Taking time to learn about their clients’ interests and needs will reap rewards for the advisor who builds relationships.
PAGE 12
PAGE 6 Also inside
Keeping it simple with Bill Egan, chairman and CEO of Oceanview Life and Annuities
Identifying the ‘best’ annuity for retirement
PAGE 30 Planning for health care in retirement PAGE 38
New, modern long-term disability insurance is unlocking hidden revenue in your book.
6 Keeping it simple
Bill Egan, chairman and CEO of Oceanview Life and Annuities, is on a mission to make protection products easy to understand and sell.
20 The first of everything
By Susan
Rupe
Uziel Gomez uses his experience of being a first-generation American to help other “first-gens” build wealth and secure their futures.
By Susan Rupe
Understanding the client is the basis of forming a relationship based on trust.
26 Using cash value life insurance as a buffer asset in retirement
By Jacob Lewis
Cash value life can stabilize retirement income and maximize the longevity of overall retirement assets.
30 Identifying the ‘best’ annuity for retirement
By John Poston
It isn’t about finding a single product but about tailoring solutions to meet diverse client needs.
34 Opportunities and challenges exist in the MA market
By Susan Rupe
Changing market dynamics present challenges, but Medicare Advantage remains popular.
38 Planning for health care in retirement
Two contributors discuss ways to bridge the Medicare gap and have the long-term care discussion.
40 An insurtech sales toolkit for every independent agent By Rayne Morgan
How agents can leverage artificial intelligence tools to scale their practices for the future.
42 Blockchain may be finding its second wind in life and annuities By John Forcucci
Momentum is building to deploy blockchain across policy administration.
Prospecting and sales can feel like running on a treadmill that never quite slows down. There are always more people to call and more follow-ups to make. And just when you think you’ve finally built a system that works, the market changes, consumer behavior changes or your best lead source dries up.
We’ve written a lot about artificial intelligence. Its range of uses and effectiveness is quite wide. In some cases, AI is greatly improving areas of the insurance industry; in other areas, it mainly holds the promise of success. The question for most agents and advisors is “Are there real work tools that can actually help you do what you already do, but faster, more efficiently and with a lot less stress?”
What we’ve learned through our coverage is that AI can clear the clutter, so you have more time for those meaningful conversations that actually grow your business.
So, what’s in it for you?
“Maybe” prospects. Cold leads. Tire kickers. Folks who filled out an online form six months ago and barely remember doing it. AI tools can change that game completely.
Modern AI-enhanced lead platforms can analyze massive amounts of data — consumer behavior, demographics, search patterns — and help you identify the people who are likely to be in the market for what you sell. That means your prospect lists get warmer, your conversations get easier and your conversion rates get stronger.
That’s something that many agents are already doing.
One of the biggest reasons prospects stall is simple: Agents are human. You might forget to follow up. Or get busy. Or intend to call tomorrow — then tomorrow becomes next week.
AI-powered customer relationship management tools can automate a huge
chunk of your follow-up process. Email reminders, text nudges, appointment-setting — these systems keep your pipeline warm and moving even when your schedule gets chaotic.
Today’s AI can personalize your outreach far better than the “Dear Valued Prospect” emails of old. These tools can summarize your prior conversations, recall personal details and help you craft messages that feel like you wrote them.
Think about your last week of client calls. How much time did you spend digging through notes? Rereading old emails? Trying to remember the name of a client’s spouse — or which product they were most interested in?
AI tools can instantly summarize previous calls, pull out key details and give you a crystal clear snapshot of each client before you even pick up the phone. As a result, you can walk into every conversation prepared, confident and ready to help. When you’re done, AI can even draft your call summary, follow-up tasks and next steps. That’s time back that you can use to call another prospect, attend another appointment or leave the office before dinner.
In the past, your geographic area limited your business. Now, with virtual meetings,
digital paperwork and AI-assisted administrative tools, your “local” market can be as large as you want it to be.
Agents are already using AI to research new markets, identify ideal client profiles and handle digital onboarding efficiently enough that they can work with clients anywhere in the country. For smaller independent agencies, this levels the playing field with much larger competitors.
At the end of the day, what AI really offers is time. Time you can spend on the parts of the job that truly matter and that you can reinvest in client relationships. Time that helps you close more business — not by working harder but by working smarter.
This industry has always evolved — paper files gave way to customer relationship management programs, in-person sales gave way to virtual appointments and now AI is simply the next tool helping you stay competitive. You don’t need to become a tech expert, and you don’t need to overhaul your entire business. You can start small — one tool, one workflow, one improvement at a time.
Your clients still need your guidance. They still need your experience. They still need the human element. AI just helps clear the path.
John Forcucci Editor-in-chief
Oceanview CapLock™ Fixed Indexed Annuity is designed for advisors who want fewer moving parts and clearer planning conversations.
With CapLock, the S&P 500® Annual Point-to-Point cap rate is declared at policy issue and guaranteed to remain the same for the full term — 5 or 7 years.
• No annual cap re-declarations
• No mid-term changes
• Clear expectations from day one
Interest, if any, is credited based on index performance, subject to the locked cap — while principal remains protected from market losses.
It’s a simpler way to talk about growth potential. And a more consistent way to plan.
FOR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS USE ONLY. Not to be distributed to the general public. The Single Premium Fixed Indexed Annuity Contract [ICC19 OLA FIA], or variations of such are issued by Oceanview Life and Annuity Company (d/b/a Oceanview Life and Annuity Insurance Company in California). May not be available in all states. Not available in the state of New York or Vermont. Product features, limitations and availability may vary.
OCEANVIEW ANNUITIES ARE PRODUCTS OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY AND NOT GUARANTEED BY ANY BANK NOR INSURED BY THE FDIC OR NCUA/NCUSIF OR ANY OTHER FEDERAL GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY. MAY LOSE VALUE. NO BANK/CREDIT UNION GUARANTEE. NOT A DEPOSIT. MAY ONLY BE OFFERED BY A LICENSED INSURANCE AGENT. GUARANTEES ARE SUBJECT TO THE CLAIM PAYING ABILITY OF THE ISSUING INSURANCE COMPANY.
Annuities issued by Oceanview Life and Annuity Company, 1331 17th Street, Suite 1050, Denver, CO 80202. In California, doing business as Oceanview Life and Annuity Insurance Company www.oceanviewlife.com.
Annuities are generally designed as long-term retirement solutions and have certain limitations. They are generally not intended to replace emergency funds, serve as income for day-to-day expenses, or support short-term savings goals. Please review the contract for full details.
A.M. Best Rating as of December 11, 2024, is subject to change. A (Excellent) rating is third highest of fifteen possible rating classes for financial strength. The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings is stable.
As each client and prospective client’s financial needs differ, care should be taken in making any recommendation to purchase an annuity. Therefore, nothing in this document should be read as investment advice. Neither Oceanview Life and Annuity Company nor any of its representatives may provide tax or legal advice.
Withdrawals in excess of any Free Partial Withdrawal amounts are subject to a Surrender Charge and Market Value Adjustment (MVA). The MVA may have the effect of increasing or decreasing the Surrender Value of the withdrawal depending on the market interest rate changes.
Contracts purchased in an IRA or other tax-qualified plan provide no additional tax-deferral benefit, since they are already afforded tax-deferred status. All annuity features, risks, limitations, and costs should be considered prior to purchasing an annuity within a tax-qualified retirement plan. For non-qualified annuities, tax deferral is not available to corporations and certain other entities.
While care was taken in compiling this information, the Company reserves the right to correct any typographical errors that may exist.
Rates, renewal caps, and declared interest rates, will always follow contract provisions relative to minimums and maximums stated. Oceanview determines, at its discretion, the rates, renewal caps and, declared interest rates above the contractual minimums that are guaranteed.
Funds allocated to an index do not directly participate or invest in the stock market or any index.
The S&P 500 Annual Point to Point with Cap Rate, S&P 500 Annual Point to Point with Participation Rate, (hereafter Indices or Index) is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“SPDJI”) and S&P Opco (hereafter, Third Party Licensor), and has been licensed for use by Oceanview Life and Annuity Company (hereafter Licensee). Standard & Poor’s® and S&P® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”). The trademarks have been licensed to SPDJI and have been sublicensed for use for certain purposes by Licensee. The Licensee or Licensee’s Product is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, any of their respective affiliates (collectively, “S&P Dow Jones Indices”) or Third Party Licensor. Neither S&P Dow Jones Indices nor Third Party Licensor make any representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners
respect to the Index is the licensing of the Index and certain trademarks, service marks and/or trade names of S&P Dow Jones Indices and/or its licensors. The Index is determined, composed and calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices or Third Party Licensor without regard to Licensee or the Licensee Product. S&P Dow Jones Indices and Third Party Licensor have no obligation to take the needs of Licensee or the owners of Licensee Product into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Index. Neither S&P Dow Jones Indices nor Third Party Licensor are responsible for and have not participated in the determination of the prices, and amount of Licensee Product or the timing of the issuance or sale of Licensee Product or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which Licensee Product is to be converted into cash, surrendered or redeemed, as the case may be. S&P Dow Jones I, and calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices or a third-party licensor without regard to thendices and Third Party Licensor have no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of Licensee Product. There is no assurance that investment products based on the Index will accurately track index performance or provide positive investment returns. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC is not an investment advisor. Inclusion of a security within an index is not a recommendation by S&P Dow Jones Indices to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it considered to be investment advice.
NEITHER S&P DOW JONES INDICES NOR THIRD PARTY LICENSOR GUARANTEES THE ADEQUACY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE INDEX OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO OR ANY COMMUNICATION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION (INCLUDING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS) WITH RESPECT THERETO. S&P DOW JONES INDICES AND THIRD PARTY LICENSOR SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO ANY DAMAGES OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR DELAYS THEREIN. S&P DOW JONES INDICES AND THIRD PARTY LICENSOR MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE OR AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY LICENSEE, OWNERS OF THE LICENSEE PRODUCT, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE INDEX OR WITH RESPECT TO ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT WHATSOEVER SHALL S&P DOW JONES INDICES OR THIRD PARTY LICENSOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, TRADING LOSSES, LOST TIME OR GOODWILL, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. THERE ARE NO THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARIES OF ANY AGREEMENTS OR ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN S&P DOW JONES INDICES AND LICENSEE, OTHER THAN THE LICENSORS OF S&P DOW JONES INDICES
Nasdaq®, Nasdaq-100 Index®, Nasdaq-100®, NDX®, are registered trademarks of Nasdaq, Inc. (which with its affiliates is referred to as the “Corporations”) and are licensed for use b Oceanview Life and Annuity and affiliated companies. The Product has not been passed on by the Corporations as to their legality or suitabiliy. The Product is not issued, endorsed, sold, promoted by the Corporations. The Corporations make no warranties and bear no liability with respect to the product.
London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the “LSE Group”). FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies. “FTSE®” “Russell®”, “FTSE Russell®”, “FTSE4Good®” are trademarks of the relevant LSE Group companies and are used by any other LSE Group company under licens. The FIAX Russell 2000® Index (the “Index”) h been licensed for use by Oceanview Life and Annuity Company and affiliated companies (“Oceanview”). Oceanview products are not in any way sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promo Russell or the LSE Group and none of the Licensor Parties make any claim, prediction, warranty, or representation whatsoever, expressly or impliedly, either as to (i) the results to be obtai from the use of the Index (upon which the Oceanview product is based), (ii) the figure at which the Index is said to stand at any particular time on any particular day or otherwise, or (iii) t suitability of the Index for the purpose to which it is being put in connection with the Oceanview product. None of the Licensor Parties have provided or will provide any financial or investmen advice or recommendation in relation to the Index to Oceanview or to its clients. The Index is calculated by Russell or its agent. None of the Licensor Parties shall be (a) liable (whether in negligence or otherwise) to any person for any error in the Index or (b) under any obligation to advise any person of any error therein.
The coming year will bring increased market volatility and a slowing in U.S. gross domestic product as the economy contends with a slackening labor market and the impact of tariffs. That was the word from Morningstar economists, who said market volatility in 2026 will be higher over the course of the full year than it was in 2025.
The U.S. economy outperformed predictions made in early 2025, but tariffs, interest rates and unemployment continue to impact GDP for 2026, Morningstar said.
Morningstar expects GDP growth to begin accelerating in the second half of 2027, driven by further Fed monetary policy loosening. Inflation will peak this year and then eventually move downward to the Fed’s 2% target as the impact of tariffs fully fades.
Consumption and investment will slow in 2026 as households “move in a more cautious direction,” Morningstar said.
In addition to being a turbulent political year, 2025 proved to be one of the costliest years for insurers in terms of natural disasters, resulting in overall losses of $118 billion, with insured losses totaling $88 billion.
The wildfires in the Los Angeles area in January constituted by far the costliest natural disaster of the year, according to new data from Munich Reinsurance. Overall losses totaled approximately $53 billion, including insured losses of roughly $40 billion. It is the most expensive wildfire disaster to date, and 30 people lost their lives. Aggregated severe thunderstorm losses in the United States amounted to $56
billion in 2025, of which $42 billion was insured — significantly higher than the 10-year average of $39 billion in overall losses and $29 billion in insured losses.
Insurers nationwide are slashing vehicle insurance rates in response to a sharp reduction in claims. The unusual trend is benefiting drivers from Florida to California, as well as several states in between. Experts had predicted that President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy would increase vehicle insurance costs.
The rate cuts are merely another market response, said Maya Afilalo, auto insurance industry analyst and managing editor at AutoInsurance.com, albeit in an unusual direction.
“Prices are stabilizing now because insurers have finally regained the profits they lost in the post-pandemic years,” Afilalo explained. “Those years saw increased claims, combined with inflation
The reality of it is that we have had five years of middle-income families being underwater.”
— Glenn Williams, Primerica CEO
and supply chain disruptions, increasing the cost of those claims. Insurers were losing money — paying out more than they took in. As a result, companies increased premiums to offset the losses.”
Private credit has surged in popularity since regulations adopted in the wake of the financial crisis discouraged banks from serving riskier borrowers. Now Wall Street is bracing for a private credit meltdown.
