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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Making Health Care Systems Better
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As health insurance companies increasingly shift health care costs onto patients through high deductibles and coinsurance, more than one-third of insured Americans report spending more in out-of-pocket expenses than they could afford in the last month. That’s not how insurance is supposed to work.
Many patients may not know it, but there are tens of billions of dollars in rebates and discounts on medicines that are given to insurance companies and other middlemen. Too often, these rebates and values don’t get to patients who need them. As a result, some patients pay more for medicines than their insurance company pays.
Unlike government price setting, which threatens Americans’ access to crucial, breakthrough medicines, we should ensure the rebates and discounts insurers receive get passed on to patients at the pharmacy counter — not pocketed by the insurance companies, hospitals, and middlemen.
Putting an end to the pandemic and strengthening the system
Our first order of business is to end the COVID-19 pandemic. We must also prepare for the challenges ahead. To do so, we need more of the innovation and discovery that led to the COVID-19 vaccines and treatments and a more muscular scientific delivery system from top to bottom.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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How to Take Out a Loan Against a Life Insurance Policy
A perpetual life insurance policy's cash value is readily available for borrowing. The money can be used for any purpose and repaid anytime you choose, and a life insurance policy loan has comparatively low-interest rates. There are no loan restrictions or prerequisites (other than the amount of cash value). The drawback? You run the risk of losing your policy (and its cash value) if you don't pay the loan's interest, plus you'll probably owe a lot of money in taxes. It's simple to get cash by borrowing against your life insurance policy, provided you can make your payments on time.
Can you borrow against your life insurance policy?
How much can you borrow?
How do you take out a life insurance policy loan?
Pros vs. cons of taking out a life insurance loan
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Does your life insurance coverage allow for borrowing?
The amount of money you would get if you surrendered your life insurance policy is its cash value. A portion of the premium you pay for a life insurance policy with a cash value, such as whole or universal life insurance, goes toward the cash value each time you make a payment. The policy's terms specify the interest rate, which is how the cash value increases over time. You can borrow cash from the insurer if your permanent life insurance policy builds cash value by using the cash value as security. This choice is usually only accessible until the cash worth of your life insurance policy has grown to a certain level, which might take five to ten years of premium payments. Due to the absence of a cash value component, term life insurance plans are less expensive than permanent ones. They cannot be used as collateral for loans, and if you decide to surrender a term life insurance policy, you will not be compensated.
How Much Can You Borrow from a Life Insurance Policy?
How much you can borrow from a life insurance policy varies by insurer. Still, the maximum policy loan amount is typically at least 90% of the cash value, with no minimum amount.
When you take out a policy loan, you're not removing money from the cash value of your account. Instead, you're taking a loan from the insurer and using the cash value as collateral. This is a significant benefit, as the cash value remains within the life insurance policy and continues to accumulate interest.
You don't need to pay back the loan in a set period, as many other forms of loan are required. However, if you don't pay the insurer the annual interest, which can be fixed or variable, what will add the interest payment to the value of your outstanding loan?
Length of the loan
You'll get hit with compounding interest if your loan stretches over many years. And if the total outstanding loan exceeds your policy's cash value, the policy will lapse. If this happens, you will lose coverage and hit a high tax bill if the outstanding loan exceeds the amount you've paid in premiums.
There is a risk in borrowing nearly the total amount of the policy's cash value, so if you take out a policy loan, continually carefully monitor its size compared to your cash value. In addition, we would recommend making interest payments whenever possible.
How do you take out a life insurance policy loan?
The process of taking out a life insurance loan is straightforward. You fill out a form from the insurer and often get the money deposited in your account within a few days. You may need to confirm your identity, sign a confirmation document or provide a notarized confirmation before receiving your loan if:
You provided new account information to the insurer in the last month
The policy changed ownership recently
The loan exceeds a specific size, such as $50,000
Pros and cons of taking out a life insurance loan
Life insurance collateral loans are a simple way to get money on short notice with few restrictions. You must be very careful about managing the account's cash value and paying off interest as required.
However, besides the risk of the policy lapsing, there are a few downsides to borrowing against your whole or universal life insurance.
There are no qualifiers for a policy loan.
You can borrow against your life insurance policy without having to meet the requirements for conventional loans. The loan does not reflect on your credit report because there was no credit check. You also don't need to present any income documentation. You will need to provide identification and evidence of your loan request at most.
If you need money immediately, as for an urgent medical need, life insurance collateral loans might be a perfect alternative because there are no requirements or checks. They can also be used as a bridge loan while you wait for a loan from another source to be authorized. It usually works in your favor to repay an insurance loan as soon as possible. The loan's interest accrues annually, and the policy will expire if the balance is too high. If this occurs, you would have paid premiums totaling thousands of dollars with nothing to show (no coverage). You can also owe taxes if the loan balance is more extensive than your paid premiums.
Another justification for repaying the policy loan is that the outstanding sum will be subtracted from the death benefit that will be distributed to your dependents after your passing.
Pay it back anytime
You do not have to repay a debt against your life insurance policy. Additionally, if the total amount owed (initial loan + accrued interest) does not exceed the policy's cash value, you are exempt from paying the yearly interest. Therefore, if you're unsure how long you'll need the money, borrowing from your life insurance policy is a great choice. It usually works in your favor to repay an insurance loan as soon as possible. The loan's interest accrues annually, and the policy will expire if the balance is too high. If this occurs, you would have paid premiums totaling thousands of dollars with nothing to show (no coverage). You can also owe taxes if the loan balance is more significant than your paid premiums. Another justification for repaying the policy loan is that the outstanding sum will be subtracted from the death benefit that will be distributed to your dependents after your passing.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Research into Markets and CRM
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Customer relationship management is one of the best fields in which market research can be applied. It enables a company to receive precise and insightful feedback on their performance, and through a variety of customer opinions, it enables them to comprehend how their target market feels about them. The subjects listed below are just a few where market research could provide insightful feedback:
Obtaining pertinent information for future market expansion.
