May 2010
May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month. Here are some compelling DI-related statistics:
3 in 10 Americans entering the workforce today will become disabled before they retire.
Source: Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet 2007
62% of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007 were due to an inability to pay for medical expenses.
Source: The American Journal of Medicine, June 4, 2009
$1,004: Average monthly benefit paid by Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Source: Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet 2008
10% of disabling accidents and illnesses are work-related. The other 90% are not, meaning Worker's Compensation doesn't cover them.
Source: National Safety Council, Injury Facts 2008 Ed.
18% of the population -- more than 51 million Americans -- are classified as disabled.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nov. 2008
May 1993
Editor's note: The following excerpts are from the May 1993 issue of Life Insurance Selling
What's Going On: An Uneasy Calm at the AALU Meeting
By Larry Albright, CLU, ChFC
Health care reform likely will cost money, and the life insurance business seems to be a likely source of at least some of that money. When the health care issue gets its full recommended shape from the Clinton Administration, how much of the burden will life insurance companies and their agents have to bear? How much money will it cost the industry? Will agents have a role to play in the health insurance field?
It's those kind of questions that seem to describe the nature of the AALU meeting, and "the fear of the legislation/tax unknown" seems to be the best description of all.
Empowered Selling
By Alan W. Altmann, LUTCF, FIC
Aid Association for Lutherans, Sun Prairie, Wis.
No one can argue that this is not the computer age. But I believe the empowered sales professional is being threatened by an up-and-coming group made up of young, eager, trainable computer users. More and more salespeople are being asked to become computer operators and order takers. Many have learned to print miles of complicated illustrations and projections, but have not learned the importance of listening. Many of those computer users who can develop reams of illustrations are unable to uncover a client's potential to be an even better and bigger client.
...The big rewards and personal fulfillment come to those who practice, who compliment, who are sincere, and who learn the art of selling before they learn to use a computer or take an order.
I Get Results By Following Fundamentals
By Joseph M. Ivcevich, CLU, ChFC
The Equitable Life Assurance Society, Indianapolis
These are some of the things I do to generate the necessary results:
o I hired an assistant who works for me from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. five days a week. She has her own computer for word processing, maintaining data bases, and so on. I purchased a new 486 computer for myself that maintains my proposal software, client data base, Quicken for tracking expenses, and Prodigy for stock market data. Both computers are linked to a laser printer.
o I purchased a Motorola Flipphone so that I can make telephone calls whether I'm in my car, waiting in a client's lobby, or walking to and from my car. It's better than having a permanent car telephone, and Flipphone costs are substantially lower than when it first came out.
