Before he became director of marketing and assistant vice president at Oxford Life Insurance Co. in Phoenix, Michael Frahm worked as a certified financial planner. It was during that time he saw firsthand how important final expense (FE) insurance can be to seniors, especially those of limited means.

One day, he visited an elderly couple. The husband had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and the wife stood to lose not only his pension, but one of two Social Security checks. Since they didn’t have a final expense policy, the couple’s savings would have to pay for his funeral and medical costs. “I couldn’t do anything for them because it was too late for him,” he recalls. “That’s why I take it to heart. It did leave her destitute, where she was not previously.”

Frahm and others who sell final expense insurance agree the product is experiencing heightened sales these day, because, unfortunately, stories like the aforementioned one are becoming more common as seniors and boomers see their savings dwindle, leaving them with little or no resources to pay for a funeral that can cost an average of $6,560 (according to a 2010 survey from the National Funeral Directors Association).

“Folks don’t have the money in savings,” Frahm states. “Typically this market is going to be for clients that are actually living Social Security check to Social Security check. So we are seeing a definite increase.”

Statistics from LIMRA also underscore a rise in premiums in the final expense market.

Alejandro Chetto, a final expense insurance agent with Golden Memorial Plan/Lincoln Heritage in Fairfield, Calif., says this product is typically purchased by lower to middle-income seniors, with annual resources of between $10,000 and $50,000. He’s also seeing a trend whereby the children of baby boomers are buying final expense insurance if their parents cannot afford it.

Yet affluent seniors can benefit from this type of insurance as well. It not only preserves assets that could be left to heirs, it also prevents squabbling among the children over who’s going to pay for the funeral. “That’s why they establish a separate final expense policy­—just so the kids don’t become enemies,” Frahm says.

Ease of underwriting

There are many reasons why a senior would purchase a final expense policy rather than traditional life insurance (or buy both). For one, it’s cheaper due to smaller face amounts. And unlike life insurance, the FE policy is less complex and easy for a client to understand.

But perhaps the top factor that makes an FE policy attractive to a potential buyer is a less rigorous underwriting process, specifically when it comes to a senior’s medical history, which, in some cases, might make a life policy cost prohibitive.

“[Clients] can have some minor health problems and still be able to qualify for a plan without going through major underwriting,” confirms Ron Dudas, an advisor with Senior Advocate Services in Gilbert, Ariz. He sells final expense insurance for several carriers.

That doesn’t mean, however, the policy is handed out to just anyone. Typically, the cutoff age is 85, and someone recently diagnosed with a terminal medical condition would not qualify.

A simplified underwriting process further means that most policies can be approved quicker, sometimes at the point of sale, after the agent does the risk assessment. “The producer sees the [client], tells them they are approved and gives them a conditional receipt right then and there,” Frahm says. “The policy is issued in a day or two.”

Besides the ease of underwriting, the lower cost of a final expense policy is also a plus to many seniors. According to Dudas, face amounts can range of $5,000 on the low end up to $30,000. Therefore, monthly premium costs run from an affordable $35 to $200 a month.

Those premiums are based on a variety of factors, such as age, gender and smoker status. Whether the policy is graded—meaning the benefit is paid out at a percentage of the face amount predicated on when the policyholder dies—also impacts the premium, Frahm notes. To estimate how much a policyholder would need to pay for a funeral, he calculates life expectancy plus inflation.

What’s more, those rates are locked in, Dudas points out. “Final expenses policies are generally whole life [contracts] so the rates never increase,” he says. “And the death benefits never go down.”

Another advantage over traditional life insurance is the ability to get the payment quicker after the policyholder dies. “Final expense is an immediate need that can be paid within 24 hours when the required documents are received,” Chetto says. A payout from a life insurance policy can take much longer, he adds.Read Full article here......

Courtesy of Senior Market Advisor

Here’s a typical kind of thank-you letter our office receives on a regular basis:

“Dear local final expense agent, we at Smith and Sons Funeral Home would like to thank you for providing a final expense policy to the Robinson family. Recently we conducted the services for their mother, and the family was most grateful to us. The real gratitude, however, goes to you. Thank you for making the funds available through a burial policy so that we could make her service truly memorable.”

Such notes of appreciation from funeral directors are common to those of us who sell final expense plans; the directors truly appreciate how we serve families with pre-planning and pre-funding plans. There are three major reasons why this is so, but first, let me give you a quick primer on final expense policies.

Because of the growth potential, many quality A-rated carriers nationwide have entered this exciting market. With the “graying of America” market (those 70–plus years old) and the tsunami wave coming of the baby boomers (those born 1946 to 1964), they see a huge potential for these small, low-risk “burial policies.” The policies range from $5,000 to $25,000 face amount on average, and involve easy underwriting with just a few major health questions and telephone verification; there are no applications, no home office specimen, no blood work, and no exams. The majority of policies are either approved or declined within seven days, and there are never any rated cases. Most plans are traditional whole life policies with guaranteed premiums and a guaranteed face amount with non-forfeiture options. For the 200 to 300 final expense policies I sell each year, I try to keep the premiums around $45 a month; this seems to fit into the budget of middle- and lower-class seniors much better and keeps my persistency high.

Most importantly, though, we need to recognize that these small policies are often the only life insurance that seniors have at time of death, and these funds enable the funeral industry to create lasting memories for the family to honor the life of a loved one.