Prior to investing in product testing and production, determine whether a new product is feasible and likely to be accepted by consumers.
Determining the cost sensitivity of the target market.
Finding novel product features that will appeal to consumers and being aware of the advantages and benefits they may offer.
Identifying the hidden qualities that a product possesses and figuring out how to use those qualities to get them in front of customers.
Determining the extent to which customers are satisfied with the company, particularly with regard to performance, technology, quality, service, cost, and completion schedule.
Identifying the strong points to build on and the weak points to strengthen in order to ultimately increase customer satisfaction.
Creating a database of competitor information and using this database as a benchmark or reference based on customer feedback.
Identifying the main areas where the company outperforms its rivals and those where they lag behind them
Finding market trends and the causes behind them.
Discovering the causes of bad business and figuring out which regions are most affected.
Offering commercial solutions for common issues in all aspects.
Figuring out which purchasing channels customers prefer. Do they prefer making purchases online or in person?
Finding perspectives for the future.
In many organizations, managers and executives frequently interact directly with customers. Face-to-face interactions with customers result in a few negative reviews because doing so could be embarrassing. In a similar vein, they are hesitant to offer compliments out of concern that doing so might reduce their leverage in negotiations with suppliers. Therefore, it is crucial for the company to conduct market research and analyze the real feedback that they are unable to obtain from the customers.
In other situations, where customers are not present in person, suppliers are unable to directly solicit feedback from them. Only agents or middlemen who are infrequently atomistic and do not understand the true meaning can provide them with direct feedback. More thorough and analytical data is needed to produce business results and conclusions. To obtain appropriate and trustworthy customer feedback, it is therefore always imperative to conduct accurate market research or surveys.
This market research is integrated into CRM systems like market intelligence and is based on current customer data. Because of the integration of this data, all organizational departments can access it from a single location. However, it is also verified to ensure that no department without the necessary access cannot access confidential data. For instance, notifications of customer late payments should only be accessible by the accounting department and not by customer service departments that are open to the public. Despite being centrally stored in a single CRM system, the data is intelligently integrated and customized.
Integration of market research and CRM has proven to be very effective because it reduces the amount of time required for analysis and produces more reliable results than conventional market research methods.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Working together, startups and established life insurance companies are the way forward
Although much has changed in the insurance industry over the past 325 years since the Amiable Society for Perpetual Assurance Office produced the first life insurance policy, the industry’s long-standing, reliable procedures have remained primarily unchanged. Insurers have logically concluded that since their industry is risk-averse, nothing needs to be fixed.
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That formula makes a lot more sense when consumers aren’t primarily responsible for driving significant changes in the life insurance industry. Most people have little interest in it; only 15% of 1,000 customers polled in late 2020 rated life or health insurance as one of their top three financial priorities.
But therein lay the difficulty faced by life insurers: attracting new clients while keeping existing ones interested and involved. This is especially true for clients who don’t believe life insurance offers much value to their lives. It is simpler to recruit, keep, and engage those most likely to require insurance, but this exacerbates the issue of adverse selection.
The picture for life insurers is obvious once these considerations are taken into account, along with the rise of creative insurance businesses that have proven competent at acquiring clients through customized solutions and elegant user experiences. Insurance companies cannot rely on the industry to remain as it has over the past four centuries while functioning without severe upheaval.
The bright side is that they can count on having support as they go through this change. Working with industry newcomers to build a whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts is the best way to accomplish change on the necessary scale.
The Importance of Established Companies for New Ventures
What necessitates this alliance of forces? Legacy life insurers offer the extensive experience, sector knowledge, and resources necessary to function efficiently and create new projects that will produce the intended results; despite whatever inefficiencies have hampered them.
Unlike other types of insurance, life insurance is unique. The cost of a life insurance policy depends on a far more complicated set of factors connected to policyholders’ health and life expectancies than the cost of a home insurance policy, which can easily be insured on a house based on its neighborhood, age, security features, etc. This increases the complexity of the actuarial tables used by life insurance and highlights the need for a steady hand when forming new business opportunities.
Reinsurers are the most prominent participants in the insurance industry’s historical legacy. These reputable organizations have a history of overcoming the particular difficulties facing the sector. They have the capital reserves necessary to handle the significant, individualized risk distribution that life insurance requires. In sharp contrast to the $2.7 billion insurance industry size, the whole reinsurance market was predicted to increase from $402 billion in 2020 to $435 billion this year — a growth rate of 8%. Although managing general agents (MGAs), which gives them the same rights as an insurance carrier, is advantageous for some insurance businesses, it’s obvious where the funding required to power customized insurance experiences rests.
The Importance of David in the Face of Goliath
How can established life insurance companies benefit from working with up-and-coming firms when they require the same established firms’ market power, financial resources, and industry expertise?
Although risk aversion is prized in the insurance industry, many life insurers may benefit from the innovation and risk-taking of startups to finally implement the necessary but long-overdue improvements that will boost customer acquisition and retention. A similar dynamic emerged in the auto sector, where the need for greater sustainability is opening the door to accessible, effective electric vehicles. Partnerships between established automakers and EV startups have greatly hastened this transformation.
In the world of life insurance, such partnerships typically aren’t complicated. Working directly with insurance firms that function as MGAs and use their technical capabilities to reach larger audiences allows reinsurers to circumvent insurance carriers.
