an option to not leave others “paying” for those bills. Some consumers may not want to take a medical exam due to knowing or not knowing what may turn up in the results. (AIPMA has mentioned iatrophobia in the past… the fear of doctors)

AIPMA also wants to share this common statistic that starts the final expense conversation. The average funeral costs upwards of $8,500 nationally. This cost covers the traditional burial with viewing and ceremony. Most families pay between $7,500 and $10,000. You can use this link to see the average funeral costs by state.

Need some help explaining the final expense option to your client? Mutual of Omaha has an informative article that compares life insurance and burial insurance that may help you position the FE option when your client or prospect doesn’t have a lot of choices to protect their legacy and loved ones.

AIP Marketing Alliance also has its Final Expense in a Box resource with social media posts for agents to help promote FE to consumers. You can request these materials from our marketing team at marketing@aipma.com. You also can check out AIPMA’s non-branded website, Final Expense Champions, to quote policies and/or submit eApps through our contracted insurance carriers.

Take a minute to consider the final expense option for your clients as most consumers probably have not made the best lifestyle or retirement planning choices. During the life insurance or annuities conversation, final expense provides a pivot to protect their legacy and loved ones. While it may not cover a lot of final expenses, an FE policy could provide some comfort and knowledge about the funeral expenses and potentially other final bills covered by the policy. Note: policy owners must make payments to retain the selected policy.

Are you interested in selling final expense? AIP Marketing Alliance, an Integrity Company, supports independent wholesalers, agencies, and agents nationwide by providing resources to sell final expense, annuities, life insurance, and long-term care insurance products. Agents also can leverage IntegrityCONNECT to sell final expense products to consumers through its online quoting tools and consumer-facing website.

Contact AIPMA’s Business Development team at (800) 783-5206 Press #2 or email marketing@aipma.com to have a conversation about our experience in the final expense market and the toolbox of resources to help agents sell FE more efficiently.

We are #TheRightMIXin26 for independent insurance wholesalers and agents. For more than 40 years, AIP Marketing Alliance (AIPMA), an Integrity Company, serves as a premier life insurance and annuity distribution partner to provide full-service support to independent wholesalers, brokerages and agents from our Troy, Michigan office. NOT AFFILIATED WITH OR ENDORSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OR THE MEDICARE PROGRAM.

AIP Marketing Alliance is committed to supporting our independent insurance wholesalers and agents. Visit our blog on aipma.com to stay informed on these upcoming launches and learn why wholesalers nationwide choose AIPMA as their distributor for selling life insurance, annuities, long-term care insurance, final expense, and much more. Ask about lead programs, access to IntegrityCONNECT’s technology, myAIP CRM platform with customizable recruiter portal, and online tools/resources designed to grow your business. The difference is personal.

AIP Marketing Alliance, an Integrity Company, has developed this electronic communication for informational and educational use only. Be advised, AIP Marketing Alliance, Inc., does not provide legal advice, tax advice, or guidance on issues involving securities laws, insurance laws nor securities or insurance regulations. This material should not be relied on as providing any such advice or guidance to either agents or retail consumers. Within this communication, AIPMA shares links for usage as information only. This content should not be interpreted as solicitation to purchase life insurance, annuities, or other products or as advice designed to meet your clients’ specific needs. Content involving fiduciary, tax, or legal advice should be directed to your legal, tax, and financial professionals for specific advice or product recommendations. AIPMA will not accept any legal liability resulting from any use of 3rd party material(s).