Funeral directors appreciate final expense agents because:

1. They Will Get Paid

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 2,415,000 confirmed deaths took place in 2007.1 Except for a very small fraction of deaths that are handled by county coroner departments, surviving spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, and domestic partners have to walk into a mortuary to make final arrangements. The funeral industry acknowledges that fewer than 30% of individuals who have passed away did any funeral pre-planning and/or pre-funding.2

Therefore, if a final expense or pre-need plan is in force, the family has less stress from the financial side and can spend more quality time in the grieving process, which is important for acceptance of a death. Also, the funeral home knows with the “Assignment Form,” signed by the beneficiary named on the policy, some or all of the funds from the burial plan will be directly forwarded to them from the insurance carrier.

Funeral directors appreciate this added protection that they will be paid, because from time to time, families try to avoid paying and expect a free funeral, often due to the smallest errors or indiscretions. Some I’ve experienced as a funeral director:

• The local paper made a mistake in the obituary when they named a surviving second cousin “Bobby Jen,” instead of “Bobby Jean.”

• The funeral director who made the arrangements was not at the viewing on a Sunday morning — another director was on duty. (If only the family knew that their favorite director was doing a removal from a residence in which another family asked for him, and most states require the deceased to be removed within hours of death.)

• The funeral director was not at his or her “military post” at the entrance of the funeral home to make sure any estranged family members were not allowed into the service. Funeral directing is a noble profession; we are entrusted to care and shelter the dead, comfort the living, and make a memorable service, but not to be “MPs”!

After confirming that the final expense policy is in force, past the contestable period (two years in most states), and not heavily borrowed against, most funeral homes will accept the insurance toward the cost of merchandise and services. A trend today is to charge a processing fee if accepting the insurance — usually a flat fee (i.e., $250) — while the funeral home waits up to three months to receive payment from the carriers.

2. Families Have More Choices

For example, if a final expense policy provides $10,000, and the national average price of a funeral today is $6,000, the family has options to buy additional merchandise and services.3 Today’s families are being very creative in memorializing their loved ones. Popular add-ons include dove release, video tributes, catering of food at the funeral home, bagpipers, harpists, and horse-drawn hearses to the cemetery. Some families have realized that if they will spend $25,000 or more on a wedding ceremony, and it can happen several times in a person’s lifetime, shouldn’t they outlay something extra to celebrate a life well lived? And this happens only once!

3. Final Expense vs. Pre-Need Insurance

If the family has pre-funded the funeral with insurance, most funeral directors prefer final expense over pre-need insurance. Pre-need life insurance is a creation of the funeral industry; it guarantees the consumer a pre-determined, fixed cost of the funeral, including the services rendered and goods selected (i.e., the casket). Built into the plan will be an “inflation factor,” so the theory is that as the funeral costs grow, the rider will offset future increases that the funeral home must pay for merchandise and services (transporting the dead, preparing, use of chapel, hearse, etc.). In addition, the pre-need buyer is assured he or she can go to that selected funeral home or within a network of funeral homes.

Many funeral homes provide pre-need insurance only if the consumer asks for it. They would rather deal in cash at the time of need, or pre-purchased final expense plans, because pre-need insurance presents several challenges to the funeral home owner:

Inflation Factor — Will the percentage in the pre-need contract keep current with the rising cost to the funeral home for merchandise? Most current plans don’t; it’s difficult for a pre-need carrier to set the factor accurately with the challenges in our current economy. Therefore, the funeral home may be losing money when the pre-need becomes an at-need case. With final expense policies, the benefit is a specific amount, say $7,000, and most reputable funeral directors will strive to make everything fit within those limits.

Selection of Merchandise — Most people who purchased a pre-need plan also selected a casket (unless choosing cremation, an option that 35% nationwide now select, according to www.cremationassociation.org). There are fewer casket companies today than there were 100 years ago, however, so there’s a good chance that the casket of choice will no longer be available. Then, some family members may become angry and conclude that the funeral home is trying to take advantage of them. With final expense plans, families select the casket at the time of death, often choosing a color that their loved one truly would have enjoyed. Some families may feel “cheated” if everything was pre-arranged — that they were out of the loop. They want to help make decisions and be involved, which helps with achieving closure.

Ownership Changes at the Funeral Home — There are about 22,000 funeral homes in America today, but as in any industry, they are subject to ownership changes, and businesses open, move, close, etc. Many new proprietors decide not to honor those pre-need contracts of the previous owner(s), and in most states this is legal. When a funeral home has picked up a deceased, and the grieving family comes in to finalize the details, they reveal that their loved one had a pre-need plan with that funeral home. Often they will be very upset when they are informed that because of new ownership, the contract is no longer accepted and the funeral home will obtain what cash value may exist from the policy, while the family will be responsible for current charges from the GPL (General Price List, a federally required list of the current prices for a funeral). At that time, the family may threaten to go to another funeral home, but the funeral industry knows that most won’t. There is even a maxim in the industry: “He who gets the body first, gets the business.”

These are just a few reasons why AARP does not recommend purchasing a pre-need insurance contract.

Instead, with a final expense plan, all involved are winners. The policyholder, who wants to ease the burden on loved ones, has peace of mind after making this purchase. The producer, by being compassionate and giving the right guidance, has provided the best life insurance one can have. The funeral director can provide more options for the family and create a truly unforgettable service that properly celebrates the life of the deceased. And the surviving family knows that their loved one was thinking of them, even after death!