In addition, new businesses play a critical part in helping established ones transition to the digital era. This is an urgent need in the life insurance industry. A 2018 Deloitte study found that only 11% of respondents who buy insurance do so digitally. However, research shows that digital purchasing options speed up and make it much more convenient for customers than drawn-out, analog processes.
Finally, startups provide the data-savvy attitude, tools, agility, and imagination that legacy firms need to develop excellent services and solutions as the insurance industry shifts away from static evaluation methods toward more dynamic approaches, such as rewarding and incentivizing policyholders to make healthier choices. An AI-driven assessment process, for instance, might be used to match applicants to various tiers of insurance depending on legacy-startup partnerships. The AI may foresee consumers’ requirements and lifestyle changes and present them with new policy options as circumstances change. Without startups by their sides, legacy insurers risk being disrupted and becoming another Kodak or Blockbuster — long-dominant industry titans that succumbed to competitors who were more creative and innovative.
Indeed, life insurance has changed little in principle over the previous 325 years. However, if the new century has taught us anything, change is coming faster than before. The speed with which insurers act to establish new forms of innovation and collaboration will determine whether those winds are at their backs or in their faces.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Increase Lead Conversions With a Marketing Automation Audit
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When was the last time you conducted a marketing automation audit? If your contacts are not converting to qualified leads, your marketing automation may be out of sync with the needs of your potential buyers. Improve your lead conversions with a marketing automation audit that uncovers missteps and gaps in your marketing content and lead nurturing.
What is a Marketing Automation Audit?
A marketing automation audit is an evaluation of your contact database, lead scoring system, marketing workflows, lead nurturing emails, and reporting. The purpose of a marketing automation audit is to determine whether or not your contact segmentation, lead scoring, workflows, and emails are moving contacts through your pipeline and helping you meet your marketing goals.
Marketing automation is essential to run successful inbound marketing campaigns. Well-run marketing automation not only helps you meet your marketing goals, but it also ensures your buyers enjoy a positive experience with your brand. Over time, your brand and your knowledge of your buyers will evolve. Your segmentation, content, and marketing workflows need to change as well.
If your contacts are not receiving the right content to help them move through the marketing and sales pipeline, it may be because:
Your brand messaging changed
You learned more about your buyers’ needs, but your segmentation is not aligned
You created more targeted content as you learned more about your buyers, but don’t use it in your lead nurturing
Your lead scoring doesn’t reflect your buyers’ behavior
Broken links and outdated content stop leads from moving forward
With all the moving parts in marketing automation, workflow errors are bound to happen. Regular marketing automation audits will help you spot errors and fix them quickly so you can continue delivering the right messaging and content to your buyers at the right time.
How Can a Marketing Automation Audit Improve Lead Conversions?
The goal of marketing automation is to leverage technology to move contacts through your marketing funnel from interested visitors to purchasers. Delivering the right content and the right time in your buyer’s journey warms up their interest in your product or service and helps them make a decision to purchase. A marketing automation audit ensures you are leveraging technology and data on your buyers and their needs to move them from contact to lead.
Completing the audit and making the necessary adjustments to your marketing automation system will enable you to:
Gather the necessary information on your contacts
Put your contacts in the right lifecycle stage buckets
Use tracking to determine contacts’ interest and engagement with your website and content
Deliver content to help qualified leads make a purchasing decision
Move-qualified leads to either Sales or a purchase page
How to Conduct a Marketing Automation Audit
Before you begin auditing your marketing automation workflows, it’s helpful to gather data to pinpoint areas of concern. Statistics that indicate there may be issues include:
Low conversion rates or inability to track conversions
Low email open rates
High email bounce rate
High unsubscribe rate
Inaccurate data on leads in each lifecycle stage
Inaccurate lead scoring
Based on the data gathered, determine where you need to focus your marketing automation audit. This may include evaluating the following checkpoints in your marketing workflows:
Forms
Review the forms you are using to collect contacts, including forms on your landing pages and any pop-up forms used on your website. Make sure all your forms are working properly and are directing new contacts to the correct page after submittal. If your forms trigger an automated email reply, make sure the email reflects your current branding and opportunities to engage with you further. Ensure there are no broken links in your email replies.
Are you collecting all of the information you need from contacts, including information that will help you segment contacts based on interests and needs? Is the amount of information you are gathering aligned with their stage in the buyers’ journey? A blog subscription form will typically ask for your name and email. Subscribers are generally not ready to give more information and may be deterred by lengthier forms. Downloading a case study, on the other hand, indicates the contact is considering your service or product. Contacts at this stage are willing to provide more details about themselves, such as their company, role, and interests.
Database Segmentation
Segmenting your contact database into subsets based on your buyer persona profiles enables more efficient and effective targeting. Audit your segmented lists to determine whether or not they are still relevant. You may have lists that were developed for one-time campaigns. To keep your lists current, archive any lists that are no longer used.
You may have lists that require a criteria update. Perhaps your lead scoring has changed over time. Look at the parameters for inclusion in your lists and make sure they are still relevant. Make changes as needed.
Segmentation can be streamlined by allowing your contacts to self-select their interests or by adding contacts to lists based on behavior monitoring and lead scoring. Set up workflows that add contacts to lists based on interest, behavior, and lead scoring criteria.
Lead Scoring and Workflows
Lead scoring moves your leads through your contact lifecycle stages and helps qualify leads for your sales team. Over time, you will learn more about your leads and the behavior that signals their interest in your product and readiness to engage further with your company. Also consider that you may add new ways for prospects to engage with you such as webinars, email campaigns, and resource downloads. Inevitably, your scoring criteria will change and your workflows will need to be updated to reflect those changes.
Review your content and the buyer personas and buying stage that each piece serves. Make sure you are delivering the right content to the right people based on their persona and lead score. You may need to edit your triggers and automation rules.