The September bankruptcies of auto-industry firms Tricolor and First Brands have emboldened some prominent Wall Street figures to raise alarms about the asset class. After these bankruptcies were announced, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that problems in credit are rarely isolated.
Defaults among private loans are expected to rise this year, especially as signs of stress among less-creditworthy borrowers emerge, according to a Kroll Bond Rating Agency report.
65%+ INCOME REPLACEMENT
The High Limit Disability income protection plan was developed specifically to meet the needs of those needing supplemental disability insurance. A High Limit Disability plan through Lloyd’s of London provides coverage to those who would like to obtain more protection beyond their existing inadequate disability plans. Our goal is to provide at least 65% replacement of income. Lloyd’s of London is the only market that makes this available.
As incomes increase, the issue and participation limits of traditional Disability Insurance carriers decrease. To properly insure a highly compensated individual at 65% of income, multiple disability income plans are often required and are layered to provide sufficient income protection.
The following scenario illustrates the way income protection plans can be layered to provide an individual with 65% coverage of monthly income.
EXECUTIVE
INCOME: $900,000 annually $75,000 monthly
BILL EGAN from Oceanview Life and Annuities is on a mission to keep life insurance and annuities easy to understand and transparent.
An interview with PAUL FELDMAN, publisher
In a world that grows ever more complex, one industry executive is leading a movement toward making life insurance and annuities easy for consumers to understand and for advisors to sell.
Bill Egan is chairman and CEO of Oceanview Life and Annuities, whose mission is to empower individuals on their journey toward a financially secure retirement by providing straightforward and reliable annuity solutions.
Egan had an extensive background in finance before helping Oceanview make its debut in 2019. Since the company’s creation, it has grown to more than $11 billion in invested assets.
In this interview with InsuranceNewsNet Publisher Paul Feldman, Egan gives his views on the future of the annuity market, the role artificial intelligence will play in the industry and the need to keep products from becoming too complex.
PAUL FELDMAN: Tell me a little bit about your background and how you got into this industry.
BILL EGAN: I was originally a lawyer, and I was a partner in a law firm that did a lot of regulatory work, particularly in insurance and utilities. I started working in corporate mergers and acquisitions and finance-related transactions in the insurance industry. I left there and went into investment banking, focused also on insurance. I did that first at Credit Suisse, First Boston for five years and then the next 15 years at Merrill Lynch. After Merrill was acquired by Bank of America, I ran the global financial institutions group, which covered all financial industries worldwide at Merrill and Bank of America.
I was there through 2014, and left to join one of my clients, which was Oaktree Capital Management. I represented a hedge fund called Harbinger, which bought F&G Life at one point. Oaktree was acquired by Brookfield. I was contacted by Bayview Asset Management, which, I believe, is the largest mortgage loan servicer in the United States that’s not a bank. They have a large operation, called Lakeview, that does that. And Bayview also is a large aggregator of residential mortgage loans in the U.S. through a network of large financial
institution connections where they buy and sell mortgage loans. They also have a hedge fund construct, which has, I believe, around $20 billion under management in their hedge funds.
They’re probably one of the top experts in the residential mortgage space in the U.S., but they were interested in getting into the life insurance and annuity space. They eventually started Oceanview, and I was right there when Bayview started Oceanview. I put together the business plan for Oceanview. We have a Bermuda holding company. We have a U.S. life insurance company and annuity company that would sell primary. We also have a reinsurer in the Cayman Islands and we have two Bermuda reinsurers.
The idea is that we would sell retail annuities into the retail marketplace, primarily through independent marketing organization channels, and then we would do third-party reinsurance
we started with an A- rating. That was a huge advantage when opening our doors.
We had to set up the structure for the third-party administrator space. We had to set up relationships with the distributors, primarily IMOs, but we also set up relationships with banks and broker-dealers. We had to set up our regulated entities in Bermuda.
But what I think is most important is that we wanted our products to be simple and transparent to the consumer. Products can get complicated, and we wanted to make sure we knew what we were selling and the customer knew what they were buying.
FELDMAN: Tell me about the products you sell and what makes them unique.
EGAN: We sell multiyear guaranteed annuities and we sell fixed indexed annuities. The MYGAs are not unique to us.
We don’t do traditional life insurance. We don’t do indexes that are complicated, hard to understand or hard to hedge. We do the S&P, the Nasdaq and the Russell indexes, we do basic product features.
deals as well as some reinsurance of our own business on affiliate into our offshore entities.
Bayview raised $1 billion in a single fund construct just devoted to Oceanview, and that was managed with Bayview Asset Management as the [general partner]. They’re all big institutional pension funds, sovereign wealth funds. There’s no retail construct there.
We launched our operations in December 2019, having raised the billion dollars in May 2018.
FELDMAN: Your company has experienced a meteoric rise. Tell me about the early days and how you overcame any challenges you faced.
EGAN: We were fortunate that we had a billion dollars of capital and no liabilities when we began. Because AM Best believed in what we were doing and the expertise Bayview brought to the table,
We sell anything up from two years through 10 years, although we don’t sell eight- and nine-year annuities right now. Our MYGAs are simple and they’re similar to what our competitors sell, but again, it’s important to us that we understand our product and understand the cashflows that go with our product. And we want the consumer and the distributor to understand our products.
As for FIAs, we only do accumulation, we don’t do income benefit riders, we don’t do bonus products. We do a very simple accumulation product.
We don’t do traditional life insurance. We don’t do indexes that are complicated, hard to understand or hard to hedge. We do the S&P, the Nasdaq and the Russell indexes, we do basic product features.
FELDMAN: Simplicity in product design is not commonplace in this industry. How are you addressing simplicity?
EGAN: Our view is: 1) We want the customer to understand what they are buying; 2) We need to protect our policyholders by making sure we know exactly how much it costs to hedge a product and having that factor into our pricing.
We think it’s easy for the distributor to explain to the policyholder what the product is and how it works.
FELDMAN: Annuity sales continue to hit record highs. Where do you see the annuity marketing going in 2026?
EGAN: We’re in this great demographic trend, which is the aging baby boomers. The desire for deferred tax appreciation, low equity market risk and low volatility makes fixed annuities attractive. That has proven to be the case with the MYGA market to some degree.
Some of the demand for annuities depends on rates. When rates started going up at the end of 2022, that gave a lot of wind to the MYGA business. People wanted the attractive rate, so I think the market will stay pretty strong through this year.
If rates go up, that’s a big help for the product. If rates go down, it gets a little trickier because then the customer is less interested in buying the product because they think rates are too low so they don’t want to commit to a longerdated product.
FELDMAN: There are a lot of bad things being said about annuities but there are also a lot of good things as well. How do advisors compete with the pressure they face from online platforms?
EGAN: I think it’s more complicated to discuss annuities with the customer than it is to sell them a bank certificate of deposit. I think the FIA is an even more complicated product for the customer to understand. It’s a difficult product to buy online unless it’s a simple FIA. But for a long-dated, 10-year FIA with numerous options to select — such as what cap rate you want or participation you
EGAN: We have a team who provide support to the agents. And then we use wholesalers; we have a couple of bank wholesalers. We recently went into a system where we have separate wholesalers. Those wholesalers provide much of the education and support for the agents, and then our back office provides support for the wholesalers.
FELDMAN: How does artificial intelligence fit into Oceanview’s future?
EGAN: I’ll give you an example. We were looking at rates, commissions, ages, location — what it is that makes someone want to renew or not. We’ve been studying it for two years now and we had a ton of data. We did our own sort of correlation analysis. And I said to the team a few weeks ago, “Let’s take this and input into our AI model with the question and the data we have to get the answer to what makes someone renew or not renew?”
Many people get into the business and they find they don’t like it, or it’s tough, and the next thing you know, the customer has an orphan agent. How do you predict who will become an orphan agent and what happens to their customer? I think AI would be helpful in answering that.
want for a period of time — that’s a more complicated decision and one where the customer is looking for someone to give them advice.
The problem with that mentality is that the consumer doesn’t understand the value of tax deferral, because when you have an interest rate of 4.5% from a bank or 4.5% from an annuity, the 4.5% from annuities is better for most clients.
FELDMAN: How does the industry do a better job of communicating about annuities with consumers?
EGAN: We have well-informed agents and we think they’re good at informing consumers.
People always value the tax deferral, but they think more of the rate or they think more of their liquidity. And I’m not sure how you convince the customer to value it more.
FELDMAN: What are your thoughts on all the indexes that are out there now?
EGAN: There are an enormous number of indexes. We’ve tried to keep it pretty simple. When we started, we had an index that Credit Suisse had that was a retirement index, but honestly it sold hardly anything. We recently did a proprietary index called Topsider that is supposed to allow you to let your money roll for incremental participation. That has not been a big seller so far. So we looked at the data and saw that about half the industry money goes into the S&P 500.
FELDMAN: What is Oceanview doing for advisor support and training?
One of the hardest things to do is find new customers. There should be a model that tells you the type of customer who will come to you.
Another issue is orphan agents. Many people get into the business and they find they don’t like it, or it’s tough, and the next thing you know, the customer has an orphan agent. How do you predict who will become an orphan agent and what happens to their customer? I think AI would be helpful in answering that.
FELDMAN: Is there anything else you wanted to say?
EGAN: My view is that I think our products are good and provide a lot of protection for the customer. And I think regulators are conscientious about how we make the business better.
But what else can we do? I don’t have the complete answer. We study renewals, we’re studying orphan agents, we’re studying all these things. But I think the key question is: What do we do about all the complexity? Because making products too complex can be deadly for this business.
Verhille and Associates ascended to the top of Kansas City Life Insurance Company by winning the Agency Building Award (ABA) for 2025. This was the agency’s second year in a row winning the ABA. The agency also achieved the ABA Honorable Mention in 2003, 2006, 2010, 2011, and 2016. Pictured from left: Agent Andrew Verhille, General Agent Dave Verhille, and President, CEO, and Vice Chairman of the Board Web Bixby.
2025 Agency Building Award winner
The Agency Building Award is Kansas City Life Insurance Company’s most prestigious agency honor, bestowed only to agencies that embody the spirit of entrepreneurship, growth, and building for the future.
“As a third-generation general agent with Kansas City Life, I had never won the Agency Building Award until last year. We came close, but I didn’t think I could compete with what my father had accomplished. However, we achieved the award for both 2024 and 2025 because of our tenacity and our commitment to Kansas City Life. With our generational affiliation with Kansas City Life, it is important to continue the legacy.”
— General Agent Dave Verhille, CLU, ChFC Verhille and Associates
Verhille and Associates
500 1st St. SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
How modern long-term disability insurance unlocks the revenue already in your book.
By UnYoung Botelho, Assurity Executive Vice President of Individual Sales and National Accounts
Traditional paths to selling disability insurance have left many agencies behind. With constant pressure to grow, DI has often demanded a lot of time and follow-up for a small return— so it gets pushed to the side in favor of products that move faster. Assurity has more than 130 years in the disability insurance space, and we’ve seen the challenges firsthand. We paired that experience with direct feedback from agency partners to redesign the DI experience around speed, clarity, and practical flexibility—so DI can fit the way agencies actually sell today.
That’s why Assurity is introducing Long-Term Disability Insurance Income Protection+, a new solution built to improve what agencies care about most: return on time.
For many agencies, a complex DI sales process leaves them spending hours on business that may not even place. Slow underwriting, APS requirements, and client drop-off after fluid exams can compound the problem, especially when the annual premium is modest compared to the time invested.
That creates incentives to only sell DI to the top earners—competitors fight over the top 2% (Surgeons/CEOs), while another segment is wide open.
The middle market—comprising 60% of the U.S. workforce earning between $50,000 and $225,000—remains vastly underinsured, relying on insufficient Group Long-Term Disability (LTD)
plans that leave them exposed to taxation and income caps.1
They’re the segment most in need of protection, and now there’s a new path to scale these sales.
When DI is more efficient, agencies can increase revenue by deepening relationships inside their existing book, not searching for more leads.
When DI is more efficient, agencies can increase revenue by deepening relationships inside their existing book, not searching for more leads.
New Long-Term Disability Insurance Income Protection+ was rebuilt from the ground up to meet the need for speed and flexibility. It turns the DI sales process into a smooth, streamlined process closer to selling life insurance than the disability solutions you’ve seen before. You’ll see improvements across the product, process, platform and price – all tuned to help agencies move faster and increase placement consistency.
Income Protection+ was designed to drive efficiency across four key areas.
Flexible coverage designed to fit more clients and close more cases.
ĵ Flexible definitions of disability to tailor costs to more budgets
ĵ Partial Disability no longer requires prior Total Disability for benefits received
ĵ No-cost Benefit Increase Rider is a client retention engine
ĵ Mental Disorder and Enhanced Residual riders: Now available to compete in higherend markets 4
The FastTrack platform is a digital experience built for speed–giving you reduced client drop-off and more policies placed while interest is high.
ĵ Simple tools to organize clients, quotes and illustration
ĵ One e-application with automated decisions when eligible
ĵ Case management options for faster turnaround: From days instead of weeks
Income Protection+ is designed to become a scalable revenue driver by removing friction from the sale and giving you new levers on price and definitions. By making DI into a fast, transactional sale, it becomes a viable growth solution for your agency. It gives you a clear path to consistent, repeatable income protection sales.
As a longtime leader in the DI space, Assurity is focused on delivering solutions that align with how agencies do business. Income Protection+ is the newest addition to Assurity’s disability
Less friction from quote to issue, less time chasing business that doesn’t place.
ĵ New accelerated underwriting engine designed to reduce delays
ĵ Streamlined non-med and income verification limits
ĵ Clearer paths to placement for common benefit levels
Designed for the middle-income market you already serve.
ĵ Competitive pricing for many of the most common occupations
ĵ Occupation class updates to help you win on affordability
ĵ Business owner advantages with 20% income enhancement and one occupation class upgrade
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Taking time to learn about their clients’ interests and needs will reap rewards for the advisor who builds relationships.
BY SUSAN RUPE
One of the first things Lloyd Lofton does every day is scan the morning’s news headlines. Not only because he wants to be informed but also because he knows that many of the day’s events can translate into ways advisors can help ease a client’s concerns.
Lofton had a lengthy career as an advisor before founding Power Behind the Sales, where he trains advisors on sales presentations, handling objections and obtaining referrals.