Isn’t it time that you start getting thank-you notes from funeral directors?

Alan Benedict considers himself “just an old-fashioned agent and funeral director.” He has sold life insurance for more than 20 years, and began specializing in final expense plans exclusively 13 years ago. Mr. Benedict also holds a California funeral director license and has managed a funeral home in years past.

Footnotes:1. National Vital Statistics Report: Volume 56, Number 21, July 15, 2008.2. National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association.3. Ibid.

Funeral Homes to Comply with Consumer Protection Law Investigators working undercover in nine states and the District of Columbia found significant violations of Federal Trade Commission consumer protection rules at 52 of 175 funeral homes they visited during 2009.Click here for Funeral Rule and Funeral Guide

The FTC conducts undercover inspections every year to make sure that funeral homes are complying with the agency’s Funeral Rule. The Rule, enacted in 1984, gives consumers important rights when making funeral arrangements. Key provisions of the Rule require funeral homes to provide consumers with an itemized price list at the start of an in-person discussion of funeral arrangements, as well as a casket price list before consumers view any caskets. The Rule also prohibits funeral homes from requiring consumers to buy any item, such as a casket, as a condition of obtaining any other funeral good or service. By requiring itemized prices, the Rule enables consumers to compare prices and buy only the goods and services they want.

Funeral homes found to have significant violations can enter a training program designed to increase compliance with the Funeral Rule. The three-year program is known as the Funeral Rule Offenders Program, and is an alternative to a possible FTC lawsuit that could lead to a court order and civil penalties of up to $16,000 per violation. It is run by the National Funeral Directors Association and provides participants with a legal review of the price disclosures required by the Funeral Rule, and on-going training, testing and monitoring for compliance with the Rule. In addition, funeral homes that participate in the program make a voluntary payment to the U.S. Treasury in place of a civil penalty, and pay annual administrative fees to the Association.

FTC inspections during 2009 revealed a mixed compliance record:

In Chicago, Illinois, one of 12 funeral homes inspected had significant violations;In Metro Washington, D.C., including parts of Maryland and Virginia, 19 of 59 funeral homes inspected had significant violations;In Cincinnati, Ohio, three significant violations were found among 19 funeral homes inspected;In Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, six of 25 funeral homes inspected had significant violations;In Missoula, Helena, Bozeman and Townsend, Montana, three of 12 funeral homes inspected had significant violations;In El Paso, Texas, six of 12 funeral homes inspected had significant violations;In New Orleans and New Iberia, Louisiana, five of 22 funeral homes inspected had significant violations; and In  Riverside County California, seven of 14 funeral homes inspected had significant violations.In addition, the FTC identified several funeral homes with only minor compliance problems. In this type of situation, the FTC contacts the funeral home and requires it to provide evidence that it has corrected the problems.

Since the Funeral Rule Offenders Program began in 1996, the FTC has inspected more than 2,300 funeral homes and found that 362 were substantially out of compliance with the Rule. 

Life Insurance courses are abundant on line and there are  many different types with different companies.

The Course you need to complete to obtain this license is 20 Hour CA Life license Only Course Plus the 12 Hour  Ethics& Code Course ,Total 32 hours of Instruction

   This license will allow you to sell Life insurance only (not health). This course will prepare you to pass your CA Life-Only Exam on your first attempt. All of our course content was revised in 2011 to be current with the California Educational Objectives.

20 Hour CA Life license Only Course  includes:

•  Exam Specific study manual in electronic format which can be viewed online or printed

• Over 500 online interactive practice/final exam questions with detailed text explanations

• Over 5 hours of online Flash Class video lecture viewable in three different formats (streaming and two downloadable formats)

• Over 5 hours of MP3 Audio lecture available in two different formats (streaming and downloadable)24/7 Instructor Link support via e-mailFREE exam specific hard copy workbook
  

• with over 600 questionsA Study Plan which can be followed to complete the course studies in only 2 daysKey Facts sheet to take with you the day of your exam to load your memory of the most exam specific factsImmediate certification of completion electronically once the course is completedImmediate access to your certificate online once the course is completed

• Detailed instructions on how to fill out your licensing application and schedule your exam

California 12 Hour ethics and Code Course includes:

This course is required for anyone obtaining their first CA insurance license. This course is required by CA state law. Prior to taking your first licensing exam, whether it is Life Insurance or Fire & Casualty Insurance you must complete this course. All of our course content was revised in 2011 to be current with the California Educational Objectives. This course includes:

Exam Specific study manual in electronic format which can be viewed online or printed
200 online interactive practice/final exam questions with detailed text explanations Instructor Speak audio exam question explanations2 hours of online FlashClass video lecture viewable in three different formats (streaming and two downloadable formats)2 hours of MP3 Audio lecture available in two different formats (streaming and downloadable)A Study Plan which can be followed to complete the course studies in only 1 day24/7 Instructor Link support via e-mailImmediate certification of completion electronically once the course is completedImmediate access to your certificate online once the course is completedDetailed instructions on how to fill out your licensing application and schedule your examIn order to be certified to take your examination you must complete each of the course assignments. If you have already completed the ethics course you do not need to complete it a second time.

