National Underwriter Life & Health Magazine September 21, 2009
Cover Story
Senate Finance Draft Contains Much Of What Obama Wanted
The outline of America's future health care delivery system started to emerge last week.
News
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Obama Warns Wall Street On Replay Of 'Reckless Behavior'
In a September 14 speech at Federal Hall in New York, President Obama accused some on Wall Street of returning to the reckless ways that caused the financial crisis last September.
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Spurt In Life Sales To Older Applicants
U.S. life insurers received far more requests for individual coverage from older applicants in August and fewer from young applicants.
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IRS Posts Roth Rollover Advice
The Internal Revenue Service is weighing in on when employer-plan-to-Roth rollovers should or should not be included in a participant's taxable income.
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NAIC Panel OKs Valuation Law Changes
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has released the text of the proposed Standard Valuation Law revisions.
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House Panel To Look At Settlement Securitization
An arm of the House Financial Services Committee plans to take a look at life settlement securitization arrangements.
Features
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Uncertainty And Changing Times For Individual Annuities
With markets recovering and interest rate spreads narrowing, the balance in individual annuity sales shifted in the second quarter from fixed annuities to variable.
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FA Sales Fall In 2Q But Still Up Over Last Year: Beacon
Fixed annuity sales dropped 20% in second quarter 2009 from the previous quarter but they were 10% higher than in second quarter 2008, says a new study.
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Fewer Older Americans Are 'Edentulous'
Medicare Advantage plans and stand-alone private dental insurance plans may be helping more older Americans keep their teeth.
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During These Tough Times, Some Producers Are Flying High
Given that life insurance sales suffered a more dramatic decline in the first half of 2009 than at any time since World War II, one might expect that all advisors are hurting.
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Both Industry And NAIFA Facing Stormy Times: NAIFA Execs
The life insurance community is facing an unprecedented "perfect storm" of legislative and regulatory challenges.
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Full Disclosure Universal Life Report
The marketing environment for universal life sales remains tough.
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No Clarity On Indexed Life From Appeals Court
At this time, few, if any, people with an interest in indexed annuities are unaware of the prevailing uncertainties swirling around the indexed annuity's status.
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The Convergence Of Deferred Annuity Benefits
Over the past decade, fixed and variable annuity designs and benefits have become very similar in a number of notable ways.
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Want To Improve Annuity Designs? Collaborate
For years, annuity products have been crafted following the classic give-and-take between an insurer's product experts and its internal and external sales and marketing leaders.
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Plant The Seed For Voluntary Sales Success
The greatest challenge for insurance brokers selling voluntary insurance benefits is in establishing the need for the coverage, first with employers and then with the employees who will actually buy the benefits.
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Classifying Risk For The Working Uninsured
The latest government statistics estimate that 47 million Americans do not have health insurance coverage. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 54% of those Americans are in working families.
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Advisors Still Singing The Blues For Deferred Comp Plans
The U.S. economy, forecasters tell us, may finally be reaching bottom. But the leading financial indicators pointing to a recovery evidently don't include sales of non-qualified deferred compensation plans.
Opinion
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Asking The Wolves
I have to admit I don't know any sheep farmers, but even I know that it's not customary for these folks to ask the wolf for suggestions about protecting the sheep.
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Barracks Warriors
Telling and retelling war stories has been a favorite pastime throughout the history of man.