On one particular morning, the news was focused on an impending winter storm that was set to upend life in a wide swath of the U.S. Lofton viewed that approaching snowstorm as an opportunity for advisors to break the ice with prospects and clients and position themselves as a trusted resource.
“I wonder how many advisors put a newsletter today or this week and sent it out with the message ‘Here are 10 things you can do to protect yourself from the storm’ or ‘Severe Weather 101 Basics’?” he said. “Every agent should have a one-pager with the top 10 things you can do, put it on their website, send an email to every prospect they talked to in the past year with a link to click to read the list, and then put a widget on their website so they can track who went to the site and downloaded the list. And you can use ChatGPT to create the list for you.”
This example not only is a way to provide some information that might help someone prepare for an event that many people fear — it also is a way to build a relationship.
“What I’m talking about here is communicating with people and relating with people, because insurance agents and advisors are trained to sell a product and they are looking for people to buy that product,” Lofton said, “but advisors are missing how to build relationships. They don’t communicate with people, and that’s because they don’t have a strategy.”
Lofton said that too often, advisors are focused on the products they sell but don’t look at them in terms of what consumers are buying. To learn more about what prospects want to buy, Lofton recommended advisors look at their book of business and then determine the demographics of their client base.
“Figure out where they congregate. It’s like we were taught and is still true today: Prospect where you pay, where you play and where you pray. Go to Facebook Ads and you can use their services to find out what your clients are interested in, what movies they watch, what websites they view, what magazines they read — and then you can run ads and drop your marketing piece in front of them.”
Lofton said that before meeting with a prospect, agents can use online tools such as social media sites or Zillow to learn more about that prospect’s likes and dislikes, where they live, and other facts that can be part of relationship-building.
“I don’t understand why an agent will have a life insurance prospect, for example — and they already have their name, address and phone number — but they don’t go to Zillow and type their address in and find out when they bought the house, what they paid for the house, what the house is worth today and what the market is in their neighborhood. They don’t go to Google Earth and put the address in and see what’s around there — what grocery stories or chain stores are around there — so they can interject that into the conversation to make them feel to the prospect that they’re familiar. They don’t go to their LinkedIn page to see their posts and see if there is anything in common that they can connect with.
“These things take less than 10 minutes to do. I can get a prospect on the phone, and I can talk to him about his neighborhood. I can tell him that I bought my snow shovel and my snowblower from Home Depot, and I know that he lives less than a mile from Home Depot because I saw it on Google Earth. And chances are that he’ll say, ‘Yeah, I go to Home Depot too,’ because I triggered him.”
Lofton also trains agents on what he calls generational marketing — marketing to prospects based on what predictable behaviors already are known about people in a certain age group. He gave an example.
“If a man is turning age 65, more often than not his wife will be 62 or 63 years old. Their oldest child will be between 40 and 45, and that child’s older child will be between 20 and 25 years old on average.
“What I’m talking about here is communicating with people and relating with people, because insurance agents and advisors are trained to sell a product, but advisors are missing how to build relationships because they don’t have a strategy.”
— LLOYD LOFTON
Wheeler
“Until you understand the client, what they care about, what they’re concerned about and how they want to be remembered, you don’t have a right to show them any recommendations, because everything can be good if it’s used in the right place.”
— JOHN WHEELER
The wife’s mother will be between 75 and 85 years old. We already know everything that’s going to happen in these generations — when they get married, when they buy houses, when they have children. None of these things is a surprise.
“If I sell that 65-year-old man — Bob — a Medicare Supplement policy, here’s what’s predictable. Bob has worked for a company for 20 or 30 years. He and his wife have been paying for health insurance for 30 years or more — even if they had group insurance, they’ve paid for dependent coverage. I can reposition the money they’ve paid for their health coverage into a Medicare Supplement for Bob, and then I’ve freed up money that we can put into a stand-alone health policy for his wife because she will go off his plan when he goes into Medicare. This is also a good time to discuss final expense life insurance and estate planning with them.”
Bob and his wife provide a referral to their adult children, who have their own set of financial concerns typical of people their age and need help in easing those concerns.
“We already know that people in that age group are working and they usually have some type of retirement plan,” Lofton said. “We already know they have car payments and house payments and they’re going to have financial emergencies. All these things are predictable, and we should market to those concerns that we already know they have.”
Lofton said that the industry has done a poor job of teaching agents how to be business owners.
“I think that the most important thing is they need to learn how to run a business first, then they need to learn how to market their business, and then they need to learn how to relate and communicate with people. We used to say they need to learn how to do a sales presentation, but it’s really about marketing and communicating with people.”
John Wheeler remembers a time early in his career when failure to ask the right questions of a life insurance prospect led to a missed sale and an embarrassing encounter.
“I went to see a young family — mom and dad and two kids — and I knew the husband obviously needed life insurance,
because if something happened to him, what would the family do?” he said. “I assumed that was the case.
“But when I made the follow-up appointment and returned to the home, the wife answered the door and said they weren’t going to buy the life insurance we discussed. I asked whether I had done something that wasn’t proper or whether I hadn’t explained something sufficiently. But she said that after our meeting, she learned that her husband didn’t love her and she was filing for divorce. Had I asked the right questions, I could have still protected the family to a great extent by playing to this scenario, as opposed to just assuming that he was concerned about providing for his family if he’s gone.”
Wheeler is a wealth advisor and president-elect of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. He said his No. 1 piece of advice for making the sale is to ask questions and not assume you already know what the prospect needs.
“If you ask enough questions, you can find out what the client is concerned about, what they want to protect, what they want to achieve.”
Wheeler’s second piece of advice is “Don’t talk jargon, and don’t sell off of illustrations. Sell off of concepts.”
He said, “If I go to a hardware store to buy a drill bit, I don’t want a drill bit, I want a hole, right? And if you can tell me how to make that hole other than with a drill bit, maybe that’s a better solution than a drill bit. But even further, if I know what the purpose of the hole is, and I find out that you want to put a hole by the front door to put in a molly jack to hang a picture of your grandmother who taught you all of your values, how much more meaningful an understanding do I have? So we must first of all ask prospects what they care about, what they’re concerned about and how they want to be remembered.”
Wheeler said he continues to ask questions until he understands what the prospect cares about.
“Then at some point, I will say, ‘With all due respect, I don’t have to live with the results of your decisions. You do. So, you need to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it and be committed to it.’”
Wheeler quoted the adage “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
He continued, “I’m not there for me. I’m there to help them make a difference.”
He works with many business owners, and he said asking the right questions and getting them to reveal their greatest wish for their business is the key to building a relationship and giving the right advice.
“We often assume the business owner wants to continue the business. But sometimes they don’t. They may be planning to sell the business next year. If we don’t ask the questions, we don’t know.”
Wheeler likes to start his discussion with business owners by asking them how they started out in their business. From there, he asks what they would do in their business today if they knew they could not fail. After that, he asks about who in the business is critical to that success, what would happen if they left the business and what the owner is doing to protect the business if they leave. The answers open the door to a discussion of key-person coverage.
“If we ask questions, we can get people thinking about what really matters to them,” Wheeler said. “For example, how long could you go without a paycheck without bringing on financial disaster?
Another one I like to ask when discussing life insurance is, ‘Would you be willing to give me all your future paychecks for the amount of life insurance and assets you currently own?’ And when they say no, I ask, ‘Are you aware that’s what you’re asking your family to do?’”
Wheeler said he always asks clients and prospects how they learned about money, and the answer reveals a lot of information about that person’s mindset.
He also refers to his fact-finding process as discovery and takes notes instead of filling in the blanks on a sheet of paper.
“I will ask whether they mind if we have a discussion and whether they mind if I take notes. And then when I repeat what they said while we’re having the discussion, it’s more meaningful because they know they said that.”
The life insurance discussion can be difficult for many prospects, but Wheeler said it’s all in the way that discussion is framed.
“If I talk about what they want to protect or what they want to achieve, it’s altogether different because it’s about having a conversation on their terms.”
Understanding the client is the foundation of making the sale, Wheeler said.
“Until you understand the client, what they care about, what they’re concerned about and how they want to be remembered, you don’t have a right to show them any recommendations,” he said, “because everything can be good if it’s used in the right place for the right reason. But there’s no single product that is the absolute solution all the time, and many try to make it that way.”
Success in sales is about relationships and trust, Wheeler said.
“If you build trust with the client and you have a reasonable relationship with that person you’re going to get referrals as well. And there’s nothing better than a warm introduction.”
Bryon Holz uses his personal passions to brand his practice. Holz is founder of Bryon Holz and Associates in Brandon, Fla.
One way is to send clients a bottle of wine with the custom label reading “Limited Edition Rock Vintage” in honor of Holz’s love of classic rock music.
“Great marketing doesn’t have to be expensive,” he said. “Social media is almost free.”
“We have a very careful balance of material that educates, entertains and engages. You have to do all three, because if it’s all just education, that’s too dry, and it has to engage them so they can respond.”
— BRYON HOLZ
“When people understand you’re not just trying to sell them something, you’re trying to educate them, they’re going to be much more involved with the process. They’re making the decision, instead of you just shoving something down their throat.”
— ANN BAKER RONN
Holz schedules his social media posts two months in advance. He posts a mix of topics from sources such as Life Happens, NAIFA and the Alliance for Lifetime Income.
“We have a very careful balance of material that educates, entertains and engages. You have to do all three, because if it’s all just education, that’s too dry. If it’s all just entertaining, you know, the people need to be fed. And it has to engage them so they can respond and be a part of it.”
Holz also is known for sending his clients printed birthday cards in the mail. He has been doing it for 42 years. Now that he is doing business with the children and grandchildren of some of his clients, the cards are sowing the seeds for future generational growth.
building yours up and improving on it. And I’m certainly in that category where I want to build our house up.”
Selling has evolved from getting the prospect to make a buying decision to creating a long-term relationship with a client, Holz said.
“Everything starts with a sale, but it must be more than that — where there is an advocate and an advocate and not just a salesperson.”
Holz often uses stories to illustrate concepts about planning and protection.
“One I used the most is the story of the two farmers: The one who deducted the cost of the seeds had to pay taxes on the entire crop later on, and the one who
The cards contain a stick of Extra brand chewing gum, wishing the recipient an “extra special day.”
“It’s corny, but you know what? Corny works. It’s great and it makes a difference long term,” he said.
Holz supports his local food bank, and he also makes contributions to it on behalf of his clients during the holiday season, notifying them in a holiday mailing that he has done so.
“It’s the idea that our clients know that we’re thinking of the greater community,” he said.
When it comes to selling, Holz recalled something his mentor told him when he was new to the business.
“There are two ways you can make sure your house is considered the best one on the block. One is by knocking all the other houses, and the other one is by
paid the taxes on the seeds and his entire bounty was tax-free when the harvest came. I refer to this in our annual reviews and ask clients to remind me which farmer they are. Of course, we’re talking about Roth IRAs versus traditional IRAs.”
Retirement planning is a big part of Holz’s practice, and annuities are part of the discussion.
“Studies show that people live longer, happier lives when they don’t have to worry about their income or how the market affects them,” he said. “I typically review a strategy where clients’ basic fixed expenses are covered by fixed-income sources such as Social Security and any pensions they have, and often annuities with the rest of their assets in places that are more liquid or can help with emergencies or opportunities. I share with them that annuities shouldn’t be considered good
or bad but whether they’re appropriate for a given situation. Would you go to a doctor who only prescribed one type of medicine? I wouldn’t.”
Ann Baker Ronn is the owner of Income Protection Solutions and a financial advisor with The AFP Group in Houston, Texas, where her firm does flat-fee financial planning as a way to get prospects in the door. The firm charges a fee for a onetime consultation.
“It’s a big differentiator for us,” she said. “We’re not trying to sell someone something. If they do decide to come and invest their money with us or buy insurance from us, that’s a bonus, but it’s not a requirement.”
Ronn said her firm has consulted with people whose concerns range from reviewing a portfolio to passing assets to children to long-term care planning for their parents. Some have stayed on as clients.
“We charge a fee so we can be compensated for our time, but if someone decides not to work with us, we didn’t waste our time because we didn’t do a lot of work,” she said. “But it’s a great way to build a relationship with people because you end up finding out every single thing about them,
and they find out things about themselves that they didn’t even know.”
Flat-fee planning allows advisors to not try to sell a product but to do what is in the client’s best interest, Ronn said. “If you’re not trying to sell them something but you’re trying to help them solve their problems, it builds a relationship with them.”
She said flat-fee clients who eventually became clients for insurance or other services have strong relationships with her firm, “because we already know everything about them,” she said.
“This is not for everyone. It takes a lot of patience. If you have someone who likes doing all of that, it may be something to incorporate into your practice.”
Ronn makes a point of repeating back to her prospect what they say to her during a meeting. “I say to them, ‘I want to make sure that I’m understanding what you just said. What you want from us is 1, 2, 3 — these are the things that you want to achieve.’ I think too often we go on to the next topic and people think we’re not really listening to them, so repeating back what they just said is showing you want to clarify what you’re understanding.”
Education is another stepping stone to obtaining and keeping clients, Ronn said. She cited life insurance as an example.
“My business partner is really good at explaining four types of life insurance — term, whole life, universal and variable. He goes through each type and lets the client make the decision. When people understand you’re not just trying to sell them something — you’re trying to educate them — they’re going to be much more involved with the process. They’re making the decision instead of you just shoving something down their throat.”
Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents’ association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at srupe@ insurancenewsnet.com.
The insurance industry is at an inflection point. Regulatory shifts, advancing technology, and evolving consumer expectations are reshaping what it means to compete.
For carriers, distributors, and advisors, the pressure is undeniable. Consumers expect speed. Agents demand simplicity. Regulators require precision. And legacy systems, once dependable, now slow innovation instead of enabling it.
“Consumers expect buying and administering life insurance to be as easy and mobile-friendly as every other purchase in their lives,” says Carly Fetzer, Solutions Engineer at Bestow. “If someone can buy a car or invest money in minutes from their phone, why should life insurance be different? The carriers who aren’t actively transforming are already behind.”
Looking ahead to 2026, annuities are next.
“Annuities are one of the most requested products we hear about,” Fetzer notes. “Advisors want streamlined tools for retirement planning and wealth preservation with the same modern experience they expect from our life insurance products.”