Conversion Points and Tracking
Are your contacts converting from contact to qualified leads at the expected conversion points? If your conversion rates are low, evaluate any issues with the content, timing, and messaging that are preventing contacts from moving through your sales funnel.
Metrics to track and analyze include:
CTA clicks
Form submission rates on landing pages
Open and click rates on emails
Demo requests
Content Delivery
Aligning your content to your contacts’ customer journey is essential to marketing automation success. Automating email workflows triggered by list, lifecycle stage, or lead scoring is at the core of marketing automation. During your audit, make sure you have set up your workflows to deliver content that answers your prospects’ questions based on their current lifecycle stage and leads them to engage deeper with your brand. If you notice that leads consistently drop off at a certain point in your funnel, evaluate the content you are delivering at that point in their journey and align it with their needs.
As your brand matures, you may find that some content assets outperform others. Look at CTA click rates and landing page form submission rates to determine which assets perform best. Also, analyze click-through rates within your eBooks and guides to determine whether or not your contacts are engaging further while reading the content.
It’s common to have an abundance of awareness-stage content and fewer consideration-stage and decision-stage content pieces. Where are your content gaps? Make sure you have consideration-stage and decision-stage content to offer your leads to help them develop trust in your brand.
Email Marketing
Marketing automation software enables email drip campaigns to be sent to contacts. It’s crucial to evaluate the performance of your email campaigns regularly so you can make adjustments as needed. Look at your email open and click-through rates. They will indicate whether or not your emails are well-designed, use effective subject lines, and include an engaging copy. A/B testing subject lines, copy, and calls-to-action in your emails can help you refine your email marketing campaigns.
If you notice a low open rate or high bounce rate on your emails, they may be landing in your subscribers’ spam folders.
Another item to check in your marketing automation audit is email frequency. How often are you emailing your contacts? Do different segments receive emails at different frequencies? If your emails are underperforming, consider optimizing the frequency and timing of your emails.
If you currently don’t send a welcome email sequence to your new contacts, consider automating a SOAP sequence that focuses on building a relationship with your new prospect, creating trust as well as interest in your brand.
Contact Database
The goal of marketing automation is to help you connect with engaged prospects and nurture your relationship with them before, during, and after they make a purchase. If you notice a low engagement rate on your emails, the issue could be poor database hygiene. If your list is bloated with contacts that have hard bounced or who are no longer interested and have disengaged from your email campaigns, it will affect your email metrics.
HubSpot explains, “Email senders with high rates of opens and clicks look more trustworthy to email security filters. And most email accounts, including Gmail, automatically filter out emails that recipients aren’t opening or clicking.” Learn how to improve your email deliverability here. It’s a good practice to cull your contact list periodically and archive or remove any contacts that have not engaged with your emails in recent months.
How Often Should You Conduct a Marketing Automation Audit?
A marketing automation audit is not a one-and-done event. Make it part of your quarterly marketing performance analysis to identify issues and gaps that are preventing you from optimizing your lead conversions.
Credits by: Rhonda Bavaro
Date: Jun 3, 2021
Source: https://www.smamarketing.net/blog/increase-leads-with-marketing-automation-audit
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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What Is a Claimant in Life Insurance?
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Definition of Life Insurance Claimants
A claimant or beneficiary of your life insurance is the person who will receive a specific sum of money in the event of your passing. When you purchase a life insurance policy, choosing an heir is an important step because it is the only way legally to designate who will receive the money if you pass away during the policy’s term.
If you are a beneficiary, you should understand how the policy pays out, your options, and anything that might make things more difficult. To find out more about naming or being a beneficiary of life insurance, continue reading.
What Is a Beneficiary in Life Insurance?
You can designate an heir, who may be a person or an organization when you buy a life insurance policy. Also possible is having more than one. They receive a predetermined sum of money or a series of payments if they pass away during the policy’s term.
You can distribute the funds however you like as the policy owner:
One person can be designated to receive everything.
You can designate two or more people to split the total sum however you choose.
Your estate may have a name.
You can designate a trust to receive the proceeds from the policy if you have one or desire one.
When they pass away, some people prefer to leave money for a charity; you can mention any recognized organization you like.
If necessary, you can give names to your minor children. It helps to be aware that most states call for an adult guardian to oversee minor assets if you intend to do this. The process of choosing a guardian can be expensive and time-consuming.
It’s crucial to contact the insurance provider and present a death certificate if you are the beneficiary of a life insurance policy and your loved one has passed away in order to begin the payout procedure.
Making a trust or custodial account is one way to hasten this procedure. Your children’s money is placed in a trust, where a trustee will look after it until they are of legal age or the age you specified for them to inherit it. If you don’t specify anyone, the “de facto” beneficiary is your estate.
How Should Insurance Beneficiaries Be Known?
Make sure you give accurate information when naming people to receive insurance money. You’ll need to know things like their birthday, social security number, and contact information. Additionally, make sure everything is correct before submitting it by checking it twice. If there are mistakes, the wrong people might get the money, or your heirs might have to deal with legal issues.
Let’s take the example where you list “spouse” as your beneficiary. Two years later, you get divorced and remarry without altering your insurance policy. After your passing, both your current and former spouses might make an attempt to collect the money.
You’ve created a legal problem that could delay payout because the definition of “spouse” is ambiguous. One was your legal spouse at the time of your death, and the other was your legal spouse at the time the insurance policy was written. Along with all the legal fees, stress, and heartache that always follow fights over money, a fight over money is likely to take place.
Contingent and Primary Beneficiaries
It is frequently advisable to add one or more supplemental beneficiaries to a policy. If the primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) passes away or cannot be located, a contingent beneficiary is a person who gets some or all of the money.
Note: If you list multiple people, specify how much money (in a percentage form) each one should receive.
