NAILBA Perspectives - Spring 2018 - 7

chairman's corner
Perspectives is published for the
National Association of Independent
Life Brokerage Agencies
11325 Random Hills Road, Suite 110
Fairfax, VA 22030
(703) 383-3081
www.nailba.org

It Isn't About the Money

NAILBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jeffrey D. Mooers
Chairman
Myra Palmer
Chair-Elect
Seixas Milner III
Secretary/Treasurer
James Sorebo
Immediate Past Chairman
Brittany Cross
John Gilbert

JEFFREY D. MOOERS

NAILBA CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Jason E. Lea, CFP
Ben Nevejans
Victoria Van Dusen-Roos

NAILBA EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL
Scott Blumberg
Christi M. Daughenbaugh
Sheri Leaders
Jeffrey D. Mooers
Lori Payne
Laurie B. Prevette
Thomas Riekse, Jr., ChFC, CEBS
Michael Tessler

NAILBA STAFF
Daniel LaBert
Chief Executive Officer
Kathy Allison
Director, Membership and the Foundation
Ana M. Carreras
Manager, Finance and Administration
Joangel Concepcion
Executive Assistant to the CEO/
Media Specialist
Susan Klemmer
Chief Operating Officer
Ellen Toups
Director, Advertising, Exhibits
and Sponsorships
Editor: Susan Klemmer
sklemmer@nailba.org
Advertising: Ellen Toups
etoups@nailba.org
Design and Production: Blue House
www.bluehouse.us
Creative Director: Elinor Van Dyck
elinor@bluehouse.us

ne of my therapists used
to recommend that I "set
my priorities in times
of peace, not chaos." That was
years ago, and I still remember
those words.
I wonder if they work.
By extension, I bet it's wise to
write a column in times of gratitude, not resentment.
Alas-a deadline's a deadline.
My son, Eric, is brilliant. Yeah,
yeah, so is yours, but seriously.
Brilliant. Yet he didn't get into the
college of his choice. Part of the
reason is that we live in California,
and the school is in California, and
the school can charge more for students coming in from out of state,
so the school lets those students
in, and not my son, even though my
son is more qualified.
Put another way: Money.
My son became a man from
this experience. Whenever I had
to explain something to him when
he was young, I just said "magic." From now on, the answer is
always "money."
Stay with me; it all ties
in somehow.
We placed a case the other day.
The annual premium is $269. The
policy fee is $85. Our GA comp-
because I'm all about transparen-

cy-was about 50 bucks. I don't
have a Chief Operations Officer, but
I think we may have lost money processing this case.
But we covered a young El
Salvadorian
sister-in-law
who
is carrying the baby of a broker's Office Manager, because she
can't. The whole story is downright beautiful. It's like reading a
poem about a life insurance sale.
We're indebted to the carrier for issuing the policy. We'd do it
again and again, and lose money
every time. We just would. And so
would you.
I rarely do any personal production, but I worked a referral last year.
She was-get this-the owner of a
flower shop in Berkeley. And she eats
the 'special brownies,' if you will.
The case never materialized. In
the end, she didn't appreciate the
invasion of personal space that
the process requires. (I find this
funny.) But I do remember one of
our conversations:
"We should start with Company X," I explained. "They'll offer
non-smoker rates, where Company
Y would not."
"But Company Y's premium is
higher," she noted. "Don't you
get paid more if the premium
is higher?"
I was struck by the reminder
that basically, the better we do our
job, the less we get paid. In that
regard, at least to some degree, it
isn't about the money.
It truly is about helping people.
Sometimes I wonder if those
of us in brokerage-specifically
Impaired Risk brokerage-really are
a different breed. I fight for lower
premiums, i.e., less money for me,
all day every day. So do most of us.
Heck-that's why NAILBA started in the first place. Consumers were
getting ripped off, and we banded
together to do something about it.

I look around today at our world
of cost-cutting and stockholder
satisfaction, and I wonder if our
fight will ever be over.
In other news . . .
This is just coming across my
desk today, so much may change by
the time this issue of Perspectives
hits the electronic newsstand.
We have a carrier who is finding
what they're calling "troubled" GUL
policies-policies on their books
where a premium has been missed-
and writing a letter to the policyholder. They're offering cash to surrender the policy. In one case I'm
hearing about, an 87 year old woman with a $4.6MM GUL from 2009
was offered $275k for her policy.
What remains unclear at this
point is whether the agent or
the BGA were notified. The carrier claims it copies the agent on
the letter.
This is fascinating to me. The
increase in settled policies is
changing the lapse rate on these
GUL policies. The carriers are in a
bind. Today, many are offering a
Return of Premium feature, which
is almost exactly what this carrier
is now trying to do retroactively.
But the offers aren't really close
to what might be found in the settlement market. In the example above,
this policyholder is right at life
expectancy, with $4.6MM in force-
and the offer is less than $300k?
HEY CARRIERS!!!! Listen up!!!!
I know you have stockholders.
I know this is all about money. It
would be super neat if it weren't,
but it is. But you know what?
We can help you.
Just WORK WITH US.
When we all work together, to
help the consumer, the results are
amazing, and everyone wins.
A bit like . . . I don't
know . . . magic?
www.nailba.org 7

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NAILBA Perspectives - Spring 2018