Final Expense Insurance is agreat opportunity to "just sell" by Alan Benedict

Recently, on a Saturday afternoon, I was attending the graveside service of Mrs. Wilson. She had purchased a final expense plan from me only three years before. After the beautiful and peaceful service, her four adult children approached me and invited me to join the family afterwards for refreshments at a nearby home. They also expressed their deepest thanks for the burial policy I had helped their mother obtain. The funds were a blessing during their darkest hour.

Because of the proceeds, they could give their mother a simple and dignified funeral service and buy a gravesite and marker. This kind of thing is now a monthly experience for me. I’ve been exclusively in the final expense niche for more than a decade. It is a direction many of you seasoned producers may want to look into further — either to add final expense plans to your current practice or simplify your life and just devote all your activities to this target market. This unique product line not only provides tremendous peace of mind to your clients and their loved ones, but you the agent receive many rewards, especially if you have the desire to “just sell.” There are many benefits to providing final expense insurance.

Simple Underwriting/Jet Issue

As life underwriters, which we were once called, we submit risk applications to insurance carriers. We realize carriers have become increasingly cautious with underwriting, and while this is understandable, it’s aggravating to those agents who don’t want to build a large estate planning practice with overhead, and may lack the patience or interest to take years to build relationships with corporate owners before they place even one policy. Many agents do not want to build a group medical insurance practice and staff it with employees — they just want to sell across the kitchen table. And some agents want their applications approved ASAP. Most agents get paid for what we do best — that is, hunt for business. Most get only one opportunity to sit down with the prospect, show a problem that is before them, and solve the problem with them. Because of careful product development in final expense insurance, high-quality carriers have created simple underwriting for agents, usually with only five to eight major health questions, a telephone interview, a quick MIB hit, then approval. No APS, no HOS, and no para-meds are required. Why do the many high-quality final expense carriers jet issue these policies, you may ask? One, the carriers in final expense minimize their risk per case to about $15,000 to $25,000 max, and the rate-per-thousand is perhaps at a table 2 or 4. If you concentrate your career track on this target market, you will find most “blue collar” seniors obtain only about $10,000, because many are on a fixed income and simply want to be able to help their children with the funeral and cemetery costs. The benefit to us veteran agents who love to “just sell,” is that the policy is usually approved and mailed within seven to 10 days of applying.

“No” Servicing

In this specialized niche, producers have little servicing compared to most other lines of financial and insurance products they might be licensed to market. Only three quick service calls are common from final expense policyholders — changing banks, changing beneficiaries, or the death claim itself. I believe all three of these, due to liability, should be handled by customer service at the carriers. I take pride in returning my clients’ phone calls within 24 hours, but I simply refer them to the carriers’ toll-free numbers. The information needs to come from the insured because of proper and direct communication (if you’re an experienced agent, you know the many problems that can arise when we get caught in the middle with the insureds and home office). Even better news — you will have very few service calls. Even after a decade in this specialized market, I average only four service calls a month. I do, however, ask the carriers and families to contact me when there is a death claim, because I make every attempt to attend the services. I do so because I enjoyed working with that lovely senior — mothers, fathers, and grandparents who love their children and grandchildren. I want one last memory of the family not having the burden of the high cost of dying. It also makes me feel good about myself when I see a dignified service that my efforts helped make possible.

Adding Final Expense Insurance  to Your Practice

It’s easy to add final expense products to fit with your existing book of business — just do a little homework and then you can ask your clients whether they are aware of the current high cost of dying. The Web site of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has links on the latest fees for funerals, but not cemetery costs. Remember to add those fees if the prospect does not have property. The NFDA reports that the national average is $6,000, but I find this somewhat low. People purchase more funeral services and merchandise in the southern states and along the eastern seaboard. In the midwest, they spend a little more than the national average. Final expense costs less in the western states, because a high percentage of people favor cremation. Visit two or three funeral homes in your area. Upon your request, they are required to give you their current price list (FTC Law, Funeral Rule of l984 & 1994). Then, stop at one or two cemeteries and ask them for their current prices of plots, crypts, and niches. If you’ve ever had to make at-need arrangements in the past, you most likely were surprised by all that was involved. One statement I hear almost daily from families is, “We had no idea it would cost that much.” Upon showing your client this information, you can share how a simple, easy-to-get-approved life insurance plan can be used to help cover all or most of these expenses. You should encourage clients to keep the other plans they may have with you, including life insurance for estate planning, income replacement, and gifting. This little “burial policy,” however, can be used for burial expenses and even can be given assignment directly to the funeral home, so children might not have to open their checkbooks during their grieving period.

