3 Mark Financial, Inc.

2/15/2017

"An Introduction to Life Settlements"

 Please Join us for a Webinar with Jamie Mendelsohn, Vice President  Ashar Group later today at 3:00pm Central

AALU: Texas Judge Upholds DOL Fiduciary Rule in Dallas Lawsuit

Yesterday, US District Court Judge Barbara Lynn upheld the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule by dismissing the lawsuit brought by the Chamber of Commerce, SIFMA, ACLI, NAIFA, and other trade groups in the Northern District of Texas. Judge Lynn granted the DOL’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that the Department did not exceed its authority when issuing the regulation. She explained that the fiduciary rule does not create a private right of action for clients, and that the Best Interest Contract Exemption is reasonable, among other points. The Trump Administration attempted to stay the suit yesterday, but Judge Lynn dismissed that motion shortly after it was filed. 

Despite this ruling, the DOL is still expected to delay the applicability date of fiduciary rule in the very near future, in accordance with the White House memo issued last Friday. AALU will continue to work with our industry partners to swiftly delay the fiduciary rule, and to communicate our concerns about the negative impact of this rule on average retirement savers. We will keep you abreast of the latest developments. 

Text of Opinion in Dallas Lawsuit & White House Memo

New Low Term Rates 

Watch the Video and learn more on the Legal & General Microsite

New February Infographic and Microcontent

Life insurance is love insurance, which makes February and Valentine’s Day a perfect time to remind clients and prospects of their need to protect the ones they love through proper life insurance planning. The Insure Your Love campaign, coordinated by Life Happens, allows you to bring emotion or humor into a conversation that is usually serious or dry. Keep in mind, love is eternal, so the Insure Your Love theme can be used all year long! Infographic. Microsite. 

Introducing New Living Benefits with the Accelerated Access Rider

Global Atlantic is proud to announce an update to our existing Accelerated Access Rider, now offering benefits for individuals with a critical illness diagnosis. This new and flexible chronic care – and now critical care – rider accelerates a portion of a policy’s death benefit when an insured is diagnosed as either chronically or critically ill by a licensed physician. Payments received by your client can be used to help pay for expenses such as adult daycare, assisted living, family care and nursing home costs.  Read more. 

An Ideal Solution for When Needs Change

Despite careful planning, sometimes your client’s long term goals and needs can change. For business clients or clients who may be concerned with outliving their retirement savings, our Return of Premium riders may provide an optimal solution.  Learn more.

The Politics of Planning

Check out Mark Peterson’s recent article in Advisor magazine, “2017 Life Insurance Planning: Why this could be a strong year despite uncertainty in the tax law” and get a pro’s perspective – in case your crystal ball has been the fritz lately too.   Read article. 

Effective March 1, 2017, Mutual of Omaha is suspending sales of the following products:

• Guaranteed Universal Life Plus—designed for larger first-year premium dump-ins
• Guaranteed Universal Life Survivor—designed for second-to-die, survivorship sales

Chick here to read the full Mutual of Omaha announcement

Which Coverage is Right for Your Client?

Some of your prospects may have a need for life insurance, but they may be unfamiliar with how life insurance works and the types of policies that are available. Use our 'Which insurance coverage is right for you?' flyer to introduce the types of life insurance in an easy-to-understand way.  Read more. 

Upcoming PruLife UL Protector Product Changes

Effective February 27, premium rates on PruLife® Universal Protector will increase in approved states. This new pricing will not have Face Amount limits. Please click below for more information. Read More. 

Rate Changes for Term Essential in 2017

Prudential announced rate changes for new sales of one of its most popular products, Term Essential. Effective February 27, you'll see changes in rates, plus other product enhancements.  Read More.

New IUL Products

North American is pleased to announce our newly revised Indexed Universal Life Insurance (IUL) products. The Builder IUL®, Guaranteed Builder IUL® and Rapid Builder IUL® products are approved and available in all states except CA, DE and MT. Survivorship GIUL will not be changing at this time. Both new and old generation products will be available for issue between January 30 and February 17, 2017. In order to receive the 'old' product versions, the applications must be signed and received by the administrative office by February 17, 2017. Click here to read the field bulletin about what has changed with the new IUL products.

Hybrid products are a fresh approach to retirement and estate planning. These products, sometimes referred to as combo or linked-benefit products, cover opposing risk groups by combining long-term care coverage with life insurance or an annuity.

Expand Your LTC Practice in 4 Easy Steps

We’ve created a suite of comprehensive long-term care planning tools to help you uncover opportunities, shorten your sales cycle, and build your practice in just four easy steps.  

Learn more.

Sales Idea: Talking about LTC

Long-term care planning continues to be an underserved need. Our one pager includes four client prospects for LTC planning and three important questions to ask clients to help determine whether Nationwide CareMattersSM is a good fit.

Grow Your LTCi Sales with Mutual of Omaha

LTCi is a product many people need, but too few own. Given the demographic shift as 70 million baby boomers enter or near retirement and with no viable government alternative on the horizon, we see LTCi as a product with incredible potential for growth.  Learn more. 

LTC awareness campaign Brainshark video

Share this short Brainshark video with clients to introduce the essential LTC conversation.

Annuity Fact Finder 

Click here for a great Annuity Fact Finder

 Video: Annuity e-App

Watch this video to discover how e-App means less paperwork, quicker turnaround and faster commissions.

The Lincoln Leader for fixed annuities. Get the latest Lincoln fixed annuity updates, including details of a new marketing campaign. 

DIY Your Fixed Annuity Business

Watch this webinar replay for tips to streamline your fixed annuity cases!

ASSET TRANSFER TIPS 

For all annuity carriers

Transferring assets, or exchanging money via section 1035 of the tax code, may have tax consequences. Any questions regarding taxation should be referred to a qualified tax professional.

1. Call the Financial Institution/Insurance Company to see what they require to transfer the money e. g. some financial institutions, like Fidelity, require a call from the client to release money, others like Northwestern Mutual require their own surrender form to accompany the 1035/transfer form from the company receiving the money.
2. Attach a copy of a current policy/ account statement for the funds being transferred to the 1035/transfer document.
3. Complete the 1035/transfer form carefully and completely. Be sure all necessary signatures are obtained.
4. Send original transfer forms with the application to 3 Mark for processing.

To help meet your clients' needs, Protective Life offers policyholders who own a qualifying* life insurance policy the ability to convert or exchange their policy to an eligible Protective Life permanent insurance option without providing evidence of insurability.  Read the Protective Life Bulletin

Everyone Enters the Same Way

Everyone 18-60 seeking $500k or less enters the same way. One path for all risk classes with no stops and starts. Welcome to a process you can rely on.  Learn more. 

Introducing PruFast Track Underwriting

 Prudential is pleased to announce that during the first quarter of 2017 we will begin rolling out an enhanced underwriting process called PruFast Track. This new process will be available for the majority of the products in our Term and Permanent portfolio, for clients who are between ages 18 and 60 and applying for face amounts between $100,000 and $1,000,000 (some restrictions may apply).  Read More.