For carriers trying to navigate this landscape, standing still is no longer a neutral position. It’s falling behind.
Innovation starts with listening, and not just to carriers, but to agents and consumers who experience the friction of outdated processes every day. Bestow combines market research with deep industry experience, maintaining a team that’s constantly looking ahead for opportunities.
“We’re building technology for the future direction of the industry, while identifying gaps in legacy tech and processes that we can help fix,” Fetzer explains. “We also listen to what agents are begging for, and we identify experiences that agents and customers like returning to again and again.”
That philosophy drove Bestow’s product expansion at the end of 2025, when the company launched Indexed Universal Life (IUL), Whole Life, and Juvenile Life, products that address clear gaps in the digital insurance market.
“IUL is where agents build lasting relationships, and consumers seek wealth-building tools, which makes them repeat customers,” Fetzer says. “And juvenile life opens up the family protection that’s been missing from modern platforms.”
These products offer carriers vital new revenue streams without depleting internal resources. Rather than forcing carriers to drain capacity, Bestow enables expansion using shared infrastructure. Carriers can broaden their product portfolio and reach new markets using Bestow’s platform instead of their own.
The market momentum is undeniable. Annuity sales in the US broke records quarter after quarter in 2025, and millions of Americans are entering retirement.
Bestow doesn’t build in a vacuum. The company conducts continual market research, user testing, and usability studies, working closely with clients to develop products collaboratively. The high success rate has built trust that makes it easy for clients to adopt new products and features.
For carriers facing the decision of whether to build technology in-house or partner with a platform provider, the traditional “build versus buy” question misses the real issue.
“It’s not just about the initial build,” Fetzer explains. “It’s about maintenance and, more importantly, continuous innovation. Build in-house, and you get one version up and running. But then you’re committed to ongoing development, maintenance, and updates forever.”
Platforms like Bestow deliver continuous innovation as part of the service. When new features launch or distribution
It’s tough work to keep internal systems humming while managing regulatory changes, integrations and demands of distribution. We totally get that. We were once a carrier too.”
gets optimized, all clients benefit simultaneously.
“You get speed now and sustained innovation without the perpetual resource drain of keeping everything current,” Fetzer says.
Building in-house typically means years of development, significant capital investment, and pulling resources away from core business. Bestow can get carriers to market in as little as three to four months in some cases.
“The market isn’t going to wait for traditional timelines,” Fetzer says. “If you have a hot product now, you can’t afford to wait. By the time you launch, there may be a new hot product, and you’re already behind.”
Bestow provides one simple platform that works across direct-to-consumer, agent-assisted, and embedded channels, fundamentally lowering the cost of doing business and freeing up resources for innovation rather than maintenance.
A major differentiator is Bestow’s Evergreen platform, which handles all version updates and upgrades automatically.
“Carriers don’t get stuck in red tape or fall behind on the latest capabilities,” Fetzer explains. “They’re always current without massive reimplementation projects.”
Because the platform is shared, every enhancement benefits all carriers simultaneously. Recent launches include:
• PIN-to-sign that simplifies applications, especially for final expense buyers
• Support for juvenile insurance products
• AI-driven payment retry that prevents lapses and removes administrative burden from agents
• Enhanced full medical underwriting and improved underwriting workbench
“These are things clients may not even realize they need yet,” Fetzer adds, “but once they have them, they can’t imagine going back.”
Every product Bestow has built has been adopted by a client. Most clients have requested development of additional products as a result of these successes. That track record reflects a results-driven approach, not just feature-driven.
“Our team of underwriters and actuaries meets regularly with carrier counterparts, analyzes true in-market performance, and suggests tweaks to rules, questions, or rates,” Fetzer explains. “We release those changes, check results, and keep that cycle going at a rapid pace.”
One carrier came to Bestow with a goal of doubling their close rate.
“We took their in-market data and increased the maximum face amount to include higher-value policies and introduced additional risk classes,” Fetzer says. “We developed, tested, and released those updates in just a few weeks, which broadened the product’s appeal and indeed doubled their close rate.”
The carrier confirmed those changes would normally take several months. What would typically be a lengthy project was accomplished in weeks.
“That’s the power of a modern platform combined with a test-and-learn mindset,” Fetzer adds.
Legacy systems and homegrown solutions, however familiar, are likely holding carriers back from the pace required to stay competitive.
“It’s tough work to keep internal systems humming while managing regulatory changes, integrations and demands of distribution,” Fetzer acknowledges. “We totally get that. We were once a carrier too.”
But the reality is straightforward: carriers who wait are watching competitors capture market share with modern experiences they may not be able to match for another three to five years. By then, it could be too late to recapture consumer and agent interest.
“Carriers need to adopt partners and solutions that are truly configurable, flexible, and can keep pace with how fast things are changing,” Fetzer says, “even if it means admitting that your current solution may not be achieving the results you need.”
Bestow’s 2026 roadmap includes major investments in self-service and backend configurability, annuity expansion, enhanced third-party distribution support, and continued underwriting capabilities expansion.
Early in her nearly twenty-year career, Fetzer implemented agency management systems for organizations using Excel spreadsheets and paper applications.
“Change is difficult, and people are always resistant to it,” she reflects. “I would hear ‘who does she think she is, changing the way I’ve done business for 20 years?!’”
But the pattern was consistent.
“Once adoption happens, everything changes for the better, and you can’t imagine how you survived ‘the old way,’” she says. “That is still the truth. Change is difficult, but oh so worth it. Keeping your organization innovative and on the edge of technology will always be an investment worth making.”
The question for carriers isn’t whether to innovate—it’s whether to build innovation as a project that immediately begins aging, or partner with a platform where innovation is the core business, delivered continuously.
The carriers benefiting from that momentum recognize that in a rapidly evolving industry, the ability to stay current isn’t a luxury—it’s a competitive requirement. And they understand that the cost of standing still, in a market moving this fast, is higher than the cost of transformation.
UZIEL GOMEZ uses his experience of being a firstgeneration American to help other “first-gens” build wealth and secure their futures.
By Susan Rupe
Uziel Gomez describes himself as “a first-generation everything.”
“My parents migrated here from Mexico. I’m a first-generation American,” he said.
Life in the U.S. wasn’t easy for Gomez and his parents. His father worked a number of physically demanding jobs for low wages, but his mother encouraged Gomez to pursue higher education, believing it was the way to success. Gomez became the first person in his family to graduate from college, earning a degree in financial planning from the California State University, Northridge.
Today, Gomez is the financial planner at Primeros Financial in Los Angeles, a wealth management firm he founded in May 2024. He also is a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.
At Primeros Financial, Gomez aims to empower first-generation Americans to establish a deeper connection with their finances and to show them how to harness the power of money to create a life of abundance and fulfillment.
He is active in the Financial Planning Association of Los Angeles, where he serves as the president-elect and director of DEI and NexGen and is an active mentor through initiatives such as the BLX Internship Program, which supports aspiring financial planners from underrepresented backgrounds. FPA named him one of its 2025 diversity scholarship recipients.
When Gomez started college, he knew he wanted to study something in the business field. But he worked as a bank teller while attending classes, and that job solidified his desire to create a career in which he could help people with their finances.
“The location of the bank was unique because of the demographics of our customers,” he said. “We were next to Sherman Oaks, which is more of a higher-income community, but we also had a lot of lower-income people coming into the bank. I was able to see the disparity — the gap in financial literacy — between people of both groups.”
Gomez said it was “devastating” for him to witness that the lower-income bank customers — people like his family and his community — “didn’t have the resources that other people did.
“I was able to tell that they were typically living paycheck to paycheck, while there were other people who didn’t have the financial knowledge
but still had more resources to help them stay afloat,” he said.
Gomez said his banking experience inspired him to seek a way to use his interest in business to make an impact on his community. He looked at different majors available at Cal State Northridge (CSUN) and decided on financial planning, even though he wasn’t entirely sure what all it entailed.
“But once I started taking my core classes for financial planning, I knew it was what I wanted to pursue,” he said.
His family’s immigrant experience also fueled his interest in planning.
“My parents are immigrants and I come from a lower-income household, but my parents were good at strategizing, at staying afloat and saving money for life’s unpredictable events,” he said.
“I always said that my Finance 101 class was my witnessing my parents do all those things. I was an observant kid, and I saw their financial struggles and planning firsthand. So, I would say a lot of my interest and passion in financial planning stems from my childhood.”
Knowing how his parents took a leap into the unknown in moving from Mexico to Los Angeles has made Gomez grateful for their sacrifices. But he said that gratitude comes with responsibilities.
“It’s a common theme among minorities that your parents work until they die,”
he said. “So, I am carrying the weight of knowing that I am my parents’ retirement plan. It’s a lot to carry, but it’s also my biggest motivation. I always say that although I’m not going to inherit any monetary assets, what I am inheriting from my parents are their work ethic, etiquette, gratitude and — more than anything — their culture.”
Gomez said that he recently visited his parents’ Mexican hometown, where a sugar mill went bankrupt, leaving the community without its only income-producing business.
“It was astonishing to me, hearing the stories of where my parents grew up and following in their footsteps,” he said. “It made me feel more grateful because I realized how rough their upbringing was. I’m grateful for their immigrant experience, and more than anything, I’ve learned to appreciate my cultures both here in America and in Mexico.”
After earning his degree from CSUN, Gomez soon found work in a financial services practice, where he began sitting in on client meetings his very first day.
“That was a defining moment for me because I was able to observe firsthand how the planner would talk to clients. I was able to observe clients and their reactions. I was so fascinated by all of it. I would look at the notes and play around with the software. I was so excited because I was doing what I had learned about and I was putting it into practice.
“To this day, I’m still excited about learning about clients’ backgrounds and listening to them, because it’s true what they say — that personal finance is 99% personal and 1% finance. I love helping clients navigate toward their goals, understanding their values and — more than anything — crafting a deep relationship and friendship with them.”
Gomez started his own practice by focusing on serving first-generation Americans — “people like me.” But he is expanding his client base by working with those who are in the technology field.
“I always said that my Finance 101 class was my witnessing my parents do all those things. I was an observant kid, and I saw their financial struggles and planning firsthand.
So, I would say a lot of my interest and passion in financial planning stems from my childhood.”
He said his first-generation wealth-builder clients need more financial literacy and education than a typical financial client does.
“Compared with the typical financial planner, I spend more time in front of my clients helping them understand the financial system or whatever financial topic we’re talking about. Again, we lack financial literacy in our society, but I would say as a first-gen that it’s because our families are not exposed to a lot of these things. When you’re a first-gen, you’re often the first one who is navigating these different things. You’re the one opening the new doors, encountering the obstacles, and you need someone who can answer your questions.”
Gomez said he wants his clients to feel empowered to m a ke the right decisions and understand his recommendations.
“I always tell my clients that my mission is to make a difference in my community, and that’s through them,” he said. “My being able to touch more lives is by my clients passing on that knowledge to the people that surround them and the people they love. So, I hope to be able to touch those lives, not just directly by making an impact in my clients’ lives but also with what my clients spread to those around them.”
Outside his practice and his FPA responsibilities, Gomez recently took up boxing.
“I’ve been a boxing fanatic for a very long time, and I just started boxing recently. So when I’m not working, I’m usually at the boxing gym,” he said. “I’m a big food person as well, so I love trying out new dishes, trying new restaurants, as well as traveling the world and learning more about my culture here and in Mexico.”
Gomez credits much of his success
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to mentors and friends.
“My friends have always taught me the best way to pay it back is by paying it forward. So I try to help out the next generation as much as possible.
“If you lead with a purpose and intention that’s beyond you — a purpose and intention of giving back to the greater good of your community or of the world — then everything else falls into place. That’s what I learned at an early age. And I feel like because I’m leading with intention and purpose, everything else has fallen into place for me.”
Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents’ association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at srupe@ insurancenewsnet.com.
The insurance industry in 2026 is healthy but not without uncertainty. That was the word from Sean Vicente, U.S. sector leader, insurance, with KPMG, who presented the organization’s 2026 insurance industry outlook recently.
Life insurance showed premium growth in 2025, with direct written premium increasing 4.6% between third quarter 2024 and the same quarter in 2025.
Insurance industry CEOs see 2026 as a positive year, according to KPMG’s most recent CEO survey. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they are confident about their company’s growth prospects in the coming year while 57% said they are confident about the industry’s and the nation’s growth prospects in 2026.
But labor market factors are making insurance CEOs uneasy. More than 30% of CEOs surveyed said they are concerned about the number of employees retiring combined with a lack of skilled workers to replace them.
Much of the typical insurance advice goes out the window when working with a highnet-worth client, said WJ Rossi, a partner at Koss Olinger Financial Group, a wealth management firm in Gainesville, Fla.
For these clients, the ideal recommendation is dependent on how the policy supports liquidity, efficiency and legacy goals. Insurance conversations with HNW clients should be focused on how they can control their assets, rather than the security their assets provide. Focus on specific goals based on the client’s capital and develop plans that leverage their assets appropriately, thereby developing lasting trust and confidence as their advisor. Source:
Each client has a different story. Their needs depend on their values, lifestyle and assets. HNW individuals have a unique set of needs in comparison to the average person. Their financial situation often brings challenges like high estate taxes and a desire to protect their assets and leave behind a legacy for heirs or charities.
A new Illinois law bans life insurers from limiting or denying coverage based on a criminal record.
Sponsors of the legislation said families should not be put in debt because of a crime their loved one committed a lifetime ago. They also argue life insurance companies should provide coverage regardless of the crime someone committed. The law does not require companies to offer life insurance coverage to people who are currently incarcerated.
The most effective outcome is when someone walks away knowing they selected the option that aligns with the life they want to live, both now and decades from now.”
“Cashing Out,” a short film recounting the birth of the viatical settlement industry, is on the short list for an Academy Award nomination.
The 40-minute film tells the story of how victims coped with the new killer disease AIDS during the 1980s. The disease gave rise to viatical settlements, an investment strategy where terminally ill patients sold their life insurance policies to investors for immediate cash.
The film highlights the moral dilemma of an industry that profited from death. While the strategy provided much-needed relief to the dying, investors often earned significant profits on a “quick turnaround” when patients passed away.
