Your prospects remain nervous about their portfolios and how much income they can count on to make ends meet and pay their bills.
A qualified long-term care insurance (LTCI) policy or rider on a hybrid life/LTC policy could help them meet this challenge, because LTCI is an asset with a known value that doesn't fluctuate. It can also have distinct tax-favored treatment under most circumstances.
Your prospects may not have a plan as to where the money would come from to pay the expenses associated an untimely event such as a chronic illness or injury.
How will they pay if they have to hire home health aides or move to an assisted living facility or nursing home?
Liquidating assets during a market decline could force the sale of these assets at inopportune times and thus perhaps lock in losses. A forced sale of assets could also result in taxation, premature withdrawal penalties or other financial repercussions, including confusion about which assets should be sold first and in what order.
If your client already has a qualified LTCI policy or rider on a hybrid life/LTC policy, this is the time to remind them of the potential advantage it offers. You can help them have greater confidence in the purchase they made, in some cases many years ago.
But if you are presenting LTC insurance or a hybrid LTC product for the first time to a prospective client, informing them of these advantages could help you close the sale of the policy. This is particularly true for your more analytical clients who think more critically about these kinds of purchases and place a great emphasis on pure, practical, number crunching.
Of course, the information provided here is not to be interpreted as legal or tax advice.
For information regarding your own specific situation please contact your attorney or tax advisor. And, of course, clients and prospective clients should do the same.
But, in general, LTCI may offer more benefits than prospective clients realize.