Selling Final Expense Insurance  Only

Many who love to “just sell” have discovered that by doing only this, they can focus again, with one concept, one target market, and one “rate book.” They are not distracted by the constant barrage of new announcements of the latest and hottest products, not overwhelmed with paperwork, not required to get the latest CE credits or attend due diligence mandatory training. There need be no staffing headaches, no payrolls, no office (small office in home for tax deduction), no networking meetings, no breakfast nor lunches with prospects, no expensive seminars to stage, and no “shmoozing” with CPAs/attorneys for referrals. The agent who wants to “just sell” can simply go out daily, in the daytime, meet-n-greet “blue collar” seniors, and make a comfortable living. The only expense is the cost for direct mail response cards, which have proven to be the best overall lead generator in the target market, and an economical car to drive during the work day. Many full-time final expense producers have incomes in the low six figures. If an agent has a 100% or higher FYC contract, common with final expense carriers, and submits $10,000 or $12,000 annual premium per month, plus an average of 6% to 8% renewals, the agent can make a very good living, be completely independent (which is what attracted most of us to this industry), and best of all, just sell! I once heard a saying that struck home with me: “One who hunts for two rabbits catches neither.” I can’t or won’t handle all the insurance and financial business of my clients — I don’t have the patience or brains. I would rather specialize and be branded as the expert with one concept. The final expense niche may be just the ticket you need to get the excitement back in your career. If you are a seasoned producer and just worn out with today’s issues of compliance regulation, underwriting delays, and service expectations, and perhaps only steps away from leaving this industry, consider final expense, where you can go and “just sell” once again. The “Mrs. Wilsons” of the world need your guidance, and their families will be so appreciative.

Alan Benedict, CSA, LUTCF, is a recognized expert in the field of final expense planning. Mr. Benedict is a Qualifying member of the MDRT, and a MDRT 150 Lives Club member. He contributes regularly to financial publications on final expense planning, marketing, and selling. He was a presenter at Life Insurance Selling’s Selling to Seniors conference in November 2006.

I was speaking with my Regional Manager Marcelo Vaca  the other day and I asked him what is the best way to approach Final Expense Leads, and He said: " I have been selling Final Expense insurance for Lincoln Heritage for 18 years and the best way to do it is to go see the people. I have trained hundreds of agents who have tried to get into this simple and rewarding market either full-time or to at least add this "Funeral Insurance" product to their existing offerings, and most of them fail because this business is so simple is too hard to. .... .simply work"

 We have put together these insider  secrets which will help you sell more final expense insurance with our Final Expense Leads.

 1. See the people

This specialty market is simple and seniors have requested your information; however, you must pass through the hardest door of the day — your own  door, and be out of your house  before 8:30 a.m. If your prospect cards are within an hour’s drive, whether you are at home or selling final expense plans while traveling around the country, DO NOT CALL! Just use the selling system of “Drive-By Selling.” Use the old-fashioned technique, “I was just in the neighborhood helping others like yourself enroll in alow cost funeral  Plan. Then show them the  lead card with their info and Follow up by saying, “I have the information you requested with prices and options. May I come in?”

Top-producing final expense agents will tell you that if you have 20 to 25 new lead cards each week, and make only 10 attempted drive-by stops a day, five days a week, you will get into 12+ homes, sell 50% of them and produce four to eight submitted applications weekly whcih equlas to $3,000 to $5,000 of premium!. And most importantly, you will have helped those families in their darkest hour.

This unique selling system is easy, but does require a work habit of 10 stops a day. Even if they are not home, that’s OK. A fun mental game is to think each attempted stop is worth $50. At times, you may have two days of finding no one at home, making 20 stops and getting discouraged. But the next day, you may get into three homes, sell three couples, producing six apps!

In sports, coaches are noted for saying, “play the percentages.” Did you know the average UPS driver is required to make 100-150 stops every day? What’s 10 stops? Buck up, player!

2. One simple selling process

Many have come and gone in the final expense market because they find it not as challenging as say, estate planning, qualified tax plans and Medicare Advantage programs. True, all the advanced training in the insurance industry with excellent learning programs and designations such as CLU, ChFC, CFP, etc., will not really help in the final expense market; in fact, they probably will hinder.

In serving this middle- to lower-income level market, you can avoid creating confusion for non insurance-savvy seniors by providing one disturbing problem: The high cost of dying. [Tip: pick up General Price Lists (GPLs) every six months from area funeral homes and cemeteries and carry them in your presentation book]. Then provide the financial solution of an affordable “Funeral Insurance” plan, ask if you can be their “Funeral Planning Man,” write it up, and gracefully leave to serve another family.

This is a target market where you “sell to the masses, not to the classes.” High-producing final expense agents regularly “leave money on the table,” referring to colleagues who work with those families who have needs with Medicare planning, long-term care, annuities, etc. But that’s OK, because you will soon come to be respected as the “final expense expert” in your local area.

3. 100% lifetime guaranteed product

While seniors in middle or lower income classes remain wary of insurance products, many are attracted to plans with guarantees, fixed premiums, fixed death benefits and non-forfeiture features. “Burial Insurance” provides these consumers with the peace of mind they so desire, and perhaps the memory of the same product their own parents may have purchased years ago. It is advisable for the final expense agent to be appointed with three or more final expense carriers. The agent needs to know the underwriting rules for the carriers so they can get the policy issued immediately.

Many agents new to final expense are surprised to find that seniors in this niche market are not as concerned about the total death benefit as they are about keeping premiums within their budget. I recommend a maximum of $40 to $50 monthly per person, and having the protection approved. Many in this demographic share the attitude that “some burial insurance is better than none.”

Agents who give up selling final expense typically do so because, for them, this product doesn’t have the sizzle of, say, universal life, variable universal life and term insurance with a return-of-premium rider. But those in final expense selling believe in  the old wise insurance saying:

         “What’s the best life insurance to have when you die? The one that is in force.”

4. Commit to a direct mail lead reponse  card program

As a big-league ballplayer commits to practice on an ongoing basis, the consistent final expense producer commits to an ongoing Direct mail Lead system. Have you noticed how often organizations such as AARP, cruise lines, casinos, credit card and pharmaceutical companies send direct mail?

