An Eternal Problem

Included in the memories of that period in my selling career were several observations and a few special cases. Many of the respondents to my mailing turned out to be over 65 and still working, unable to retire. Even though there was not much I could do for them at this point, I nevertheless made my regular presentation. To a person, each of them said, "Why didnt someone show me such a plan 30 years ago. I could have done it, and I would not be in the fix I am today." Several gave me referrals to younger nieces or daughters who they felt should have guidance today.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this effort was that, as I was gathering information about these women, I was surprised at the number who were caregivers or financially supporting or subsidizing one or more relatives. Nieces and nephews were helped through college–or children were being helped in buying a house or starting a business. But the most common situation was the care of a dependent mother. Married brothers and sisters with families of their own to raise were all too willing to let their unattached sister bear the brunt of supporting their mother.

Where such dependencies existed, I always offered an alternate plan–one that was open-ended rather than limited to 10 years. Such a plan (sometimes called whole life) offered greater insurance protection with only a slight reduction in the savings element and the option to continue the plan for a longer period. In every such case, the dependency issue always tilted the decision in favor of the open-ended option.

One prospect, a nurse anesthesiologist, was not interested in the insurance aspect but purchased instead the first annuity that I ever sold. Moreover, on two subsequent occasions she called me and purchased two more annuities. She told me, "I do not want to look at the newspaper every day to see if I am worth more or less. I just want to be sure of the amount of income I have and how long it will last." Many women share that same view.

In the years following this experience, I became a CLU and gravitated to the business and estate planning markets. But I never forgot this experience, for it not only helped me to survive my early years, but it taught me a lot about people and their differences and their motivations for buying products. It was altogether a very gratifying period of service to some wonderful policyholders.

The articles in NU indicated that some things have changed, but the basics have not:

• Women still live longer than men.

• Women still prefer earlier retirement.

• Despite progress, women still earn less than men.

The problem is still there and we still have the solution.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, May 13, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.