August 8, 2008
I have been an insurance agent since 1976 and servicing brokers and agents since 2002.
It was a mistake years back, to allow stock brokers and investment people the right to sell insurance products and insurance people the right to sell variable products. Let me tell you why.
The two industries are so vast and technical that very few
people are capable of offering top of the line guidance in both fields without sacrificing the other.
How many stock brokers really understand all the options of
a Participateing Whole Life Insurance Policy and can explain them to the public? Or better yet, how many investment people know that buying a participateing whole life policy along with a no lapse guaranteed universal life policy might very well be the best combination of life insurance products available because of the reduced paid up option and the low guaranteed premiums of the no the lapse universal life policy being paid with dividends from the reduced paid up policy?? NOT TOO MANY, yet they can recomend to some life insurance policy holder to cancel their life insurance policy to purchase a different type of life insurance.
How can insurance agents be on top of their game, know the competition, do a insurance program review with cash needs
programing and be able to recomend to someone to roll monies into a variable account and sit back and say...yeh I know what is best for this client....Its too much...There are so many choices out there to invest into.
I know a long time investment advisor who knows nothing about annuities or at least that is what he has told me....and people like that could handle insurance products?
How many investment people know all there is to know about Disability Insurance? Not many, Yet they are allowed to sell it.
Please keep all forms of annuities and other insurance products in the hands and only the hands of insurance agents and all forms of investing in the hands and only in the hands of investment people....Contact LIMRA and find out the percentage of people who do not own insurance that will make it clear to anyone that insurance agents need more time selling insurance rather than investments. Please find out how many Baby Boomers are forced to retire with just social security.
To make a long story shorter....keep variable products for only variable sales people and insurance products for insurance agents....the sales people will be happier, more people will be insured and the public would have better chances in investing their hard earned money wisely. In any event its always better to buy your products from someone full time rather than part time and right now there are allot of part time insurance and investment people selling products full time.