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The cash value in a properly structured permanent life policy can protect other retirement assets during market downturns.
By Jacob Lewis
Most people preparing for retirement focus on familiar strategies such as implementing a 60/40 portfolio, choosing between a Roth or a traditional individual retirement account, hedging with gold, or even adding exposure to digital assets. But one asset is often overlooked despite its unique ability to stabilize retirement income and maximize the longevity of overall retirement assets — and that is permanent life insurance, more specifically the cash value within. Although many think of life insurance only in terms of the death benefit, life insurance’s strength when properly designed comes from its cash value and the ability to access it tax free. Not only can dollars within the cash value be borrowed
tax free, but those dollars continue to earn interest or dividends while the money is lent out.
With maximum funding of a properly designed permanent life insurance policy, the cash value feature allows the policy to act as a “buffer asset,” a financial tool that protects retirement portfolios from the damaging effects of market downturns and sequence-of-returns risk. By accessing the cash values for income rather than investment withdrawals during market downturns, selling investments at inopportune times can be avoided, which ultimately leads to greater asset appreciation and portfolio longevity.
To put this buffer asset into context, let’s go through a case study that uses data from an actual carrier illustration.
The case study will revolve around Rebecca, a 55-year-old Florida resident planning to retire at 65. She needs about $100,000 per year in retirement income. Between Social Security and a deferred income annuity, she expects $75,000 of that to be covered. The remaining $25,000 would come from her traditional IRA, which currently holds $400,000.
Her challenge is to avoid selling equities during market downturns and ultimately maximize her portfolio’s longevity. Beyond the financial impacts, she wants to reduce stress during volatile years in the stock market and eventually leave a meaningful legacy to her heirs.
To support these goals, Rebecca commits to funding a 10-pay whole life policy
Life insurance’s strength when properly designed comes from its cash value and the ability to access it tax free.
with $20,000 per year. After 10 years, she has paid in $200,000, and her cash value has grown to roughly $226,000, supported by a 6.10% dividend. By the time she reaches retirement, her policy is fully paid up, her cash value exceeds her contributions and the asset is ready to serve as her retirement buffer.
To further illustrate the power of this buffer asset, I created a rough scenario for Rebecca’s retirement in which she will experience 10 years in which the market has negative performance. Instead of drawing from her IRA during those years, forcing her to sell equities at low prices, she takes tax-free policy loans from her cash value.
Over multiple downturn periods (ages 66–67, 69, 74–75, 78–80, 83–84), she accesses $250,000 through policy loans. This allows her investment portfolio to remain untouched during weak markets, giving her equities time to recover before she resumes withdrawals.
This simple shift in withdrawal timing can dramatically improve long-term portfolio outcomes, as demonstrated later.
Throughout retirement, Rebecca never repays the loans. Even so, her policy continues to perform because whole life loans do not function in the same way traditional loans do. Her entire cash value, including the portion she accessed, continues to earn dividends.
Loan interest is charged at 5% during the first 10 years of the policy and at 3% thereafter. With a dividend crediting rate of 6.10%, she benefits from a positive spread, also known as interest rate arbitrage.
By age 95, her policy still shows more than $221,000 in cash value and provides a death benefit of more than $240,000 — even after she accessed $250,000 over the years. If she lives to age 100, the projected death benefit rises to about $265,000, offering her heirs a meaningful legacy while she enjoys uninterrupted retirement income.
To understand the impact of this approach, imagine Rebecca’s $400,000 IRA invested in the S&P 500 over the past 20 years, using historical market data. If she withdrew $25,000 every year
regardless of market conditions, her IRA would grow to about $976,000. But if she used her life insurance cash value in negative- or low-growth years and limited withdrawals to stronger market years, the IRA would instead grow to roughly $1.69 million, and that does not even include the remaining cash value or death benefit of the life insurance policy.
The difference in outcomes comes entirely from avoiding withdrawals in the worst market periods, thus preventing long-term depletion.
It’s important to note that not all whole life policies can perform this way. Traditional policies are often structured to maximize the death benefit, which results in low early cash value and limited flexibility. For the buffer asset strategy, the design must emphasize cash value growth.
This means directing most of the premium toward cash value rather than death benefit and ensuring the policy does not become a modified endowment contract, which would limit tax advantages.
Two policies with identical premiums can produce dramatically different outcomes, depending on how they are designed. For retirees planning to use this strategy, proper design is everything.
Permanent life insurance, when engineered for cash value growth, becomes more than just a death benefit. It becomes a stabilizing force in retirement — a buffer that protects investment portfolios during turbulent markets, supports income needs without forced selling, reduces financial anxiety and ultimately enhances the legacy passed to heirs.
LIMRA projects that annuity sales will remain strong throughout 2026, potentially surpassing the $450 billion mark for the full year.
Due to continued market volatility, the “sales winds” are expected to shift toward safety in 2026, with a renewed focus on fixed-rate and built-in value guarantees.
Registered index-linked annuities and fixed indexed annuities continue to dominate, with 96 new FIA products launched through the first three quarters of 2025.
Americans continue to choose FIAs because they offer a balance of protection, growth potential and alternatives for lifetime income. Late-wave baby boomers and Generation Xers are searching for ways to replace pensionlike guarantees, and FIAs can fill that gap, experts say.
These generations bear greater responsibility for their own retirement income, and they’re seeking solutions that offer security and predictability.
Interest rates have helped strengthen product features in recent years. Even if rates soften, the need for guaranteed income will remain.
A retired Navy veteran and his wife are suing Ameritas over the alleged fraudulent sale of unsuitable equity-indexed annuities. But an agreement was reached in August, the insurer claims.
Andrew and Jennifer Johnson initially sued Ameritas Mutual Holding Co., Ameritas Life Insurance Co. and broker Allison Terlip in North Carolina state court. In December, Terlip petitioned to move the case to the District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Ameritas claims the plaintiffs agreed to a mediation settlement in August, and it is asking the judge to enforce that agreement. In January, the Johnsons filed for a stay of that decision until their own petition to return the case to state court can be heard.
The Johnsons claim that Ameritas is liable for a “sophisticated scheme ... to defraud ” them via the sale of
unsuitable equity-linked annuities. In addition, the insurer allegedly withheld information about Terlip, whom the Johnsons describe as “a felonious financial advisor who targeted retired military families with her husband.” Ameritas declined to comment.
Delaware Life Insurance Co. and Corebridge Financial are the first to hit the market with annuity-crypto products. Delaware Life is adding the BlackRock U.S. Equity Bitcoin Balanced Risk 12% Index to its fixed indexed annuity portfolio.
Delaware Life is “committed to innovation and expanding investment opportunities in the annuity space,” the insurer said in a news release.
The BlackRock U.S. Equity Bitcoin Balanced Risk 12% Index is designed to
“Today’s clients are asking for written plans that are focused on strategies first and products second.”
— Kurt Auleta, senior vice president, head of western sales at Security Benefit
deliver blended growth exposure and a risk-managed design that targets 12% volatility, “using dynamic cash adjustments to help smooth bitcoin’s inherent volatility,” the release said.
Corebridge is partnering with Invesco to incorporate the Invesco New Economy Index and two exchange-traded products, Invesco QQQ ETF and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF.
Integrity Marketing Group boosted its distribution network with the January acquisition of AIMCOR Group. Always on the hunt for acquisitions, Integrity added a network of more than 40 broker general agencies. Headquartered in Malvern, Pa., AIMCOR “is a national leader in traditional life insurance distribution, with an established institutional service model connected to some of the largest banks and financial institutions in North America,” Integrity said in a news release.
AIMCOR Group was formed in January 2011 through a strategic merger between two organizations, Aimco and RGroup. Shortly after its inception in December 2011, John C. Ziambras was appointed president and CEO, a role in which he will continue.
Ziambras and Marc Verbos, executive vice president, along with the current AIMCOR owners, will become owners of Integrity. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
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guarantees against the accuracy or their applicability issues. The results are made as to the www.allianzlife.com
Fixed index annuities are designed to meet long-term needs for retirement income. They provide tax-deferred accumulation potential, guarantees against the loss of principal and credited interest, and the reassurance of a death benefit for beneficiaries.
Information and interactive calculators are made available as self-help tools for independent use. We cannot and do not guarantee their accuracy or their applicability to any individual circumstances and encourage clients to seek personalized guidance from qualified professionals regarding all personal finance issues. The results presented by these calculators are hypothetical and for illustrative purposes, and do not represent current or future performance. No guarantees are made as to the accuracy of any projection.
Guarantees are backed solely by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing company.
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America is not affiliated with Ensight.
Products are issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 5701 Golden Hills Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55416-1297. www.allianzlife.com
This content does not apply in the state of New York.
Product and feature availability may vary by state and broker/dealer. For financial professional use only – not for use with the public.
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The best annuity for retirement is the one that’s best for the individual client’s needs and goals.
By John Poston
Annuities offer a compelling and often indispensable solution for guaranteed income, but the sheer variety and complexity of products can be daunting for clients and financial professionals alike.
Identifying the “best” annuity for retirement isn’t about finding a single product but about tailoring solutions to meet diverse client needs. For advisors, this is more than a transaction; it’s also an opportunity to provide integrity-driven guidance in a complex system, solidifying our role as key advocates for our clients.
As advances in health care increase longevity, many clients face the risk of
outliving their savings — a challenge I call the “longevity imperative.” This means clients need robust income strategies that can endure for decades. With the decline of traditional pensions, individuals are increasingly responsible for self-funded retirement. This makes our education and guidance in income planning more critical than ever. We’re not simply selling products; we’re providing essential navigation in a system that can be confusing and frustrating for those seeking clarity. Despite fluctuating interest rates and inflation, sustained interest in annuities is encouraging. As LIMRA’s most recent annuity sales report highlights, total annuity sales continue to exceed $100 billion for the eighth consecutive quarter. This demonstrates annuities’ increasing relevance as a vital component of a well-diversified retirement portfolio, offering principal protection and guaranteed income.
Each type of annuity offers distinct features designed to address varying risk
tolerances and income goals. As advisors, it’s our responsibility to simplify these options and present them clearly, empowering clients to make informed decisions. Here’s a breakdown of the most impactful annuity types.
» Fixed annuities (including multiyear guaranteed annuities). These offer predictable growth and principal protection with guaranteed interest rates for a set period, like certificates of deposit but with tax-deferred growth. Fixed annuities can be an excellent option for conservative clients seeking certainty.
» Fixed indexed annuities. FIAs blend growth potential with principal protection. Interest credits are linked to a market index’s performance (e.g., the S&P 500), allowing market upside (with caps/participation rates) while shielding from downturns. FIAs are appealing to those seeking limited market risk.
» Registered index-linked annuities. A newer evolution, RILAs offer greater market participation and upside potential than FIAs but with defined buffers or floors that limit downside
risk. This makes them suitable for clients who are comfortable with a modest level of market risk for potentially higher returns.
» Immediate versus deferred annuities. This categorization defines when income payments begin. Funded with a lump sum, single premium immediate annuities begin paying income almost immediately (within 12 months) and are typically best for retirees needing an immediate, guaranteed income stream. Deferred annuities accumulate value
tax-deferred growth). Risk tolerance (emotional comfort with market fluctuation) and risk capacity (financial ability to handle changes) are distinct but equally important. Ask yourself: How much market fluctuation can a client emotionally stomach versus how much can they financially afford?
2. Liquidity needs: Annuities are generally long-term contracts. While many offer penalty-free withdrawal provisions (e.g., 10% annually), early withdrawals beyond these limits can incur
over time before payments begin at a future date. Deferred income annuities are a type of deferred annuity acting as “longevity insurance,” providing income far into the future (e.g., starting at age 80 or 85) to mitigate outliving savings.
The best annuity is a personalized strategy
I cannot emphasize this enough: There is no single “best” annuity. Instead, the optimal choice is highly personalized. As trusted advisors, our role is to act as advocates, ensuring the client’s needs and goals are the sole drivers of the recommendation. This process involves conducting a thorough needs analysis, considering several critical factors.
1. Client goals and risk tolerance: First, understand a client’s retirement vision, current income and essential expenses. Annuities should align with specific goals (e.g., guaranteed lifetime income, capital preservation,
I cannot emphasize this enough: There is no single “best” annuity. Instead, the optimal choice is highly personalized. As trusted advisors, our role is to act as advocates ...
surrender charges. My advice is always to ensure clients retain sufficient accessible funds for emergencies.
3. Fees and riders: Annuities, especially variable and indexed products, can involve various fees (mortality and expense, administrative and rider costs). Although riders (e.g., guaranteed living benefits, enhanced death benefits) add value, their costs must be carefully weighed and all fees should be transparently communicated. As advocates, we must ensure clients understand the full cost of their product.
4. Tax implications: Nonqualified annuities offer tax-deferred growth, with earnings taxed as ordinary income upon withdrawal. I advise professionals to guide clients on the tax efficiency of annuities within their overall retirement income strategy.
5. Insurer financial strength: This is a nonnegotiable step in my due diligence process. Annuity guarantees are backed
by the insurance company, not the FDIC. Evaluating financial strength ratings from independent agencies such as A.M. Best, Moody’s and S&P is absolutely critical. We owe this level of security and due diligence to our clients.
The annuity market continues to evolve, as the recent high-interest-rate environment has made fixed annuities particularly attractive, with rates reaching levels not seen in years. However, as Bankrate notes, if interest rates begin to decline, the appeal of straightforward fixed annuities may wane, potentially leading to a shift in sales toward more dynamic products.
Product innovation remains a key driver as the growth of RILAs and the continuous enhancements to FIAs (e.g., custom indices, flexible crediting methods, improved income riders) demonstrate insurers’ commitment to broadening solutions across the risk spectrum. This innovation provides us, as advisors, with a more diverse toolkit to address clients’ unique needs, from prioritizing principal protection to seeking a balance of growth and managed risk.
The underlying demographic trends — an aging population and a growing need for guaranteed lifetime income — will continue to fuel demand for annuities. As LIMRA research indicates, more than half of preretirees and retirees express interest in converting a portion of their assets to an annuity. This sustained interest, combined with ongoing product development and the essential guidance of knowledgeable agents, positions annuities as a vital and growing segment of the retirement planning landscape.
