Will you be part of this growing market?
Most projections say the number of Americans 65 or older will rise by over 10,000 per day, on average, until 2030 — when the senior population will have doubled to 71 million. These people will need expert financial advisors to help them manage their finances, fund their retirement, and pay for healthcare.
The growing secondary market
With the growth of this demographic, the secondary market for life insurance policies will also grow and become more relevant. For many seniors, it will be a viable way of financing their retirement or funding their healthcare needs.
Retirement income, ensuring a certain lifestyle, and paying for long-term care are all needs and challenges that cause seniors to seek out alternative funding. Seniors and financial advisors alike are learning more about the secondary market for life insurance policies, how that market is regulated and what protections it grants, and ultimately — embracing life settlements as a source of alternative funding.
Your responsibility
As a financial advisor it is vital that you do not find yourself — whether through lack of due diligence or conscious choice — failing to inform your clients of their life settlement options. This could undermine their confidence in your ability to provide them with comprehensive advice in the future, and further could affect your reputation not just with your clients, but in the business community.
These are the steps to take to ensure that you're acting in your client's best interests in regards to a possible life settlement:
- Evaluate your client's overall financial situation to determine if a life settlement could be a beneficial option. Review their particular policy details to identify the type and costs of the policy.
- Determine the probability of your client receiving an offer for their life insurance policy that would be better than the cash surrender value offered by the insurance company.
- If you decide that a life settlement would be beneficial, carefully research nationally licensed brokerage firms such as Settlement Group and choose one that has a good reputation and established relationships with institutional funding sources.
- Help your client get the best offer they can for their policy. Work with Settlement Group to insure a seamless transfer of ownership and funding process.