These companies acknowledge that while the return is well below 2%, they get results and continue their mailings. Don’t try to do these mailings yourself — you get paid by sitting at the kitchen table.

Let Lincoln Heritage take care of the lead Campaigns and focus on selling. Direct mail  campaigns are targeted to seniors ages 55-75 with incomes of $15,000 to $50,000 maximum. Remember these individuals have equested  your help, and the beauty of direct mail cards is the shelf life. They are like wine, the older the wine the sweeter it gets.Unless the senior has bought, moved or died, you can continue through the years to follow up!

There are only two business expenses you should have as the final expert in your area: A small, economical used car (with that you only need liability insurance); and your direct mail  Leads

Direct mail is not a cost, but an investment. For every 20 cards you receive back, you should write $2,000 to $5,000 in premium.

5. Do only one thing, full time

Alan Benedict * , a final expense expert, writer and trainer concludes "Have you noticed that when you attend industry meetings, training workshops or trade show conventions, the keynote speakers will have earned their success in ONE specialty? Of all the articles I’ve written on final expense selling, talks at industry meetings I’ve given, and calls at home I’ve taken, I have yet to see one agent who has just added final expense to their existing line and been profitable in doing so. In fact it damages their practice — it takes away the focus on their core products.The days of “being all things to all people” are no longer valued. Why is it that we want a specialist when it comes to our own health care, but not in the financial sector? The successful professional in any field, in all industries, is that “expert” in one niche. Whatever your career path, successful producers today will suggest that you pick one target market, one concept, one geographical area, and one selling system. If it’s not for you after a period of time, fine, you tried — but then seek another venue, again using the oneness factor. As an old saying goes, “He who chases two rabbits catches neither.”

6. Compassion for this target market

Many agents who dip their toes into the final expense market flee after only a few months. It appears they conclude this market is “beneath them.” Yes, those of us in final expense marketing realize this market is not for most agents — one is, after all, working in the middle- to lower- income market.      Most of the seniors we target don’t even have $50,000 in lifetime savings; otherwise they wouldn’t be open to your recommendation of a $10,000 “Burial Insurance” program. Many have spent their lives working for below-average wages. Yes, a final expense agent may be giving guidance at times to seniors who live in shabby trailer parks, old homes with a lonely widow and her 19 cats, or a forgotten widower who became a pack rat after his caring wife passed away.We all have crazy stories to tell when we arrive to some of these homes. It is truly a big mission but it is avery rewarding one.Whether an agent is in a rundown urban neighborhood, a depressed rural area or a tract home suburb built in the 1950s, the final expense agent looks at the bigger picture and knows those seniors who buy “Burial Insurance” love someone.

For these seniors, this is their last policy; this is their estate plan.

*Alan Benedict considers himself “just an old-fashioned agent and funeral director.” He has sold life insurance for more than 20 years, and began specializing in final expense plans exclusively nearly 15 years ago. Mr. Benedict also holds a California funeral director license and has managed a funeral home in years past.

The Funeral Rule is a law enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States. It is designed to protect consumers while they arrange funerals and consider options for disposition of a body. Under the Funeral Rule, funeral directors have certain obligations to consumers, and consumers are entitled to certain rights. Despite the Funeral Rule, some unscrupulous members of the profession do take advantage of consumers, and the FTC encourages consumers to report such incidents so that they can be investigated.

 Under the Funeral Rule, consumers are allowed to pick and choose the services they want at a funeral home, although they may also opt for basic packages of commonly-requested services. If they appear in person to request information, the funeral home must provide a general price list which includes pricing information about all of their services, along with legal information related to the Funeral Rule, and consumers may keep this price list. Consumers who request pricing information over the phone are also entitled to hear relevant pricing information.

Consumers are also entitled to bring in coffins from outside sources, and funeral homes cannot refuse to use such coffins. The funeral home must also disclose any legal requirements related to the funeral, and they cannot falsely claim that something is required by law when it is not. The Funeral Rule also specifies that funeral directors must provide information about embalming, including the fact that it is not usually required by law, and they must provide prices and descriptions of caskets and urns before showing clients samples.

 Prior to the passage of the Funeral Rule, many funeral homes were accused to taking advantage of consumers during a needy time. Funeral shoppers don't really have a great deal of time to research their options, and they may feel pressured into making certain choices. Many complained in retrospect that they had been pushed into costly funerals or decisions they later regretted. Many funeral homes were also specifically accused of misstating legal requirements for funerals, and of obfuscating their pricing and policies to mislead consumers.

The Funeral Rule was passed in 1984, in response to significant agitation on the part of individuals and organizations who were concerned about the growing costs of funerals. Many of the advocates who fought for the Funeral Rule were inspired by Jessica Mitford's groundbreaking The American Way of Death, a searing expose of the American funeral industry. While the American funeral industry was able to weaken some of the clauses in the original Funeral Rule, it was unable to defeat the Rule entirely, which meant that consumers enjoyed many more protections during a difficult time than they had before. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD COMPLETE FUNERAL RULE AND GUIDE

March 15, 2011---Once again, Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush has introduced a bill that directs the Federal Trade Commission to expand the Funeral Rule to cover cemeteries, crematories, and merchandise retailers. The Funeral Rule, in effect since 1984, gives consumers the right to price quotes by phone, the right to pick and choose only what they want, the right to buy caskets from outside the funeral home, and the right to accurate information about legal requirements. But cemeteries have escaped these modest regulations, leading to consumer abuses and complaints around the country.

