What made you want to get in this business anyway? It wasn’t like life insurance sales was on the top of my list of things to do or lucrative gigs to consider in high school. My high school counselor certainly didn’t recommend it. Actually, come to think of it my high school counselor didn’t recommend much at all to me, except to stay out of trouble that time we were caught planning a raid on our rival school’s football mascot. We thought their war eagle would look better on our sideline during the game then on theirs. I won’t go into the details of that because I don’t want to incriminate myself even now. Those football rivalries run deep you know here in the south! I don’t want to have to start watching my back again.
So Final Expense… as most people can tell by its name, this type of life insurance is primarily for the purpose of helping people cover costs that occur around the time of their death. This often includes more than just their funeral and burial costs. Depending upon their family’s situation this could mean there might be additional expenses including things such as:
- Doctor’s visits
- Hospital costs
- Extended care
- Probate court
- Transportation of their remains
- Loss of household income for family members still living in their home
- Other related expenses
Retirement age for seniors means that they are facing a whole new set of challenges and planning for the end of their life can be very ddifficult for them and their adult children. The average cost of a funeral today is somewhere between $10,000 to $12,500, if not more. In some states and in some communities it can be a little less but in other areas it can be a lot more. Also these prices are rising to the tune of about 50% every 10 years.
The need for final expense products and services is definitely there, but why in the world would you choose this particular market? It’s definitely not one of the more desirable segments of life sales, or is it?
Growing Market
Well first, this is a huge market with millions of homes identified as having the need for this insurance to help them cover their final expenses. Over 10,000 baby boomers a day are entering this market and over 80% of them still haven’t taken care of this. Also, there is a very high and growing number of seniors that respond weekly to marketing efforts because they want more information. Thousands of them in fact.
It’s Simple
Secondly, selling final expense insurance is not that difficult. The sales process is straightforward and quite simple if you have a system. Final expense insurance is not that difficult to qualify for and it’s usually affordable because of how it’s priced for most seniors even if they are low-income families. Most seniors also feel a a sense of moral obligation to take care of these things for their families.
It’s Fast
Lastly, there is a quick turnaround time from writing and submitting the application to getting the policy issued for final expense insurance. Final expense applications are simplified issue which means they don’t have go through the rigorous underwriting that a regular, fully underwritten policy does. Application submissions are usually processed and turned around within 24 -48 hours after receipt at the insurance company. This means means that once the policy is approved and issued, you are paid, unlike others types of insurance products which can take weeks and even months sometimes to get the policies issued and for you to get paid.
So, as long as you don’t have a criminal record or some other serious offense (that may or may not involve a school mascot called a war eagle) that has not been taken care of from your past, you can get licensed and get started pretty easily. It’s a good business that’s growing. And if you do it right you can make some pretty good money by taking care of seniors that need help.
Happy Selling!