Reasons Not To Write LTC Insurance

Those of you who know me recognize that I am not unwilling to take a contrarian viewpoint.  With this in mind, I want to tell you a few reasons why an agent or advisor should NOT write a long term care insurance policy. 

With that in mind, we are going to turn the focus on why you shouldn’t include a humble fully guaranteed (benefits & premiums) long term care policy like Asset Care or Annuity Care in the retirement income planning conversation.

SO, without further ado, here are a few reasons why NOT to write a long term care policy.

• Reason number 10 – Client cannot qualify due to their health history.
• Reason number 9 – Client cannot qualify due to their age.
• Reason number 8 – Client cannot qualify due to the financial situation.
• Reason number 7 – Client cannot afford premiums.
• Reason number 6 – Client does not think they will ever require extended care.
• Reason number 5 – Client believes Medicare, Medicaid, or other government/social program will pay.
• Reason number 4 – Client believes that trust planning and gifting will address the issue.
• Reason number 3 – Client can “self-insure”.
• Reason number 2 – Client doesn’t believe in insurance.
• Reason number 1 – Client never considered the situation.

Of the 10 listed, I accept only 4 ½ as legitimate.  Reasons 10, 9, 8, and 7 all have legitimate roots.  But, they are no reason that a extended care / long term care plan should not be discussed.  As I mention in other posts, there are 2 parts of a plan – developing the plan then the funding that plan. 

There is no excuse for not having a plan!

Funding that plan might be a challenge based upon the client’s health, age, and financial situation.  But, until the facts are known, and this only happens from a conversation, everything is behind the curtain.  And, not having a full picture of their financial situation can lead to bad recommendations and be detrimental to their whole retirement income plan.

Reasons 6, 5, and 4 are rooted in lack of knowledge.  Sure, the client might never need care or they might find a gifting/trust strategy sheltering assets as a way to qualify for a government program.  But, are they aware of the risks that they are accepting?

Again, these are all part of a planning conversation and there is no excuse for not having a plan.

Reasons 3, 2, and 1 generally do not originate from the client but from the advisor.  I’ve heard advisors publicly share their opinion or bias toward (or against) a particular approach and flat out neglect their responsibility to provide facts and information to help their clients make the best decision for them.

Here are a couple:

“You have $2 million dollars, you can self-insure,” or

“Insurance will make you spend money that you might never get back,” or

Saying nothing and opting to ignore the possible impact of an extended care situation. 

Those are 10 reasons not to consider including long term care insurance in a retirement planning conversation. 

Honestly, there is no acceptable reason not to include extended care / long term care in EVERY client conversation.  It is our duty as advisors.

To wrap up – there are 3 reasons to include LTC insurance in the retirement income planning conversation.  Simply, those reasons are:

• Smart for your client
• Smart for your business
• If you don’t do it, another advisor will

When you identify the client and opportunity – call me or your BGA to discuss the premier asset-based LTC solutions in the industry – OneAmerica’s Care Solutions.

As usual, if you have questions about and Care Solutions product or need illustration assistance, please contact my internal Justin Fox at (844) 658-3725 or via email at justinfox.isp@oneamerica.com

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Again, don’t forget that your clients who are over 75 and own annuities can secure long term care insurance. That is what the million dollar annuity strategy is all about.  Learn more about it at   https://fridayswithfisher.com/million-dollar-annuity/. 

My “big ask” of you for the million dollar annuity strategy is to identify 3 or 4 annuity owners 75 or older who might be viable candidates for our leverage strategy then give us a call.

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