For example, suppose you buy a policy with a $1 million benefit. You designate the beneficiary as your spouse. Your partner will receive the entire sum should you pass away while the policy is still in effect. However, you might pass away before your main beneficiary.
Your three adult children are added as contingent beneficiaries because you want to ensure that the money is passed on to your children. You include each of them in the policy and distribute the funds equally. In this manner, your children will each receive a third of the money after your passing, even if your spouse dies before you do.
Per Capita and Per Stirpes
The decision of whether to choose per capita or per stirpes when naming beneficiaries is another factor to consider. If no other contingent beneficiaries are listed on the policy and one or more of your beneficiaries pass away, these specify how the money should be distributed.
Per capita (“per head”) is frequently used as the abbreviation. This implies that you don’t have to describe every potential event in great detail. Instead, an equal portion is distributed to each of your living beneficiaries.
For instance, if you have three adult children and one of them passes away before you do, the other two will instead receive half of the face value each. If you choose per stirpes and one of your beneficiaries passes away before you do, the beneficiary’s children, if any, will receive their share.
A per stirpes arrangement would give your two grandchildren the one-third that your three adult children were going to receive, for instance, if one of your three adult children passed away before you and was survived by two children. One-sixth of the funds would be given to each grandchild.
Life insurance is a wise choice for estate planning. In light of that, it might not be the best course of action for you and your situation. Consider speaking with an estate planning lawyer, who can assist you in putting together a strategy to ensure that your loved ones have what they need after your passing and that your assets go to the people you want them to.
There may be a box to check on some beneficiary designation forms so you can choose per stirpes. If there isn’t a box, ask your agent if you can enter per stirpes.
Who Has the Authority to Alter the Life Insurance Beneficiary?
When submitting a life insurance application, name at least one beneficiary. It doesn’t follow that you can’t alter it later. If you are the owner, you always have the option to remove or add people. You might decide to appoint someone else because of changes in your life, for instance.
In the event of a marriage or divorce, you might want to appoint someone else. A good reason to review your policy is the birth of a child. Alternatively, you might have another justification for the change. However, if you designated a beneficiary as “irrevocable,” you will need to obtain their approval before making any changes (they must sign the policy change form).
Additionally, in some circumstances, your insurance provider or state may place limitations on who you can name. For instance, married couples who reside in states with community property laws might need the consent of their spouse before naming anyone else.
Note: Contact your insurer and ask for a “beneficiary change form” if you want to add or change an heir.
Do beneficiaries of life insurance policies have to pay taxes? A life insurance death benefit received as a lump sum is typically not regarded as taxable income. There are, however, some circumstances in which you might owe taxes.
For instance, any interest paid above the face value of the money if it is received as monthly payments or an annuity is taxable income. Additionally, if the funds are transferred to your estate rather than a specific individual, estate taxes might apply. The good news is that there won’t be any estate taxes assessed unless your estate is worth more than $11.7 million.
Summary
If the insured passes away during the policy term, a beneficiary of life insurance receives the death benefit.
Multiple beneficiaries, including primary and contingent beneficiaries, may be named, along with a person or trust.
Your beneficiaries must have accurate identification information so that they can be located and legal disputes are kept to a minimum.
The majority of life insurance proceeds are tax-free, but in some cases, a portion of them might be.
Before you proceed, be sure you are aware of your state’s life insurance laws and how to handle naming minors.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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The Value of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Software
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Customer relationship management, or CRM, is a system that handles the administration of a business’s contacts with previous, current, and potential clients. By automating sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support, CRM software combines the complete customer relationship cycle.
CRM software is a tool that unifies the variety of organizational tasks needed to implement customer relationship management while automating the many and discrete components of the customer relationship management lifecycle.
Additionally, the CRM software controls how the company interacts with its clients throughout the whole customer management lifecycle, including, among other things, cold calling, customer acquisition, and customer retention. The notion of CRM and CRM software are critically examined in this research study from a variety of angles.
Background of CRM
CRM was first introduced in the 1970s when firms began to place a greater emphasis on their customers than on their products. Database marketing’s introduction in the 1980s set the groundwork for the CRM paradigm, and the development of consumer focus groups prompted the adoption of CRM by SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) Since its implementation ensured that firms could gain significant advantages, CRM as a concept and trend became extremely popular in the 1990s.
Numerous improvements to CRM systems were also made during the 1990s timeframe. The road was paved for the introduction of CRM to enterprises and consumers when the business world began to embrace the internet in the 1990s and consumers began to use it heavily in 1995.
With the information age in full swing at the time, the demand for CRM software spiked in the preceding decade. In summary, it can be concluded that CRM has been steadily and cautiously accepted by businesses since the 1970s and has continued to this day. It has since evolved into a piece of software that every company must have.
CRM: What It Means and Why
CRM is important because it revolutionizes the customer relationship process by integrating the complete customer management process and automating the customer life cycle. As has been mentioned above, what makes CRM particularly important is the use of IT and software to automate the customer relationship process, as well as enhance customer management through a holistic approach rather than a fragmented one.
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of a CRM system given how extensively both the business world and the consumer base use IT. Additionally, CRM provides firms with exponential returns because it expands their customer base statistically and improves their customer relationship management process qualitatively.
CRM’s Advantages and Disadvantages
The use of a CRM system has a variety of advantages, including improved customer management, greater customer acquisition, effective customer retention, and improved prospecting for both acquiring new clients and re-engaging existing ones.
The crucial thing to keep in mind about a CRM system is that it creates synergies across the customer relationship cycle, increasing the productivity and efficiency of the staff members handling client connections. The returns from old, existing, and new clients are also higher since the CRM system integrates the complete customer relationship lifecycle and automates the various customer management operations (sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support).
