Increasingly, long term care insurance agents find that financial planners are an excellent source of client referrals, notes Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, Westlake Village, Calif.
Agents can gain more business through financial planners by emphasizing the possibility that the clients for whom the planners have so diligently worked to build assets will suffer potential financial damage.
Planners who manage clients' assets typically face a $10 million future risk for every 100 clients served when those clients have to start spending their assets to pay for long term care, Slome estimates. Planners can see the risk but may have misconceptions about long term care insurance protection that the agent can clear up, he says.
To gain esteem in the eyes of these professionals and do more business through them, there are ways that agents can establish credibility in their minds.
"First, there are different organizations serving financial planners and investment advisors that have local chapters," Slome says.
One of the critical steps the producer can take is joining one or more of these organizations. At the very least, becoming a member of a local financial planner or investment counselor association gives you access to a complete list of group members, Slome points out.
Beyond that, it can also be an opportunity to exhibit at special events. Even more important, these groups hold meetings where they're often looking for expert speakers. That's an opportunity for the agent to talk up LTC insurance.
Taking that even further, the knowledgeable expert can develop a seminar on LTC.
"Planners, like insurance agents, need continuing education credits," Slome says. "It's relatively simple to create a 1-hour course that qualifies for CE credits discussing LTC insurance, its tax deductibility and how it fits into a financial plan."