Remember, the ideal annuity for retirement isn’t a one-size-fits-all product; instead, it’s a strategically chosen financial instrument tailored to a client’s unique circumstances, risk profile and retirement aspirations.
John Poston is a senior marketer at Southwest Annuities Marketing, an AmeriLife company. Contact him at john.poston@innfeedback.com.
Not every employee in a business sits behind a desk. How do employers engage and support “deskless” workers in their selection and use of workplace benefits?
Deskless workers are a large and essential segment of the global workforce, representing between 70% and 80% of employees worldwide, said Kathy Slovin, vice president at Fidelity Investments. They include safety and security personnel, manufacturing workers, health care workers, hospitality workers, and construction workers.
Despite the diversity of roles, many deskless jobs share common characteristics. They include limited access to cellphones and technology during the workday, irregular schedules and hours, and lack of a centralized office location.
Slovin suggested several ways in which employers can engage these deskless employees with workplace benefits. These ways include collaborating with their benefits provider, using in-person communication, considering incentives, and leveraging frontline managers and influencers.
Less than half of America’s workforce is holistically healthy as employees battle rising costs and employers balance investing in benefits with broader cost-cutting measures. These were among the findings from MetLife’s 2026 U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study.
The study found on average that employees miss 6.1 days of work annually due to health-related issues and 50% of employees often avoid seeking medical care because of out-of-pocket costs Employers cite “controlling health care costs” as their top benefits objective, surpassing productivity, loyalty and attracting new talent for the first time since 2022.
As overall workforce well-being has stalled, only 44% of employees report feeling holistically healthy, while engagement, loyalty and productivity remain flat.
Americans who have strong financial habits are significantly more likely to report better physical and mental health , according to the MassMutual Health & Wealth Habits Report. Most Americans believe that prioritizing health improves their financial decision-making, but many struggle to maintain wellness because of financial pressures.
The report found that 39% of Americans have skipped at least one health appointment — most commonly dental cleanings/checkups (21%) and vision exams (20%) — or or purchase in the past 12 months due to cost concerns.
In addition, in the past 12 months, 45% have gone without promoting their wellness, such as with healthy groceries or meal planning (24%), medication/
Source: CBS News In 2024, insurers denied 19% of in-network claims – about 1 in 5.
We’ve established –on the record – that the largest health companies are not just insurers … They are increasingly controlling every aspect of our health care system.”
vitamins (21%) and gym or fitness membership (20%).
The cost of employer-provided health insurance has grown three times faster than workers’ earnings since 1999, according to a Rice University study. The study said the major factor driving this increase is the steady rise in hospital prices. The time period analyzed includes the COVID-19 pandemic, when health insurance prices climbed almost as quickly as hospital costs, although they have since stabilized.
The study found that between 1999 and 2024, workers’ contributions to family health insurance premiums increased by 308%, while total premiums rose 342% . Over the same period, workers’ wages increased by only 119% and overall inflation grew by 64%.
Hospital prices may be the primary cost driver of higher premiums, the study’s authors said, but another contributing factor is extreme price hikes — up to 300% in some cases — of some high-cost prescription drugs.
Medicare Advantage has been impacted by changes to Medicare Part D cost share, changes to the CMS risk adjustment model and declining Star Ratings.
By Susan Rupe
Medicare Advantage has struggled to achieve profitability despite increasing numbers of older Americans choosing MA plans. But even though challenges exist in the MA market, a number of opportunities also can be found in Medicare Advantage.
AM Best conducted a recent briefing on MA, looking into some of the factors shaping that market.
In 2025, more than 54% of eligible Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in MA plans, according to KFF. But 2026 could see the first decline in MA enrollment in two decades, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expecting 34 million MA enrollees for 2026, down from
34.9 million in the previous year.
AM Best assigned a negative outlook to MA plans for 2026. The factors leading to that negative outlook include higher usage trends, changes to Medicare Part D from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, reduction in MA Star Ratings and changes to MA’s risk adjustment payment methodology.
MA had been a key driver of health insurance profitability over the past five years, said Bridget Maehr, director at AM Best. But 2024 marked the first year in which the industry reported a collective underwriting loss in MA.
The loss ratio for MA increased to a high of 89.9 for 2024, she said. That increase was due to higher utilization rates and higher drug costs.
More people than ever before are aging into plans but many of those enrollees also are higher users of medical services. The MA segment also has been impacted by changes to Medicare Part D cost share, changes to the CMS risk adjustment model and declining Star Ratings.
Nonprofit insurers and Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers continue to report the highest loss ratios for MA, Maehr said, with nonprofits reporting a 96.1 loss ratio for 2024 and BCBS insurers reporting a 94.7 loss ratio for that same year.
These numbers are driven by lower targeted margins for these companies along with increasing utilization and medical costs trends. In addition, BCBS insurers are typically concentrated by geography, which does not allow them to write business across multiple locations.
Publicly traded insurers also saw increased loss ratios in 2024, she reported.
CVS saw its largest year-over-year loss ratio, driven by the loss of a four-Star rating on its largest MA plan, along with higher usage and higher drug costs.
Health insurers that are concentrated in MA (having more than one-third of their business in MA) experienced a material decline in earnings since 2020, Maehr said. Earnings were significantly worse for smaller regional health insurers that have struggled with MA for several years.
Declining Star Ratings also have
impacted MA insurers. Only plans that have a rating of four stars or higher are eligible for an additional 5% bonus payment from CMS. The percentage of plans with ratings of four stars or higher has fallen substantially from a high of 68% in 2022 to a low of 40% in 2025. The average Star Rating has declined since 2023, when it was 4.37, and will decline to 3.2 for 2026.
Drug plans saw an increase in utilization and costs between 2024 and 2025,
MA was created, she said. In addition, 2025 marked the first year in which member premiums increased in aggregate.
The dynamics of the Inflation Reduction Act and high emerging drug cost trends led to leaner Part D benefits. Friedman said MA Part D deductibles will increase $138 on average in 2026 for general enrollment plans, and 90% of MA Part D general enrollment plans have coinsurance on Tier 4 drugs.
Medicare Advantage organizations continue to face significant revenue pressure
Material increase in direct subsidy should help mitigate Part D cost pressures
Competitive landscape is increasingly uncertain as carriers address financial headwinds and some exit markets
Competitor strategies may drive anti-selection risk for payers
Elevated claim trends are outpacing benchmark trends
headwind tailwind unknown
said Julia Friedman, principal and consulting actuary with Milliman. Medicare
Part D and Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans saw a 41% increase in per member per month gross cost between calendar year 2024 and the first half of 2025. Part D had a 38% increase in utilization during that period, while MA drug plan utilization was up by 20%.
Part D utilization trends were driven by the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped out-of-pocket costs for Part D beneficiaries at $2,000 annually, Friedman said. Nearly 10% of Part D members reached the catastrophic phase of coverage by June 25, a faster rate than in prior years because of a lower out-of-pocket spending threshold, increasing utilization trends and plan benefit design changes.
MA and Part D benefits are being degraded at a level that hasn’t been seen since
Star reductions may lead to loss in quality bonus payments and rebates
Total beneficiary cost change restrictions are limiting MA organizations ability to bid at target margin
RxHCC risk score model changes are placing revenue pressures for MA Drug Plans, particularly for nonlow-income members
Recent elevated Rx trends, particularly for specialty drugs, are likely to persist
and uncertainty, she said. Prioritization of growth and margins is driving MA product redesign efforts for 2027. Product priorities include:
» Improving financial performance through product design
» Managing competitor strategies to avoid creating adverse selection
» Considering terminating plans or adding premiums
» Positioning $0 premium plans profitably
“We see a lot of headwinds and uncertainty in Medicare Advantage, and we don’t see as many tailwinds,” Friedman said. “Before determining whether organizations should lean in, pull back or exit,
we must understand whether the losses organizations might be experiencing are fixable or structural.”
The MA market saw a significant amount of plan terminations and service area reductions for 2025 and 2026, Friedman said. Nearly 3 million beneficiaries were required to select a new plan for 2026, which is 1½ times the number of beneficiaries who had to choose a new plan for 2025 and 10 times the number of those who were similarly impacted for 2024.
MA plan offerings declined for the second consecutive year, with non-special needs plan offerings showing the sharpest drop — 9% between 2025 and 2026.
Meanwhile, dual-eligible special needs and chronic special needs plan offerings grew by 10% and 44%, respectively, during that time. Friedman said the decrease in N-SNP offerings and increase in SNP offerings signal a strategic shift toward serving higher-acuity populations.
“We’re in a considerably different place in Medicare Advantage in 2026 than we were even two years ago,” she said.
Looking ahead to 2027, Friedman listed some areas to examine in the MA market.
» Changes to Part D in the aftermath of the Inflation Reduction Act and a leaner benefit design will impact member spending on prescription drugs.
» As plans balance competitive offerings with sustainable margins, members will face increasing out-of-pocket liability and leaner supplemental benefits.
» Will rate hikes be high enough to temper market shifts seen in 2025 and 2026?
Despite the challenges in the MA market, Maehr said she believes insurers will adapt to the changing environment.
“It is one of the only segments with potential for real enrollment growth,” she said.
Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents’ association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at susan.rupe@ innfeedback.com.
When it comes to retirement readiness, Americans need a road map. So TIAA created one for them.
TIAA put together its comprehensive Policy Roadmap, which is designed to help employers, workers and policymakers take concrete actions to help ensure more American workers can achieve financially secure retirements.
“We have millions of people who do not have a road map for their finances.”
Marc Cadin, Finseca CEO
More than half of Americans (51%) have either stopped or reduced their retirement savings in the past six months due to the current economic environment. Two in three (66%) say they have not been able to contribute to their savings as much in the past six months due to the current economic environment.
Allianz Life’s Q4 2025 Quarterly Market Perception study showed concern about the cost of health care is a contributing factor in cutting back on or stopping retirement saving. The majority of Americans (59%) say they are prioritizing saving for health-related expenses over other financial goals
Chris Spence, TIAA’s head of government relations and public policy, said the Policy Roadmap is part of TIAA’s advocacy efforts to outline what employers, workers and policymakers can do to help increase retirement security.
The plan outlines specific actions people can take, including employers establishing auto-enrollment in workplace retirement plans and workers taking advantage of age-based catch-up contributions.
Gen X has navigated a shifting retirement landscape and economic volatility to successfully accumulate wealth on its own. As a result, an Equitable study revealed, nearly eight in 10 respondents feel confident in their investment decisions and are actively saving and investing while still working.
Yet the research uncovered a planning paradox: 40% of Gen Xers lack a formal written financial plan. Among those who
58% would trade $1 million in retirement savings for five extra healthy years.
Source: Edelman Financial Engines
Younger generations are more likely than older generations to have cut back on their retirement savings. The study found that 62% of Generation Z and millennials are more likely to say they have stopped or reduced retirement savings, as opposed to Generation X (46%) or baby boomers (36%). What’s more, 47% say they have had to dip into their retirement savings in the past six months due to the current economic environment.
do have a plan, half created it independently — potentially leaving them vulnerable to blind spots without the guidance of a financial professional to develop a holistic strategy.
As the sandwich generation, Gen X is balancing the needs of aging parents and dependent children while trying to save enough to achieve their retirement goals. In addition, while most Gen Xers are confident investors, past experiences have made this generation more conservative in their financial planning and investment decisions.
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As Medicare limitations and cost pressures become more visible, longterm care is increasingly shaping how Americans think about affordability, independence and stability.
• Kathy Pauley
Long-term care has always been an essential piece of retirement planning discussions. What’s changed is how increasingly unavoidable those conversations have become.
As the 2026 benefit year is underway, Medicare-eligible Americans are seeing higher premiums, redesigned prescription drug costs, and clearer visibility into what Medicare does and does not cover.
At the same time, the LTC system itself continues to face pressure from rising costs, workforce shortages and demographic demand that shows no sign of slowing.
For advisors, this combination is reshaping how individuals and families think about financial resilience and longterm security. LTC planning is increasingly part of broader conversations about aging and financial preparedness.
The question is no longer whether LTC will matter in 2026 but whether advisors are prepared to address it clearly and responsibly.
One of the most persistent misconceptions in retirement planning is the belief that Medicare will step in when LTC becomes necessary. That assumption continues to create confusion.
Medicare generally doesn’t cover custodial care, including care delivered in:
• Nursing homes.
• Assisted living facilities.
• The home when care is custodial rather than medical.
Coverage is instead limited to medically necessary skilled services, and only under specific conditions, such as:
• Short-term skilled nursing facility care.
• Care following a qualifying hospital stay.
• Services provided within defined time frames and clinical criteria.
As Americans begin navigating the 2026 benefit year, awareness of costs is increasing. Higher Part B premiums and redesigned Part D cost-sharing structures are drawing more attention to out-of-pocket exposure. For many Americans, this is the first clear signal that medical coverage and LTC planning aren’t the same thing.
That realization often surfaces for advisors after options have narrowed or affordability has shifted, making earlier education and clearer expectations especially important.
Beyond individual coverage gaps, wide-ranging system changes are increasing the LTC challenge.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services fiscal year 2026 updates to inpatient and LTC hospital payment policies are now in effect. The final rule includes a 2.7% increase of LTC hospital payment rates, reflecting higher operating costs and sustained utilization across extended care settings.
While payment updates don’t directly translate into consumer prices, they’re an essential signal of ongoing system strain. LTC infrastructure continues to adjust to labor shortages, rising expenses and increased demand for complex care. Over time, those pressures can influence access, availability and affordability.
At the same time, demographic trends remain steady. Americans are living longer, often with chronic conditions that require ongoing support rather than acute medical intervention. Families are navigating caregiving decisions with fewer informal supports and less financial margin for error than in prior generations. Taken together, these forces are
pushing LTC from a theoretical risk into a practical planning issue for a larger share of the Medicare-eligible population.
Advisors are finding LTC questions surfacing earlier in retirement conversations, often before any immediate care need exists.
Part of that shift is driven by increased cost visibility. For 2026, Medicare Part D introduces a $2,100 annual out-ofpocket cap on prescription drugs. While the cap offers meaningful relief, it also highlights the limits of Medicare coverage and underscores other expenses Medicare doesn’t cover.