One of a CRM system’s key advantages is that it streamlines the client retention process and encourages more repeat business, which is always a sign of a thriving and successful business. The CRM system also ensures that there aren’t many mistakes made during the customer connection management process by automating customer touchpoints and enhancing the physical customer relationship effort.
Last but not least, the enterprise-wide automation of all tasks and procedures that many businesses actually implement helps the CRM subsystem to give decision-makers a bird’s-eye view of the customer relationship process, empowering and enabling them with more visibility over the process by giving them data and useful information.
The biggest drawback of a CRM system is that it may lead to redundancy in the customer management process due to double labor and the inability of sales and marketing staff to adapt to the automation.
The CRM system may increase complexity, which, if improperly handled, can result in chaos and a lack of preparation for crucial operations in the sales and marketing lifecycle, which is the next drawback.
Third, if the implementation and subsequent user training are not done correctly, it could lead to a workforce that lacks basic knowledge of how to operate CRM software. The staff might be unable to use the technology successfully as a result. Finally, sometimes the expenditures associated with CRM deployment outweigh the advantages, which results in losses for the businesses.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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How does life insurance work? What is it?
Most individuals will explain life insurance to you as a purchasing policy that provides money to your family during your death. If you ask them to describe the main aspects of the guidelines, the many options, or how they operate, they will likely try to divert the subject.
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However, those factors are crucial if you’re looking into life insurance. Your inquiries will be addressed in this post, specifically:
What constitutes a life insurance policy’s essential components? A life insurance policy is a contract between a person and an insurance provider (or legal entity). Every life insurance policy is unique, and every state has a different set of rules that govern insurance contracts.
The insurer: Only a select group of organizations are permitted to offer life insurance, and state insurance regulators oversee these organizations. The person or organization that owns (or “holds” the policy is referred to as the policyholder. Examples include a family trust or a company. The policy has two options for coverage: either the holder or a third party. The individual whose life is insured is known as the insured. The sum that the insurer will pay out upon the insured's death is known as the death benefit. The recipients of the death benefit are known as beneficiaries. It can be distributed proportionally among many different persons and entities (for example, three children could each receive 30% and 10% could go to a charity), or it can all go to a single person (for example, the surviving spouse). The duration of time the insurer agrees to provide a death benefit is known as the policy length. This can be for a set period of time, like 10 or 20 years, or it can be permanent, meaning that as long as premiums are paid, the policy will be in effect for the insured’s whole lifetime. The monthly or yearly payments required to maintain the insurance in force are referred to as the premium.
Monetary value: Whole life insurance and permanent life insurance both feature a cash value component that accrues over time2 and can be withdrawn or used as collateral for loans. Term life insurance has no cash value.
What are the different kinds of life insurance policies, and how do they work?
There are two basic types of life insurance: Term and permanent life insurance. A term life insurance policy provides coverage for a specific period of time, typically between 10 and 30 years. It is sometimes called “pure life insurance” because, unlike the permanent policy or whole life insurance, there’s no cash value component to the policy — once the term is over, there’s nothing left.
Permanent life insurance provides coverage that lasts your entire life. Unlike term, it’s not a “pure life insurance” product because it includes a cash value component that helps make coverage last while the insured is alive and premiums are paid while providing other financial benefits. A portion of your premium dollars grows tax-deferred over time — but the entire death benefit is immediately payable from the first day you have the policy. The cash value, on the other hand, may take some years to build up to a significant amount.
There are two main types of permanent insurance: whole and universal life. Whole life insurance is simpler — the premium remains the same for life, the death benefit is guaranteed, and the cash value grows at a guaranteed rate. Universal life insurance can be less expensive, but the premiums, death benefits, and cash value growth rate can vary, making the policy more complex.
What advantages do people receive from life insurance at various times? Most adults should consider getting life insurance because it may be a potent weapon for safeguarding their financial confidence and, more importantly, the economic trust of those who depend on them. However, you should consider what kind of financial protection you require at this time in your life before purchasing a policy.
Questions and answers about life insurance what is the price of life insurance? Depending on the type of insurance (i.e., term or permanent) and all the factors that can affect your life expectancy, including age, weight, health, gender, lifestyle, occupation, and risk factors like smoking, the cost of a policy — for a particular level of death benefit — can vary significantly.
How may my needs be met by a life insurance policy? Riders, which are optional features almost all life insurance policies contain, can offer valuable extra benefits that specifically adapt the approach to your needs. For instance, Guardian offers riders that can assist save family assets by covering end-of-life expenses while the insured person is still alive.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Compare prices from multiple life insurance providers instantly without providing your phone number.
Everyone dreads seeing the dreaded “phone number” section while online filling out information to acquire immediate life insurance quotes.
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Why do so many people find that objectionable?
Because you are aware that your phone will ring endlessly until you answer and that you will be added to a call list. Once you respond, the salesperson on the other end won’t stop until he has persuaded you to buy something you didn’t need at a price higher than what you originally desired.
That isn’t how things ought to be. You are, after all, seeking rapid life insurance rates. You don’t want to wait for a commission-based salesperson to call you back at a time that is inconvenient.
In the end, “quick quote” websites that want your phone number do so because it will benefit their business, not because it will make your life simpler or your shopping experience more pleasant.
You won’t have to worry about that inconvenience if you hunt for your quotes in the appropriate location.
We eliminated all the anti-consumer tactics we saw on other websites when we created our fast quote engine, including the requirement for your phone number. Instead, we concentrated on gathering the necessary data we require to offer quotes that are more accurate than those you will find elsewhere online.
If you don’t wish to keep your quotes to refer to them later, we don’t even demand an email address from you — fewer speed bumps and no later regrets.
