Marketing Life Insurance for Various Life Stages

There’s no perfect time to buy life insurance.

As people enter different stages of their lives, independent agents should be poised to highlight how life insurance should play a role. The earlier individuals purchase their policies, the earlier coverage begins—and generally the lower the premiums.

Keep these various life events in mind when selling supplemental life insurance policies to your clients who are:

• Buying a new home. New homeowners should consider whether they can afford to pay the mortgage on their own should their spouse pass away. To stay protected, your clients should consider term life insurance as a smart way to ensure their family has the funds necessary to pay the monthly mortgage or even pay off a home loan in its entirety. Term insurance gives a policyholder the option to select a beneficiary and coverage amount. Plus, a term life policy isn’t limited to a single purpose, so your clients can also use it to pay personal loans, college expenses or any other debts threatening the surviving dependents’ security.
• Starting a new job. A new job often comes with a promotion, which means an increase in salary. Policyholders should consider increasing their current coverage to protect those extra funds.
• Getting married. For clients preparing to walk down the aisle, now is the time to evaluate life insurance needs, review beneficiary designations and ensure current coverage is sufficient. Supplemental insurance may cost less than company-provided benefits and provide more coverage than adding a new spouse to an employer-sponsored policy.
• Having a baby. First-time parents may want to consider increasing their current coverage to ensure they can provide the best protection for their growing family. If something happens to a policyholder, beneficiaries can use the insurance benefits to pay for child care, education and ongoing household expenses.
• Planning an estate. Some people may consider purchasing a universal life or whole life policy to help their beneficiaries pay estate taxes as well as provide additional benefits for protecting wealth.

Clients of all ages and family situations need insurance that will financially protect their family members if something happens to them. Agents can help make the process easier by providing clients with the proper tools and resources to select the best coverage for their needs.

Keith Pellerin is vice president of product marketing and innovation at Aflac.