HR 900, The Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2011, would finally end the patchwork of lax state cemetery regulations and compel all burial grounds to meet these minimum consumer standards. Funeral Consumers Alliance testified before a Congressional subcommittee in 2009 in support of the bill, and other funeral societies are behind it as well.

How you  Can Help!

Cemetery associations will be working hard to sink this bill; don't let them. The more citizens lawmakers hear from, the better chance we have to win. We need co-sponsors for this bill in both the House and the Senate. Please write and call your Representative and Senators to urge them to co-sponsor this important bill. 

Contact your Representative and  your Senators .Your email and phone call don't need to be wordy or complicated - it's your voice as a citizen that counts, and numbers make a difference. You can tell your lawmakers why this bill is so important. It would:

Compel cemeteries to give consumers accurate prices before the sale Give cemetery consumers the right to buy only the goods and services they want; families will be able to buy markers, monuments, or grave vaults from less expensive retail vendors rather than being captive to the cemetery’s pricesBar cemeteries from forcing families to buy entire packages of goods or services, if the family wants to choose item by itemRequire cemeteries to disclose rules and regulations, and consumer rights, before the purchase Require cemeteries to keep accurate records of all burials sold, and where remains are interred, and to make those records available to regulatorsBar cemeteries from lying about the law - claiming state laws “require” vaults to surround an in-ground casket, for example

Virtually everyone is familiar with insurance policies. You've probably seen many television advertisements concerning the subject. In some cases, your parents and grandparents have discussed the details of having an insurance policy to cover funeral expenses. Determining the differences between burial and life insurance can help you make the best decision about which one to choose.

 Function.

Life insurance and Burial Insurance may seem the same at first, but they are distinctly different from each other. With life insurance, you agree to pay a preset amount of money periodically to an insurance company. At your death, the insurance policy will issue a payment to your designated beneficiary.On the other hand, Burial insurance is designed to prepay your funeral arrangements only and decrease the burden of funeral planning for your surviving family members.

 Types.

There are two major types of life insurance that are available for you to choose from. They consist of permanent and temporary life insurance policies. Some of the most common insurance policies include term, whole life, and universal. Term life insurance provides protection for anyone on a limited budget. It usually offers a payment to cover any outstanding loans or to help provide for your surviving family members. Whole life insurance will provide you with coverage for the remainder of your life. Pay the premiums in a timely manner and you won't risk losing the insurance policy. It also accumulates cash value and can be cashed in if you discontinue the policy. Universal life insurance offers more flexibility than the others. You're able to conveniently change the amount of insurance you'll need. Your beneficiaries will still receive the value of your insurance policy upon your death. Burial Insurance may ba also known as  funeral insurance. Burial insurance allows you to prepay your funeral arrangements without burdening your family members and some programs include: Funeral Planning, Funeral Activation, and Funeral negotiation.Make sure you choose the one that will give you the most value.

  Features

 Burial and life insurance help to make the entire process of planning a funeral or covering family expenses easier. Once you've purchased burial insurance, it will cover most of the common expenses. Usually your burial plot, grave marker, cremation, embalming, flowers, hearse, and a few other things will all fall into this category. On the other hand, life insurance will provide a preset amount of money to your beneficiaries. The money received will go towards burial costs and funeral arrangements. Depending on the amount of the life insurance policy, some beneficiaries will have have extra money left over for other personal expenses.

Considerations

  Before making a final decision on any sort of insurance, research it first. Not all companies provide you with the same type of life insurance or burial insurance policies. If you're only looking to cover the basic costs of your loved one or self, then consider choosing burial insurance. However, if you'd like them to have extra money to cover expenses outside of the funeral arrangements, select the life insurance policy that works best for them. It is ideal to have both Insurance Plans in force.

  Warning

  Read the fine print in whatever insurance you decide to purchase. There are usually limitations and restrictions that go along with your insurance policy. Remember that a Life Insurance Policy cannot be paid without the  Death Certificate .Even after all required documents are sent to the Life Insurance Company, it may take day or weeks before the claim is paid.However, some Funeral Insurance policies have the ability to pay the funeral expenses without a Death Certificate within 24 hours!.This can be a great advantage when covering your burial expenses.Familiarize yourself with the each detail to verify that this is the correct insurance policy for you and your beneficiaries. Not understanding all of the details ahead of time could cost your surviving loved ones much aggravation and more grief. Being fully prepared will make the entire process of planning your funeral much easier to deal with.

The funeral home's General Price List (GPL) is one of the most important tools you have for controlling and understanding funeral costs. The GPL lists (or should list) all the goods and services the funeral home offers, along with the price of each. Like a menu in a restaurant, the GPL allows you to select only those items you want, and it tells how much each will cost.Click here for example

The Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule compels funeral homes to give customers a GPL at the beginning of any discussion of arrangements. The funeral director must give you a copy to keep, and it's a good idea to ask the director to leave the room so you can contemplate the GPL in private. Better yet, take it home and discuss it with your family, if time permits, so you can make an informed decision.