Of course, we’re pleased to assist you there if you wish to be contacted. We have in-house experts available to chat with you if you give us a call. However, doing so is voluntary, and you’ll never be asked for your phone number. Furthermore, our agents don’t receive commissions significantly sets them apart from other agencies.
Do you know how you feel when a used car salesperson talks to you? This can also occur when you try to get life insurance since many will attempt to upsell you on whole life insurance. Whole life insurance is useless and more expensive when compared to term life insurance. On the other hand, commission-based agents receive a more extensive check.
It seems to sense that customers are hesitant to share their phone numbers.
Calling an insurance agent on the phone shouldn’t make you nervous. Be aware if you are required to give your number to receive immediate life insurance quotations. However, suppose you’re doing your research correctly. In that case, you can wait to call until you’re prepared to apply and keep your contact information to yourself until then.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Six Significant Advantages of CRM for Retail and E-commerce Businesses
CRM technology has advanced steadily in the B2C market due to the recent rapid expansion of eCommerce retailers and mobile shopping. The majority of significant CRM system suppliers now provide a variety of features specifically designed for the e-commerce sector, which they have identified as one of the trendiest business models. If you are interested in learning more about the advantages of CRM for eCommerce and retail businesses, you have come to the correct spot.
The demand for better customer service has expanded dramatically as online retailers compete more fiercely, and companies are increasingly implementing CRM systems designed specifically for online retail. These days, customer experience is revolutionized by systems like Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Magento, which boost your online sales. But if you pick the right CRM, these platforms combined with one provide you a competitive edge in your eCommerce firm. The various advantages of having a customized CRM for Retail and eCommerce Businesses will be discussed in this piece.
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1. Customer Segmentation
My feed is immediately overwhelmed with highly relevant sponsored advertising as soon as I go through my social media accounts after researching search engines, and I end up clicking on most of them. You have likely had the same experience. Social media shows us the advertisements we are most likely to click on since it has learned our search habits. Wouldn’t you want the same relationship with your customers if you were running an online retail business?
Sales agents can interact with clients most effectively by viewing customer groups organized by gender, interests (fashion, gadgets, etc.), spending history, and other factors.
2. Having access to the most pertinent data
How many visitors to your website abandon the page without making a purchase or paying for the things they added to their cart?
The average cart abandonment rate is a staggering 68.81 percent, according to Baymard. You may take action to turn these visitors into customers with a carefully thought-out CRM implementation in your retail firm!
3. Time Management Techniques
It turns out that sales representatives can only devote 11% of their time to active selling. Problem-solving and administrative tasks take up the majority of the time.
A CRM Customization for eCommerce can automate several self-service procedures, freeing your agents’ time to concentrate on their primary duties. Enterprise processes must now be more intelligent, and the easiest way to do so is to hire a CRM consultant before choosing a system.
4. Centralized Use of Social Media
We bet you are not operating an internet retail business without actively managing your social media profiles.
eCommerce traffic is primarily generated by paid advertisements and social media recommendations. Customers ask questions on social media, and how you respond to their questions affects how they view your customer service.
Consumers who complain on social media in 42 percent of cases anticipate a 60-minute response time. Through our Social Media Integrations, our clients have better-managed response times. You can also use the potent tools that many CRMs offer their clients. For instance, Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a game-changer for marketing in any eCommerce organization.
5. Payment Info
It can be challenging to analyze payment data if your site accepts various payment channels. You can handle everything using CRM, from billing and invoicing to payment failures. Even better, you can incorporate a payment gateway into your CRM.
CRM’s advanced analytics can monitor payment trends, giving you the power to examine:
● Best sources of income
● The most valuable clients
● Several measures you may use to tailor your offerings
6. Order Administration
Lead generation through revenue generation is all included in the order management process. You can see and take action on each product’s order placement, order processing, shipment tracking, delivery, and customer feedback.
Order management is one of the most critical features in a CRM for e-commerce. CRM for Startups can also help you organize your firm and increase productivity if you are starting out.
Let’s look at how we helped clients in the retail industry overcome various obstacles.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Top 5 Reasons to get Life Insurance in your 30s
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In your 30s, a lot can happen. You might be planning a wedding, beginning a family, or searching for your first house to purchase. But have you given life insurance any thought?
In your 30s, life starts to get quite real. You might settle down, get married, start a family, own a home, and bring home the golden retriever you’ve always wanted. That is a lot. Because of this, now is a wonderful time to begin making plans for the future of your family.
Even though it could be difficult, you might need to think about what would happen to your family if something happened to you. The decisions you make today may have a profound impact on the people you care about the most.
In your 30s, consider buying life insurance for the following five reasons:
You Need to Pay Your Monthly Bills
Your life is a series of monthly bills.
Your salary is probably heavily invested in these costs, which may include your rent or mortgage, auto payments, utilities, credit card bills, and student loans. Despite all odds, you’ve been able to save some money for that Blink-182 reunion tour, but your finances are still tight. Another reason a life insurance policy can be a good idea is this one.
How will your family assist in paying off your mortgage or outstanding loans after you pass away? Your loved ones’ ability to pay the bills you leave behind may be aided by a life insurance policy.
You Have a Family to Support
To create their own families, many are delaying parenthood till they are older. It’s possible that your grandparents and parents were married and had children when they were in their 20s. But more people today are delaying marriage until their 30s or later. Why not, then? It’s simpler than ever to play the field and wait for that ideal match thanks to dating apps like Bumble, Hinge, and the rest.
In fact, women in their early 30s are giving birth to more children than those in their 20s for the first time ever.
Does that circumstance ring a bell for you? If so, you might want to consider what will happen to your family when you pass away. Purchasing life insurance in your 30s could provide your family with financial security in the future.
