Impress/Reassure Clients During Pandemic

Impress/Reassure Clients During Pandemic

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Impress/Reassure Clients During Pandemic
By Bryce Sanders – InsuranceNewsNet – March 27, 2020

You sell insurance. The stock market has been falling. People around the nation are uneasy and confused. That little voice says “Not my problem.” Wrong. Your clients’ problems are your problems; you care about your clients. How can you be there for your clients? How should you build good will? How might you become their trusted agent going forward? Don’t just tell clients “I have no idea what’ll happen, I just wanted to call.” If you arm yourself with some answers (talk about this with your GM) and prepare an intelligent script, you can have some “If so, then …” answers. “If this happens, our analysts think this will happen.” You aren’t going to be doing a lot of prospecting during this crisis. Beyond being in bad taste, it’s been outlawed in places like New York State during its state of emergency. You might not be writing a whole lot of business, but you are making effective use of your time, and your clients will be impressed. Show them that you can be a good person and a friend, getting in touch with people you know near and far. Your clients know you can’t accurately predict the future, but they’ll certainly appreciate you showing an interest in them … and discussing some possible solutions.
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Now this is a powerful line up

Top 5yr MYGA

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COVID-19

COVID-19 Update 3/25/20

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Work from home transition

We continue to actively monitor the spread of COVID-19 and we successfully have 60% of our employees working from the safety of their homes. As we make the final push to get our remaining employees to work from home, we will be transitioning our remaining employees today 3/25/20 and tomorrow 3/26/20. By the close of business Thursday 3/26/20, everyone in our office will be working from home. We have business continuity plans to ensure a normal business operations but today and tomorrow we may experience a disruption in our normal operations. We appreciate your understanding patience during these unprecedented times. Our plan is to be back to normal operations Friday 3/27/20.

Annuity Telephonic Sales Utilizing Electronic Application (eApp)

These volatile times are a great reminder of the benefits provided with fixed annuities. If clients want a fixed/indexed annuity but do not want to meet in person, then we have a great solution! Take advantage of the carriers E-app solutions. These solutions are accessed via the carrier websites. If you use an E-app Solution, you can take the app over the phone with the client. All signatures and acknowledgments are done electronically. You do not need to physically meet with the client! We are happy to answer any questions. However, we are preparing a summary of our carrier partners E-app solutions and policies. We are creating a dedicated page to this topic and will share shortly.
We will continue to assess the situation and share more information as it becomes available. Please visit www.annuity1.com for the latest updates.

 

We will continue to be here to support you in these trying times.

Stay safe and Healthy!

Neal Lapierre

Neal Lapierre

President
The Life and Annuity Shop, LLC.

COVID-19

Message regarding our Coronavirus Response

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At The Life and Annuity Shop, LLC., the safety, health and well-being of our community, agent partners, and associates is our top priority. Like you, we are closely monitoring the quickly developing effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and adapting the way we do business accordingly.

As COVID-19 continues to evolve and spread throughout the country, we are taking the necessary precautions to protect our employees, which has included mobilizing members of our office-based team to work-from-home. Please know that our core focus is, and always has been, to provide the highest level of service to our valued agent partners.

Although any disruption to business should be minimal with this transition, we wanted you aware of this change in our business operations, should our response times be a little longer than usual.

We are all in this together. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and will follow guidance from public health officials and government agencies to continue to support our agent partners and communities.

For more information about COVD-19 and what you can do to keep healthy and safe, visit the Centers for Disease Control website at www.cdc.gov or your local health department’s website.

Sincerely,

Neal Lapierre

Neal Lapierre

President

IRS Delays Tax Payment Deadline for 90 Days

IRS Delays Tax Payment Deadline for 90 Days

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IRS Delays Tax Payment Deadline for 90 Days

March 18, 2020 by Melanie Waddell

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced Tuesday that individuals would be allowed to defer up to $1 million in tax payments for up to 90 days. He also said the administration was considering sending checks to Americans.

