25 May 2017

Insurance for All Ages

Let’s face it.

The odds are slim that life insurance is the most exciting thing going on in the lives of your clients whether they are millennials, established professionals, or soon to be retirees. Yet at the same time, life insurance has never been more relevant to the financial needs of those demographics.

The Standard Scenario

Traditionally, life insurance is something people think about when they are making major commitments like marriage, parenthood and owning their own home. Those big decisions come with a new perspective on the need to protect your loved ones and your assets if something unexpected happens to you.

The Millennial Mystique

If you have the feeling that the whole world is obsessed with understanding millennials, you’re not wrong. The world is obsessed, but with reason. In April 2016, The Pew Research Center reported that millennials had overtaken Baby Boomers as the country’s largest living generation. What’s more, estimates indicate that millennials control $200 billion in annual spending power.

So where does life insurance fit in?

Last year’s LIMRA and Life Happens Insurance Barometer Study suggests that it fits in quite well. According to the report, 51 percent of millennials own life insurance. Among their key concerns are student loan debt and saving for retirement. The latter is especially important. Millennials may be young but they are thinking ahead.

It’s also important to note that as Rick Stevens writes in this ThinkAdvisor article, millennials care more about quality of life than about owning assets. Show them how insurance opens the door to a new world of possibilities and you’re likely build a successful, long term relationship.

Retirement…And Then What?

While the mad dash to capture the millennial market continues, let’s not forget the other side of the equation. People are living longer and healthier lives than ever before and 90 is the new 60. In some cases that means people delay retirement until 70 or 75, versus the traditional 60, but even then they might find themselves living for another decade or two.
Financial advisors have a key role in making sure that their clients are thinking about what those extra years are going to look like from standard of living to increased medical costs.

The Timeless Appeal

Whether your client is young enough to think that becoming an adult may be the worst idea they ever had or old enough to look forward to re-capturing their youth after retirement, life insurance has proven to be timeless in its ability to add financial stability to people’s lives, no matter their age.