Corporate News

Looking for a life-based long term care product that can cover two people under one policy? Sometimes clients are unsure whether or not they need protection – and may want to cover their spouse instead. Kill two birds with one stone with a joint life product, which not only protects your client and his/her spouse, but also uses the same funds to do so.

This product offers the ultimate level of flexibility – it allows your clients access to a shared pool of long-term care benefits stemming from one premium payment. In addition, the second-to-die whole life structure creates a larger pool of shared benefits than they would otherwise have from a single life policy.  And for your single clients, the policy can be structured for two family members instead – assuming they do not have an age gap of more than 25 years.

Compare your options:

Other benefits include reduced cost of insurance charges and underwriting flexibility.

To learn more about the life-based long term care product and additional products being offered in the asset-based LTCi marketplace, contact us today!

The traditional Long Term Care Insurance market has finally found a solution to provide guaranteed level premiums. Without the fear of a potential future rate increase, advisors and clients alike will no longer have to shy away from purchasing traditional LTCi policies.

Now the marketplace offers a way to structure premiums with guaranteed, non-cancelable premiums that are level for the life of the policy holder.  Not only can the policy guarantee level premiums, it also generates a death benefit and cash value over the life of the contract – all for an affordable cost.

See below for detail of what an additional $1,000 per year can purchase for a 55 year old couple looking to explore multiple LTCi options:

• Non-Cancellable Premiums with no rate increase exposure
• Conversion from a joint 10 year plan to a joint unlimited plan
• Reduced Elimination Period
• Guaranteed second to die death benefit with no LTC claim
• Guaranteed cash value accumulation

	Leading Traditional LTCi	Pay For Life – Asset Based
LTC Monthly Benefit	$6,000 per claimant	$6,000 per claimant
LTC Benefit Period	10 years combined	Unlimited/Lifetime
Elimination Period	90 Days	30 Days at Home, 60 for Facility
Death Benefit	N/A	150k guaranteed
Guaranteed Cash Value Year 10	N/A	28k
Guaranteed Cash Value Year 20	N/A	64k
Non-Cancelable Premiums	No	Yes
Annual Premium	$3,700	$4,700

Contact us today to learn more.

National Guardian Life Insurance Company (NGL), in partnership with LifeCare Assurance Company, is excited to introduce EssentialLTC, a unique new LTCi product.

NGL is an A- (Excellent) A.M. best rated mutual insurance company with over 100 years of offering high-quality, customer focused insurance products. LifeCare Assurance has developed, launched, and administered long term care insurance products for nearly three decades.

National Guardian Life Insurance Company (NGL), in partnership with LifeCare Assurance Company, is excited to introduce EssentialLTC, a unique new LTCi product.

NGL is providing some of the most popular product design features with EssentialLTC including:

• Lifetime Benefits
• Limited Payment Options
• Joint Policies
• Reverse Combo
• Return of Premium
• Single Premium

For more product information, please download the product presentation deck.

For those who have not already done completed a contract, please click the “Request A Contract” link below to get your NGL Contracting packet sent to you immediately.

Once the contracting packet is received and completed, please:

• Email a copy directly to NGL as directed, cc’ing Kathy Brooks
• In the body of the email, you must “request to be included in the Broadtower hierarchy” in order to obtain FULL BGA and bonus compensation

In addition, all NGL paperwork done in the Broadtower hierarchy will help you reach higher levels in the Broadtower Bonus Compensation Program. This is a double dipping opportunity for you.

Get onboard with Broadtower and NGL today.

Request A Contract

 

A Controlled Executive Bonus Plan, also known as a Restrictive Executive Bonus, or Section 162 plan, is an agreement between an employer and its key employee(s) to provide a death benefit, supplemental income, and now includes long-term care benefits.

The employee applies for and owns the life insurance policy, with the right to designate the beneficiary(ies) of the policy. The company then pays the “bonus” premium directly to the insurance company. The employee’s right to receive the cash value of the policy through loans, withdrawals or surrender is restricted during a time period based on age, years of service or other conditions agreed upon by the company and the employee.

If the employee terminates employment during this restricted period, the company must agree for the employee to have access to policy cash values.  The employer, at that time, may require repayment of some or all of its “bonus” premiums from the policy’s cash value in exchange for its agreement.