A Brief History of the GPL

 In what Jessica Mitford called "the bad old days" before The Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule went into effect in 1984, funeral prices were shrouded in secrecy. Funeral directors seldom discussed their prices openly, and consumers had little choice but to buy everything that was offered - the cost of the casket determined the cost of the funeral. Embalming, viewing, a funeral ceremony, a graveside service, hearse and limousines were frequently "bundled" into the price of each casket. If the customer decided to forego any of these services, the bill wouldn't necessarily shrink.

The Funeral Rule, developed in response to consumer pressure after ten years of research and hearings by the FTC, took away some of the disadvantages consumers face when they purchase funeral goods and services. FTC regulations mandate that funeral homes "unbundle" their prices and allow customers to buy only those things they choose (except for the non-declinable "basic services fee" discussed below). While funeral homes are allowed to offer packages of services at a discount over the itemized total, they must also offer services priced individually.

Required items on the GPL

GPLs must print certain disclosures, which must follow the wording approved by the FTC. The disclosures must state that:

Consumers may select only the goods and services desired Embalming is not required by law except in certain special cases A "basic services fee" will be added to any items purchased "Alternative containers," such as those made of cardboard, are available for direct cremation A Casket Price List is available An Outer Burial Container (vault) Price List is available The Funeral Rule requires that GPLs list the prices of 16 items - if they are services the funeral home offers - including the basic services fee, embalming charge, cost of picking up the body, the price of a viewing, the price of a funeral or memorial service, the cost of funeral vehicles, and other commonly offered goods and services.

How to Interpret the GPL

These choices can seem daunting to people who are making funeral arrangements at any time, but this is especially true if they have just experienced a death in the family. Worse, many funeral homes now devote the first several pages of their price lists to funeral packages, leaving the itemized list for the last page. This practice can discourage consumers from "shopping," because it wears them out long before they reach the itemized list.

One gentleman from Washington, D.C., called the FCA office and said he bought a $14,000 funeral for his father from a corporately owned mortuary. "I assumed that was a low-end funeral," he said, "because it was the least expensive one they had."

The GPL this man was reading buried the itemized services behind 11 pages of package deals - he didn't even know he had the option to decline some services.

Buying a "package deal" may offer savings over the price of each separate item, but it's a bargain only if you would have chosen all the items anyway.

The simplest options - direct cremation and immediate burial - include pickup of the body, the basic services fee, the filing of death certificates, and transportation to the crematory or cemetery. For cremation, remember to ask if the price includes the crematory fee - some funeral homes don't include that fee in their price and the family is surprised when it appears on the final statement. For immediate burial, costs for interment (usually charged by the cemetery) and a graveside service are extra. The cost of the casket for immediate burial is also extra unless the funeral home offers an immediate burial option that includes a particular casket.

Anyone who wants more elaborate services will have to start with the basic services fee. This is the only fee on a funeral home's price list that the customer cannot decline to pay. It was originally intended to cover services that were common to most arrangements - filing death certificates and obtaining copies for the family; coordinating plans with the cemetery and crematory; and filing for Social Security, veterans, and insurance benefits. This fee may also include overhead costs and charges for the arrangements conference, securing permits, preparing notices, and coordinating arrangements with third parties (such as the cemetery).

Many funeral homes have abused this fee by inflating it to several thousand dollars. Because the customer can't say no to the fee, it can be raised at any time by the funeral director to increase profits. Most other goods and services are sold by funeral homes at prices that already include profitable markups. The national average for the basic services fee is around $1,200, but it may be less than $400 at some funeral homes.

Aside from the basic services fee, you can choose freely. For example, you might want to schedule a funeral ceremony, but skip the viewing and embalming. If you want a service that is not listed on the GPL, be sure to ask. Many funeral directors are glad to accommodate your wishes. For example, you might choose to have a private family viewing without embalming. Many funeral homes don't charge for this. Or there may be a lesser charge if a brief family viewing is held on the same day and immediately before the funeral. A note on embalming - Embalming is one of the most misunderstood aspects of funerals. While the FTC prohibits funeral homes from misrepresenting laws in order to coerce customers to choose embalming, the FTC requires the following embalming disclosure on all GPLs: "Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing ..." The phrase "may be necessary" allows funeral homes to require embalming for public viewing. Most funeral directors do require it for public viewing because they believe many people would be offended or shocked if confronted with an unembalmed body on public display.

This page explains the embalming process in detail, which funeral directors are often loath to tell consumers.

Violations to Watch for

The national office of Funeral Consumers Alliance has received and "graded" thousands of GPLs over the years. Unfortunately, compliance is still spotty two decades after the Funeral Rule was enacted. Based on FCA's experience, at least 50 percent don't comply with the FTC rules. Some of the violations are minor; others are egregious. GPLs that are seriously out of compliance could indicate that you're dealing with an unethical or inept funeral home.

Here are some of the most common violations:

Charging a higher price for immediate burial if you buy the casket outside the funeral home (a "casket handling fee") is prohibited by the FTC "Disinfecting/basic care of unembalmed remains" is your choice, not the funeral director's. A charge for "sheltering of remains" should be optional. The FTC staff issued an opinion that funeral homes cannot charge separately for this service in the first three days, but this opinion is not a part of the regulations. Bundling the cost of "supervising a funeral service" into the non-declinable basic services fee is not permitted. Because not all customers want a funeral ceremony, the mortuary cannot make it a mandatory charge.

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