The caregiving experience is reshaping how expectations are formed. Many Generation X Americans have already supported aging parents and understand the financial and emotional strain involved, which makes them more likely to ask earlier questions about their own independence, care preferences and financial protection.
LTC planning now sits alongside Medicare education, retirement income discussions and broader affordability considerations.
The growing relevance of LTC doesn’t change the need for clear professional boundaries. It does, however, change how prepared licensed agents need to be.
1. Be clear about what Medicare covers and what it doesn’t. Consistent education helps set realistic expectations.
2. Frame LTC discussions around planning, not fear. Conversations focused on independence, flexibility and choice tend to resonate more than those focused on worst-case scenarios.
3. Stay informed about the evolving LTC landscape. Understanding traditional LTC insurance, hybrid solutions and shorter-duration options supports better education, even when the goal is to help someone understand trade-offs.
4. Maintain consistency in how conversations are documented. As these discussions continue to surface more frequently, structured approaches that capture questions, concerns and decisions help protect both consumers and advisors as expectations evolve.
Labeling 2026 as “the year of LTC” risks
oversimplifying what is, in fact, a longer-term shift. LTC planning isn’t “having a moment”; it’s becoming embedded in how Americans think about aging, care choices and autonomy.
What stands out right now is preparedness for long-term security, not bold positioning. Starting these discussions early and keeping them accurate allows support to evolve naturally as situations change.
LTC may not dominate headlines in early 2026. But for many American navigating Medicare decisions this year, it will quietly shape the choices that matter most.
Kathy Pauley is AmeriLife’s long-term care regional specialist in Land O’ Lakes, Fla. Contact her at kathy.pauley@innfeedback.com.
Understanding the options when retirement comes before Medicare eligibility. • Kiersten DeFluri
For many workers, age 62 may seem like the green light for retirement. That’s the age when those who are eligible for Social Security can begin claiming benefits. However, what many fail to realize is that Social Security eligibility isn’t the only indicator of full retirement readiness.
To help offset health care costs later in life, the federal government created Medicare. In order to enroll in coverage, though, you must be at least 65 years of age. This can create an issue for those who rely on their employer for health insurance and were hoping to leave the workforce before 65. In order to bridge this gap, it’s important for your clients to understand all their options to ensure they remain insured in their post-employment years.
Some companies offer health care coverage to retirees, but just like pensions, this practice is becoming less common — especially given that employers aren’t required to provide continued coverage once a worker retires. To see if your clients’ employers provide retiree health coverage, have them start by reviewing their summary plan description. If their employer does provide health coverage to retirees, check to see under what terms and for how long. For peace of mind, clients should consider
having a conversation with their employer about retiree benefits three to six months before they plan to retire. This will ensure a smooth transition.
If your clients’ employers don’t provide coverage in retirement, they may be able to temporarily extend their group coverage via COBRA. Coverage is typically extended up to 18 months. The downside is that they will be responsible for covering 100% of the premium and any additional fees. This can become very expensive — potentially draining their savings if they didn’t plan accordingly. Although COBRA is expensive, it does allow your clients to maintain their current coverage for a little while — meaning they’ll most likely get to work with their established medical team as they work to find more permanent coverage.
Aside from COBRA, your clients can also explore Affordable Care Act marketplace plans. Typically, this is the most flexible option because it allows them to tailor coverage to their location, specific health care needs and budget. Depending on their income level, they may qualify for the premium tax credit, lowering their monthly premium. It is important to note that enhanced ACA subsidies expired at the end of 2025. Therefore, additional outof-pocket savings on deductibles, copayments and coinsurance have been largely reduced, resulting in higher premiums for beneficiaries in 2026.
If your clients are married and their spouse is still working and has access to group health coverage through their employer, joining their plan may be the easiest and most cost-effective solution. Timing and coordination, however, are key here. In most cases, retiring is considered a major life event, which means your clients could have the option to do a special enrollment if their specific timeline falls outside open enrollment.
While virtually no one wants to face this option, it may be the most financially prudent choice, especially if none of the above options are practical. Delaying retirement age by even just a year or two ensures current health coverage continues, gives your clients extra time to build savings, and can reduce or eliminate the gap between retirement and Medicare eligibility. For many of us, retirement is the end goal. But making that dream a reality can be a journey. While factors such as level of savings, age and plans in retirement may largely influence when someone chooses to retire, failing to account for health care costs and coverage can annihilate those plans in a matter of months. Thus, proper retirement planning is crucial to ensuring retirement becomes a reality.
Kiersten DeFluri is the Medicare specialist at Dan White & Associates. Contact her at kiersten.defluri@ innfeedback.com.
Technology tools work best when they complement the role of advisors.
By Rayne Morgan
Technology is transforming the way independent agents handle insurance sales, in many ways leveling the playing field between what only larger agencies had the resources to accomplish previously and what the everyday sales agent can accomplish today.
According to Diane Delaney, executive director of the Private Risk Management Association, a lot of that comes down to the way agents use technology to their advantage, working in tandem with tools such as generative artificial intelligence instead of letting it overshadow them.
“When we look at AI, I think it’s going to be a big benefit. I know there has been this concern across the board of ‘Will it replace our roles as independent agents?’ I think it’s just the opposite,” Delaney said.
She believes technology works best when it complements insurance advisors’ roles and allows them to be “more consultative and build relationships better.”
And building client relationships is precisely the foundation of an effective insurance sales agent, according to Todd Villeneuve, managing partner, IFC National Marketing.
In Villeneuve’s 35 years in insurance, he has seen that personal relationships make the difference between an agent who’s “just spitting out” automated quotes, failing to make a connection with the client and maybe just “having a transaction” versus the one who puts more effort into the relationship and builds a long-term client.
“Sometimes I think people believe AI and tech are going to take away roles, and I say it’s the exact opposite. I believe it creates a better connection, and if anybody wants to take a deep dive into sales, it doesn’t matter how much you know in any game — it’s how much you care about somebody. That’s where I think the biggest tool on this tech is,” he said.
Daniel Burrus, CEO, Burrus Research, agrees that it’s about finding the right balance between leveraging technology to one’s advantage and “overusing” it to the point of just generating “AI slop.”
“A mistake that I’ve seen being made, not only by insurance agents but in every industry, is that we get good answers
and we become addicted to it, and we stop interfacing and putting ourselves into it. … If you rely too much on AI, you will be replaced. We want sales agents to augment their thinking, not replace it,” Burrus said.
Delaney, Villeneuve and Burrus said the biggest ways independent insurance advisors can leverage AI to their advantage is by using different tools available to:
1. Build relationships
2. Improve sales training
3. Gain deeper customer insights
4. Find new opportunities
5. Boost productivity
All three experts shared tips on which types or which specific companies’ products agents may choose to consider trying in their quest to embrace technology and scale their businesses for the future.
By harnessing the power of AI, today’s sales agents can cut through administrative work and spend more time cultivating
personal experiences with their clients, Delaney pointed out.
She said that in her experience, both large agencies and small agencies have begun leveraging AI tools for functions such as tailoring emails and other content to match individual clients’ personalities and preferences.
“So, what they’ll do is they’ll take a lot of their emails that they’re going to send to the client and ask them to convert it for them to match with the client’s personality traits. A lot of them have found that helpful because they would spend a long time trying to change their emails and wordsmith them,” Delaney said.
Advisors can also take advantage of AI tools that simulate real client conversations to create effective and practical training.
This is new technology PRMA is “very passionate about” and has been exploring, Delaney noted. She mentioned Brevity as one company that has rolled this out.
“There is a lot of new technology coming into this space that will allow an agent to practice their sales and service skills with essentially an avatar. It seems like a real person that is trained to respond to them, but it allows them to practice the sales process before ever speaking to a client. … It’s almost as if you’re responding to a ChatGPT, but it’s in voice form,” Delaney explained.
The AI program acts differently every time and can be set up to mimic specific “pain points” and different personalities like real customers have.
“It’s just practicing the sales skills with you, and it scores you at the end and it tells you where you could have been stronger. That type of tool, to me, especially in the insurtech space, is going to be something that will probably take off because it’s a no-brainer for agents or the entire brokerage to offer this to their team,” Delaney said.
New pre-fill tools that can automatically pull in responses to underwriting questions are also “fantastic for brokers and agents,” Delaney said.
She explained that when agents are so focused on ticking off underwriting questions, it can be a “time suck” that makes them miss the chance to “really get an
What AI tools do is help independent insurance agents “join the productivity revolution” that many larger agencies already benefit from.
insight into what’s keeping the client up at night.” Pre-fill tools such as those offered by Modern Metric are a good solution, in Delaney’s opinion.
“There are several tools that are coming into this space that have this pre-fill, where they can start to enter information on the home and it starts to pull how old something might be or the distance from the fire hydrant,” Delaney explained.
Additionally, Villeneuve noted that some tools can provide historical insights about current clients that will help agents quickly recall details and improve their strategy.
For instance, he said, if an agent is on the way to a client’s house, an AI tool can give a verbal summary of the clients, details about their policy, what happened the last time the agent spoke with them or whether they have policies due for renewal.
AI-powered insights can also lead agents to find new business opportunities that they may not have considered before, Villeneuve said.
He considers customer relationship management tools and quoting tools “table stakes” for exploring “large books of business that are really untapped.” Such tools can help when agents are walking customers through what he calls the “gold experience” — taking clients through the different types of coverages appropriate for various life stages.
Villeneuve said IFC National Marketing has released several tools, including some free options, that can help agents “tap into that revenue that they’re missing and maximize the potential of their contacts and their clients.”
What AI tools do is help independent insurance agents “join the productivity revolution” that many larger agencies already benefit from, Burrus said.
He considers himself an expert consultant in AI, having written several books on the subject and published a free AI Strategy Report on the tools he believes can “revolutionize” agents’ workflows.
In the past, he said, an agency’s IT team may simply have not had the time or resources to automate repetitive tasks for agents.
“Now, thanks to these tools, you can actually get AI to help do those repetitive tasks for you so that you’re free now as a human to do the higher-level tasks, which are relationship building, establishing trust, making the sale, et cetera,” Burrus said. “A good part of it is about increasing your productivity — which, for a smaller agency, would have been impossible before. Now tools that can cost as little as $20 a month can help you to do that.”
Burrus reviews dozens of AI tools in his report, including popular ones such as ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. However, he underscored that agents should consider investing in paid versions or custom solutions that can improve performance and security.
The PRMA is an American nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It provides resources, education and networking support to insurance professionals.
Burrus Research is a Wisconsin-based technology and consulting firm founded in 1983.
IFC National Marketing is an independent marketing organization founded in 1996 and based in Fairmont, Minn. It provides technology solutions, tools and resources to independent agents and financial advisors.
Rayne Morgan is a journalist, copywriter and editor with over a decade of experience in digital content and print media. You can reach her at rayne.morgan@innfeedback.com.
Where blockchain is gaining traction in the industry and what the future could hold
BY JOHN FORCUCCI
As artificial intelligence has blazed through the insurance industry, blockchain has remained on the edge of the action — promising transformation, delivering mostly proofs of concept and waiting for a real foothold. Today, that foothold may finally be taking shape through the practical pain points that life and annuity insurers face every day: fragmented data, slow beneficiary updates, managing annuity records and legacy systems that struggle under the weight of decades of customized code.
Two industry experts — Dan Garzella, CEO and founder of Avalon Risk Management, and Mark Nichols, financial services digital assets leader at Ernst & Young — offered a clear view into where blockchain is gaining traction, what remains aspirational and why the industry may soon see a more coordinated shift toward distributed ledger technologies.
Nichols said the most mature blockchain applications in life insurance and annuities focus on digital identity and related data infrastructure. “The use of blockchain across the insurance ecosystem has significant potential to drive efficiency, transparency and enhanced risk
management,” he said, adding, “However, to date there has been limited-scale adoption, with more focus on proofs of concept and understanding the art of the possible.
“The most advanced examples we have observed involve digital identity for consumers and corporations, applied to use cases such as health records, birth and death notifications, and annuity transfers,” he said. Nichols also pointed to rising adoption in investment operations, where tokenized assets, stablecoins and tokenized deposits are emerging as tools for cash management, liquidity optimization and operational efficiency.
Although full-scale blockchain deployments across policy administration remain rare, Garzella agreed that momentum is quietly building. “Some carriers plan to use private chains to track each policy and beneficiary change, including who approved it and when,” he said. “After migrations, this would cut down on back-and-forth over which record is current across teams and regions.”
Garzella described one pilot gaining attention: a shared, industrywide network
that alerts insurers immediately when a policyholder’s death is officially recorded. “This would help companies find and pay families right away, which keeps them from getting in trouble for holding on to ‘lost’ policy money,” he explained.
Nichols sees opportunity elsewhere as well.
“The ability to make annuity contracts more easily tradeable or to drive liquidity against the agreements, subject to appropriate legal frameworks, is key,” Nichols said. As annuities increasingly enter personal investment portfolios, tokenization and blockchain could become a natural part of how these products are bought, sold, administered and valued.
Both experts also highlighted the role of privacy-enabled blockchains, which could allow consumers to authorize access to sensitive data while giving insurers a more secure mechanism for validation. Nichols cautioned, however, that widespread adoption will require greater comfort with crypto wallets, which remain unfamiliar to most consumers.
Life and annuity insurers operate some of the most complex administrative systems
in financial services. Decades of acquisitions, vendor transitions and product variations leave many companies with policy histories scattered across formats and platforms.
Garzella sees blockchain as a way to restore continuity. “Policies get lost when admin systems change and records scatter across vendors and subsidiaries,” he said. A shared ledger could serve as the unbroken thread, preserving policy history through migrations and restructuring.
Nichols added that digital identity frameworks built on blockchain could cut down on fraud, streamline beneficiary updates and reduce the administrative burden for consumers — if the privacy and wallet-based infrastructure supporting them becomes robust enough to earn trust.
“Digital identity is a key potential to unlock, but privacy infrastructure needs to evolve to support consumer trust and confidence in authorizing appropriate parties to access such records,” he said, adding, “Certain privacy-enabled blockchains show promise in enabling these capabilities and ultimately reducing both fraud and the administrative burden on the consumer. We also need to see greater adoption of wallets among consumers to enable these solutions to scale.”
