by Richard Schlueter, Vice President of Insurance Services, Wealth Enhancement Group

The convergence of two items makes now a very good time to review your life insurance portfolio.
 
Product Pricing and Evolution

When it comes to pricing, life insurance products that are being issued today are in large part taking into account the 2001 CSO mortality table. The most widely used mortality table prior to the 2001 CSO mortality table was the 1980 CSO mortality table. As you can imagine, improvements in technology and medicine were significant over that 21 year period and as a result life insurance carriers assume clients will live longer and that assumption is built into lower annual pricing assumptions.
 
Additionally, thanks to improved technology and population mortality, life insurance carriers began issuing policies priced to age 120 and with language guaranteeing that as long as a certain premium is paid the carrier will guarantee coverage until the day the insured passes away, even if that turns out to be age 130, and even if there is $0 cash value in the policy. This is a significant departure from many of the life insurance policies in existence today.

The Economy

Carriers that issue life insurance policies with guarantees similar to those mentioned above are reconsidering those products due to the heavy reserve requirements that come along with such a product. This is an important consideration for these carriers as they too are not immune to the significant downturn in the economy. Many carriers are considering removing these products from their product offerings or increasing costs.
 
Many of us have experienced a significant reduction in our net worth, some of which may have been intended for our children, grandchildren, or charity. Life insurance is an exceptional way to nearly and immediately replace that portion of your wealth and to assure that those you care about will still benefit in the ways you intended.

If you would like to discuss any of these matters in greater detail please call our Insurance Services area at 763-417-1672, or 1-800-492-1222, ext. 1672.