*Subject to agreement

A Controlled Executive Bonus Plan has two advantages to the employer:

1. Pay key employee(s) a bonus in the form of a life insurance premium.
2. Can take a current deduction for the bonus.

Benefits of a Controlled Executive Bonus Plan

For the employer:

• Can select which key employees can participate
• No mandatory eligibility and participation rules
• No IRS restrictions or approval
• No government forms or reports, minimal administration
• “Bonus” premiums are tax-deductible
• Recruit, reward and retain key employees using “golden handcuffs”

For the employees:

• Income-tax free benefits paid to surviving family at death
• Permanent life insurance protection
• Long-term care benefits available
• Tax-deferred growth of policy cash values
• Income-tax free death benefits
• Although the employee must report the life insurance premiums paid each year as taxable compensation, impact of this can be minimized by the employer providing a cash bonus to the employee sufficient enough to cover both the premiums and income taxes due
• Unrestricted ownership of policy and its values after the restricted period ends

The endorsement is executed by the employer and employee and filed with the insurance company.  For a specified period of time agreed to by the employer and the employee, the endorsement restricts some of the employee’s ownership rights in the policy.  During the restricted period, the endorsement restricts the right of the employee to surrender the policy, assign the policy as collateral, change ownership or make a policy loan, unless the employer also agrees.  The restrictive endorsement is typically designed to expire at a defined point, usually between 5-15 years.

For more information about the long term care benefits included in a controlled executive bonus plan, please contact us today.

Research shows that most clients value three distinct priorities in creating a plan to address long-term care costs:

• Flexibility
• Protecting and growing their portfolio
• Minimizing the impact of care on their family

Identifying your clients’ top priority and primary concern will help you implement the right strategy and solution to plan for their long-term care needs.  As a thought leader in the long-term care industry, we have created this guide to help you match your clients’ needs with the optimal LTC solution.  Use the guide as a reference as you discuss the needs and priorities of your clients.

Client’s Top Priority	Solution	Considerations
Protect assets from an extended health care event	Traditional LTCi	PRO: Maximizes LTC leverage while minimizing premium commitment.  Potentially tax deductable particularly for businesses.
		CON: Premiums not guaranteed, lack of flexibility
Protect assets from an extended health care event while retaining maximum flexibility	Asset Based LTCi	PRO: Maximizes flexibility while still retains a primary objective of providing a substantial benefit for an LTC event.  Provides Return of Premium, Death Benefit, and LTCi.  Guarantees level premiums.
		CON: Reduced death benefit when compared to Life with rider option.  Reduced LTC pool when compared to traditional LTCi
Maximizing Death Benefit while retaining some flexibility	Traditional Life Insurance with an accelerated benefit rider	PRO: Provides largest Death Benefit while retaining flexibility to pay for LTC costs.  Better suited to pay for benefits on a monthly basis if needed.
		CON: Reduced LTC benefit when compared to Traditional LTC and Asset Based LTC.  Typically does not offer 100% ROP.
Long Term Care options late in life with potential health concerns	Fixed or Indexed Annuity with LTC Rider	PRO: Provides streamlined underwriting for clients with current health concerns while turning tax deferred growth to potentially tax free income.
		CON: No immediate leverage of the base asset and limited growth opportunities when compared to alternative annuity options.
Access to money	Self-fund	PRO: Zero upfront cost while retaining liquidity.
		CON: Pay dollar for dollar for any care needed.  Estate serves as primary funding source.

Click here to download a PDF version of the above pocket guide. 

No matter the priority, we can help you find the best solution for each of your clients’ needs.  To set up a time to discuss some specifics, or for more information, contact us today.

The LTCi industry has changed drastically the past few years. Carriers have continued to launch new product, but now based off more conservative pricing models that account for lower interest rates, higher claims, and close to a zero lapse rate.  Many may view the recent volatility within the traditional LTC market as a cause for concern.  Lifecare Assurance Co.’s Vice President of Investments and Business Developments, Marc Glickman’s article, Standalone Long-Term Care: Is Now The Time For Reinsurers To Enter, addresses the question, ‘Can we quantify the safety of LTCi new business sold today?’

Read the full article from Reinsurance News here: Standalone Long-Term Care: Is Now The Time For Reinsurers To Enter?