Annuities present a unique challenge: They can exist for decades, outlasting product teams, systems, documentation norms and even corporate ownership.
That is where Garzella sees smart contracts making a meaningful difference. “I’ve witnessed situations years later where no one could definitively identify what was agreed upon back then,” he said. Smart contracts, he said, are important in annuities, as they maintain the initial payout conditions despite any changes in the system.
If blockchain is the destination, legacy systems are the detours.
Garzella put it plainly: “Most old insurance systems bury policy rules in custom code and clunky batch jobs rather than clean data fields.” Extracting reliable historical data from these systems is labor-intensive and error-prone, making blockchain integration “incredibly
“This would help companies find and pay families right away, which keeps them from getting in trouble for holding on to ‘lost’ policy money.”
difficult,” he added.
Nichols agreed, calling legacy data “a key blocker” for widespread adoption. The firms making the most progress, he said, are those minimizing their reliance on legacy platforms altogether — rebuilding processes on modern architectures designed for interoperability.
Blockchain adoption isn’t only a question of technology. It’s a question of modernization. And modernization is expensive, slow and strategically disruptive.
Regulators have not yet rewritten the compliance playbook for life and annuity products — and, for now, that impacts how insurers deploy blockchain.
Garzella noted that regulators still want traditional records preserved. That means blockchain is emerging primarily as a “tamper-proof audit trail,” not a legally authoritative system of record, he said.
Nichols pointed to cybersecurity and privacy as the “deepest areas of focus” among regulators. “Allowing highly personal information to be published on chain requires further maturity of the infrastructure to support it at scale,” he said.
As AI investment surges in the insurance industry, some wonder whether blockchain’s moment has passed.
Garzella emphasized that AI is only as good as the data feeding it. “AI is a powerful engine for analyzing risk, but it is dangerous if it feeds on mismatched data,” he said. Blockchain, in his view, becomes the “trust layer,” ensuring data integrity so automation can operate safely.
Nichols sees a complementary future as well. “We see agentic commerce and AI-enabled services being supported by
blockchain infrastructure,” he said, noting that traceable, verifiable activity is essential for responsible AI deployment across underwriting, claims, fraud detection and customer engagement.
Neither expert suggested that life and annuity insurers are on the brink of a rapid blockchain overhaul. Instead, blockchain’s role appears to be shifting from experimental to structural — quietly addressing pain points that have lingered for years. Across both sets of insights, a few points stand out.
» Blockchain’s value lies in reliability, not novelty.
» Digital identity and record accuracy are emerging as early winners.
» Legacy systems — not skepticism — are the biggest obstacle.
» Smart contracts could reshape annuity administration and liquidity.
» Privacy and regulatory frameworks remain essential prerequisites.
» AI’s rise is strengthening — not weakening — the case for blockchain.
As insurers modernize, consolidate and automate, blockchain may yet become a foundational tool. Today, it is waiting for the industry to catch up.
John Forcucci is InsuranceNewsNet editor-in-chief. Contact him at john.forcucci@ innfeedback.com.
Financial planning is one of the ultimate human-centric professions.
By Daniel Galli
While there has been talk of artificial intelligence taking over the financial planning profession, those in the profession have refuted it, as financial planning is one of the ultimate human-centric professions. Financial planners take in a person’s financial fears, worries, hopes and dreams and help them plan for a future in which they can be confident their money will enable them to accomplish their goals.
For that to occur, granular and sometimes uncomfortable conversations must take place. People bare their souls to financial planners as they explain things like wanting their child with special needs to have as few financial concerns as possible or they are financially responsible for their parent who has been fortunate enough to live a long life but has outlived their funds.
To have these honest and frank conversations, consumers must feel comfortable enough with their financial planner to know that the information they divulge will not only be respected but also truly heard and acted upon with the best intentions to improve their lives and those of their loved ones. That does not happen with a person who is not committed to the financial planning process and relationship. This happens with a trusted financial planner, a core member of that consumer’s inner circle.
How do financial planners achieve that kind of client relationship? By leaning
into their empathy and humanity.
To that end, the Financial Planning Association created the FPA Competency Model last year, providing financial planners with a framework for not only developing technical knowledge but also mastering the behavioral skills needed to work effectively with clients.
The model focuses on six behavioral areas for financial planners to assess their level of mastery and pursue continued education and development in areas that need attention. The six areas are interpersonal
People bare their souls to financial planners as they explain things like wanting their child with special needs to have as few financial concerns as possible ... .
impact, professionalism, leadership, critical thinking, client communication and care, and advancing the profession. Let’s consider two of those areas — interpersonal impact and professionalism — and the opportunities they afford planners to be more human with their clients.
Interpersonal impact encourages greater awareness of gender, racial, religious and other forms of diversity, enabling financial planners to build a deeper connection with their clients. There is a stark difference between putting up holiday decorations and understanding that a client meeting should not be scheduled on a high holiday of great religious significance. Although some investors may shrug off the fact that their financial planner did not consider their religious preferences, it is the professional who appropriately acknowledges and respects clients at their core who forms the best relationship.
Effective listening is also encouraged. This is a skill many may think they have mastered, but true listening is not about
determining when to respond; it is about hearing the other person and giving them space to be themselves. Really “hearing” someone is a huge step toward gaining their trust and confidence in you.
Developing the best listening skills can mean being aware of when a client needs their financial planner to give them space to express their feelings instead of simply trying to solve a problem. This can be challenging, but being aware that clients sometimes need a willing and receptive ear rather than a problem-solver will endear them to their financial planners.
In the area of professionalism, one of the most important concepts to keep in mind is managing stress effectively. Planners can burn out from their often-grueling schedules or from being the vessel for clients’ financial woes. Financial planners who effectively manage their own stress are best positioned to help their clients do the same.
Financial planners can effectively manage their own stress by remembering that they must take care of themselves
before assisting clients, just in a flight emergency they would put on their own oxygen mask before helping a loved one. This means ensuring proper rest and making space for themselves to do the things that they enjoy and love, even if it’s just an hour or two a week. Practicing breathing techniques or meditation may also be effective.
Financial planners who lean into their humanity and that of their clients will never be replaced by AI, as that depth of emotion and awareness cannot be replicated. AI can provide tools that allow financial planners to spend more time with their clients and emphasize their own humanity.
Dan Galli, CFP, is the 2026 president of the Financial Planning Association and is the principal of Daniel J. Galli & Associates in Norwell, Mass. Contact him at dan.galli@innfeedback.com.
Finseca is the
As lawmakers begin the second session of the 119th Congress, committees are working through a significant backlog.
By Jennifer Fox
As Washington enters 2026, the first session of the 119th Congress is now firmly in the rearview mirror — and it will be remembered as one of the most unpredictable and consequential in recent history.
From the rapid passage of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to a prolonged government shutdown that disrupted normal legislative operations, the year was defined by sharp contrasts: momentum followed by paralysis. Throughout it all, Finseca remained focused on advancing the nation’s financial security agenda amid both progress and persistent challenges.
The shutdown showed just how fragile governing has become in a narrowly divided Congress. Beyond its immediate disruption of federal agencies, the shutdown delayed critical committee work that shapes long-term policy. For financial security professionals and
the families they serve, it was a reminder that dysfunction in Washington has
of House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla.; Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.; Senate Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Ranking Member Patty Murray, D-Wash., Congress has cobbled together a path to pass all 12 appropriations bills. This bipartisan work is an important feat, as fiscal year 2027 funding deadlines will arrive on Oct. 1.
Leadership dynamics in the House add another layer of complexity. Speaker Mike Johnson continues to navigate a razor-thin majority amid a growing list of announced retirements. Internal divisions could limit Congress’ ability to advance more complex legislation, including any follow-on tax or retirement proposals.
As the political calendar accelerates, the 2026 midterm elections will increasingly dominate Washington. Historically, election years slow legislative activity as members spend more time campaigning and less time legislating. That reality, however, makes advocacy more — not less — important. Election cycles create critical opportunities to educate candidates and incumbents about the role financial professionals play in helping families, small businesses and communi-
As the political calendar accelerates, the 2026 midterm elections will increasingly dominate Washington.
issues such as digital assets and housing affordability. The House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Financial Services Committee will remain central players. Finseca will continue engaging with policymakers, monitoring hearings and ensuring the profession’s voice is present at every stage.
Learning lessons from the 2025 government shutdown, through the leadership
credibility and ensure financial security remains a national priority — regardless of political shifts.
Jennifer Fox is vice president of federal affairs and political engagement at Finseca. Contact her at jennifer.fox@ innfeedback.com.
A gender gap exists in Gen Xers’ retirement readiness.
By Tina Beckwith
Women are increasingly at the center of the retirement income conversation, and for good reason. Women often encounter distinct financial hurdles such as living longer, lower lifetime earnings, and workforce interruptions for caregiving responsibilities. These factors often lead to reduced retirement savings and a greater risk of outliving savings. And women are taking on more financial responsibility than ever before, yet they feel significantly less confident about what their retirement will look like.
According to the 2025 LIMRA Retirement Investors Study of U.S. workers and retirees aged 40 to 85 with at least $100,000 in household investable assets, only 64% of Generation X women feel confident about achieving their desired retirement lifestyle, compared with 68% of Gen X men.
LIMRA research finds that preretiree women are generally less prepared than men for retirement. For example, only 51% of Gen X women have calculated the amount of assets they will have available to spend in retirement, compared to 54% of Gen X men.
However, the gap between genders is not solely attributed to how they think about retirement but also represents differences in the source of retirement income. Preretiree women tend to own fewer investments or financial products from which to draw retirement income. LIMRA finds that among retired, unmarried men and women, men are more likely to receive retirement income from personal savings, traditional defined benefit plans, individual retirement accounts and other sources.
survey of more than 2,500 Americans aged 45 to 75, 76% of women strongly believe in the importance of protected lifetime in come for retirement planning, while only 67% of men feel the same way. However, even with nearly half of women aged 61 to 65 expressing interest in annuities, only 39% say they understand the role annuities play in a retirement plan, compared with 52% of men.
Women expect to receive financial guidance through partners who communicate clearly and supportively while providing relevant advice to assist them in reaching their financial goals. LIMRA data reveals that female workers are more comfortable than male workers are with trusting their investment decisions to a financial professional. In fact, 43% of Gen X women want a paid professional to manage their investments with minimal input or want suggestions from a financial professional and will go along with their recommendations most of the time, compared with 32% of Gen X men.
For women, seeking advice is intentional. Women are now being more proactive in both planning for retirement and searching for financial professionals who will take the time to hear their goals, are willing to communicate with them before
lifetime guaranteed income gives people peace of mind in retirement, compared to 39% of Gen X men. There are clear signs that women’s retirement challenges aren’t due to the lack of interest in protected lifetime income but due to a lack of alignment between the solutions they value and how the solutions are presented. Annuities, when integrated into retirement income plans, can help close that gap and help them retire with confidence.
The financial retirement landscape for women is changing. With that, so too must the financial services industry change. Women have clearly defined their needs for protected lifetime income and guidance. Financial professionals have an opportunity to provide women with the knowledge they need to achieve a financially secure and confident retirement.
Tina Beckwith is chief marketing officer, LIMRA and LOMA. Contact her at tina. beckwith@innfeedback.com.
Advisors can help women build confidence and clarity around their retirement goals and expectations.
By Diane Boyle
Women face unique financial challenges as they prepare for and enter retirement. On average, women have lower lifetime earnings than men do, are more prone to career interruptions and frequently have less access to retirement savings vehicles. Women also tend to live longer than men, meaning their retirement savings must stretch farther.
For financial professionals, understanding these obstacles and tailoring guidance and solutions to women’s needs is not just good practice — it is essential to helping female clients achieve financial security in their later years. The truth is, there’s no one better placed than financial professionals to help women have better retirement outcomes. They can do this by instituting sound planning practices and by ensuring policymakers understand the challenges women face.
women have approximately 30% lower incomes in retirement than men have and that women are less likely than men to feel confident about their financial security during retirement.
Women’s increased longevity makes it more likely that they will outlive their assets and creates greater exposure to inflation risk, health care costs and other expenses that mount over a lengthy retire-
smaller percentage understand their role in a retirement plan. Educating women about guaranteed lifetime income products and how these can fit into an overall retirement strategy can help women avoid lifestyle deflation in retirement and reduce the risk of outliving their assets.
ment. At the same time, many preretirement women report that they feel behind in their retirement savings.
The fact that women, on average, earn less than men over their lifetimes reduces the amount that women can save for retirement and leads to smaller Social Security benefits (based on lifetime earnings). Women also are more likely to work part time or take time out of the workforce for caregiving responsibilities. Career breaks due to child care or elder care reduce contributions to employer retirement plans and limit the ability of some women to accumulate savings and benefit from employer matching contributions.
Research suggests that on average
Financial professionals have a pivotal role to play in helping women confront and overcome these challenges. First, professionals can help women build confidence and clarity around their retirement goals and expectations. Research from LIMRA shows that women who work with a financial professional are significantly more likely to feel prepared for retirement than those who do not. Advisors can help clients calculate future retirement income needs, model different scenarios and develop a comprehensive written plan that accounts for longevity and inflation risk. As with all clients, solutions and products need to be tailored to fit each individual’s situation. Another critical area where financial professionals can add value is in explaining and incorporating lifetime income solutions. LIMRA data indicates that nearly half of women aged 61 to 65 express interest in annuities, but a much
Financial professionals can also draw on their experience and expertise to advocate on behalf of their women clients with lawmakers and regulators. NAIFA, along with partner companies, regularly sponsors women’s grassroots events. One taking place this month brings in dozens of female financial professionals from across the country to Washington, where they will receive grassroots training, attend briefings on important advocacy issues, and meet with their lawmakers in congressional offices. They will advocate on behalf of all their clients and the financial services profession, but they bring unique perspectives and insights on the intersection of women, families and financial security that lawmakers need to hear.
Financial professionals who understand the obstacles women face in retirement and proactively address them can make a significant impact on women’s financial security. This is true in client meetings and when educating policymakers. With effective political advocacy combined with thoughtful planning, education and personalized guidance, professionals can help women build confidence, increase savings and ultimately achieve greater security in retirement.
Diane Boyle is NAIFA’s senior vice president for government relations. Contact her at diane. boyle@innfeedback.com.
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