“We encourage those Americans who can file their taxes to continue to file their taxes on April 15, because for many Americans, you will get tax refunds,” he said Tuesday in a news conference.

If you owe a payment to the IRS, you can defer up to $1 million as an individual, Mnuchin said. “The reason we’re doing $1 million is that covers lots of pass-throughs and small businesses and $10 million to corporations — interest free and penalty free for 90 days,” he said.

“All you have to do is file your taxes; you’ll automatically not get charged interest and penalties.”

Click HERE to read the full story via ThinkAdvisor

Originally Posted at ThinkAdvisor on March 17, 2020 by Melanie Waddell.

ECHOES OF 2008: ANNUITIES SURGE WHEN EQUITIES CRASH

ECHOES OF 2008: ANNUITIES SURGE WHEN EQUITIES CRASH

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ECHOES OF 2008: ANNUITIES SURGE WHEN EQUITIES CRASH

March 18, 2020 by Steve Morelli

The past few weeks of dramatic news might sound eerily similar to the 2008 crash, but there are some key differences for annuities, as well as some positive similarities.

Click HERE to read the full story via INN

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Sheryl Moore, CEO of Wink, also said although this crisis has many similarities to the recession, the underlying financials are fundamentally different. Back then, FIA sales were so strong that some carriers had to stop selling for a while.

“That was a little different because capital was tight at the time,” Moore said. “There were huge capital constraints that really prevented companies from issuing much annuity business. And that’s not really an issue at this time, at least not yet.”

But one of the unusual features of this crash is a plummet not only in equities markets, but also in bond prices. That is odd because of the increased demand. So, that is creating a unique pressure on carriers that need safe investments to support reserves.

Moore said she is seeing many similarities to the last crash, such as the rate cuts.

“It’s very similar to 2008 from a product standpoint,” Moore said. “I’ve had companies dropping rates twice in the same day, over the past two weeks.”

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT INSURANCENEWSNET ON MARCH 16, 2020 BY STEVE MORELLI.

earthquake in salt lake city today

5.7-magnitude earthquake strikes near Salt Lake City, state’s largest quake since 1992

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The quake was reported shortly after 7 a.m. local time.

By
Emily Shapiro
March 18, 2020, 10:10 AM
Originally posted on abcnews.go.com
We normally don’t post news like this but this will affect several of our carriers that are headquartered in Salt Lake City UT. Namely, Atlantic Coast Life, Sentinel Security Life and Equitable Life and Casualty. We pray for their employees and their families. If we hear any additional information we will pass it along but from a business perspective this will disrupt the normal operations of these carriers.
Fire Sale on Fixed Annuities

Interest Rate Alert

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Dear Valued Producer,

I wanted to make sure all of you are aware of the dramatic recent changes in the financial markets, especially the bond market. The yield on the 10 year treasury has been declining for the last month but the decreases in yields have really accelerated over the past 5 days.

• On February 6, 2020 the yield on the 10 year treasury was 1.66%
• Today March 6, 2020 at 9:26am the yield on the 10 year treasury was 0.70%
• So over the last 30 days the yield on the 10 year treasury have dropped 96 bps!
• As a result investment yields on the insurance carrier’s portfolios are dropping and therefore they have lowered their new money rates and more importantly more Interest rate decreases are coming.

So I would strongly recommend that you meet with your clients and potential clients to advise them what is happening. Also encourage them to lock in the current rates now as it looks like interest rates will continue to go lower. Waiting will only end up costing them more money.

Please call us at (888) 661-1999 to discuss current annuity offerings available and upcoming interest rate decreases so you are aware of the time frames involved.

Below is a chart showing the decline in yield on the 10 year treasury over the last 30 days.

Neal Lapierre

Neal Lapierre

President

The Life And Annuity Shop, LLC

 

Yields have declined 96 bps on the 10 yr treasury over the last 30 days