You are Financing your Kids’ Education
No matter if you’re talking about a four-year college, associate degree, or vocational school these days, getting a credential is very pricey. And it won’t get any simpler with soaring tuition costs. Even enrolling your children in a public, the in-state school can be expensive: the average yearly cost after accounting for tuition, room, and board, fees, and other costs are more than $20,000.
Most people’s personal funds just won’t be enough to pay for their education. Although they are an option, student loans could leave borrowers with long-term debt.
If you are unable to provide for your children on your own, the payoff from a life insurance policy may help.
Insurance may be more affordable when you’re young
Age is one of several variables that insurance companies take into account when determining premiums, but it is one of the most crucial. With all the health tracking apps, recreational sports leagues, and 5ks with pals, young people frequently have fewer health issues, and insurers are aware of this. That might work in your favor.
Purchasing life insurance when you’re still young may enable you to locate a plan that both suits your financial needs and your urgent demands. For those in their 30s, a term life insurance policy is frequently the best option. Compared to a whole life policy, coverage quantities are frequently higher, and costs are created to be reasonable. It’s frequently the best kind of life insurance coverage for a 30-year-old.
Your Loans were Co-signed by Your Parents
Without a perfect credit history, getting a loan to establish a business or purchase a new home is difficult. You might have asked your parents to co-sign your mortgage or other loan, like many other 30-somethings. In the event that something were to happen to you, they would still be responsible for making those payments.
Life insurance can let you pay them back for their assistance when you most need it. Your home, business, or investment might be protected and your debts could be paid without depleting your parents’ financial resources by using the payoff from an insurance policy.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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The Best Practices and Greatest Benefits of Marketing Automation and CRM
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The use of marketing automation can help move deals through the sales pipeline and provide highly targeted messages. Customer relationship management (CRM) may collect and organize your client data. What transpires when these two systems are joined and their features are used?
Learn how to use marketing automation and CRM together in the best possible manner and how much value they can add to your company. We also include five real-world use-case samples so you may get ideas. After this article, you may sign up for a free trial of the all-inclusive CRM solution Pipedrive.
There are many benefits to combining marketing automation and CRM. It enhances the relationship between marketing and sales, makes it possible to understand client behavior better, raises the caliber of leads, and helps to conserve resources.
A fundamental understanding of both systems is required to comprehend how this is feasible; it goes like this:
Marketing automation is made to automate repetitive marketing processes like sending emails and push alerts. Thanks to automation technology, you can get data from different sources and use it in marketing efforts.
Marketing automation makes it possible to communicate with customers in a timely, precise, and focused manner. One use of automation technology is to move prospects through the sales funnel and into conversion. The respondents to our global marketing automation survey ranked better message targeting and a higher marketing ROI as the two most important advantages of marketing automation.
You may manage your company’s relationships and interactions with clients and prospects using a customer relationship management (CRM) solution. For instance, it keeps track of a person’s history of purchases and how long they have been a customer.
CRM aids in precisely segmenting clients, planning sales operations, enhancing customer service, tracking deals, and streamlining procedures.
CRM already contains all client data; thus, connecting it to marketing automation is essential to bring data into the automation system. However, the benefits of CRM and marketing automation go far beyond just supplying sources for consumer contacts.
Since data is imported and exported between systems, nothing is lost along the way.
You may be confident that there are no obstacles to the free flow of data.
You don’t need to keep track of communications with a single customer across various channels.
Sending automated communications to various segment groups pulled from CRM will be possible. The customer’s activities are added to the data in CRM when the marketing actions have been implemented. You’ll find additional advice for this further in this article, so keep reading!
Individual Customer Communication
Message personalization is essential since it increases the likelihood that the recipient will reply. However, 55% of marketers believe they lack the data and insights necessary for efficient personalization. Customer information is kept in multiple systems at once.
The problem can be solved using marketing automation and CRM to send triggered, customized, and personalized communications based on consumer behavior. You can customize your communications using specific consumer data points, such as prior purchases, closed and won deals, interests, business information, etc.
The picture of client behavior becomes more explicit as more systems are connected to automation. All potential actions, such as newsletter clicks and website visits, can be compiled into the customer’s CRM profile.
As a result, sales may communicate strategically, and customer interactions are more productive. Marketing gains a clearer understanding of the messages that resonate the most with leads and the information they find most useful.
Streamlined customer service and increased sales
You will be able to better service your present and potential consumers due to the integration of marketing automation and CRM. You may more readily look into and evaluate client behavior to inform your future decisions.
As a result, you may send marketing communications to your customers at the proper time they would find interesting, increasing up- and cross-selling and customer happiness. The sales cycle may also be reduced as a result of consistently meeting the needs of clients and prospects at the right moment.
Giving points for a prospect’s behavior is possible with contemporary automation technology. Sales understand that a lead is warm enough to be approached after a particular threshold of points is met. In the best-case scenario, sales have a ton of information in CRM about the prospect’s behaviors and want before making any calls or sending any emails.
How to get started
We now know why it is crucial to combine these tools, but how to achieve so is still a mystery. The steps are listed below.
Purchase the equipment. Invest in top-notch products that are already integrated.
Organize the steps. Bring sales and marketing together to map out the entire purchase process, make notes along the way, and determine necessary actions. Add pre-sales marketing, sales touch points, and new customer onboarding to the roadmap.
Arrange the customization. Choose the data points you’ll utilize to tailor the customer experience. There are several options, including geography, age distribution, the types of things bought, and the volume of purchases. Use subscription forms, for instance, to ensure you gather all the required information.
Develop automated work processes. Start developing automated workflows for various tasks, such as rekindling the customer relationship, onboarding, and warming up the lead. Use our free guidebook of marketing automation examples as inspiration to improve your business.
Examine and adjust. After developing and launching the automation, you must keep an eye on the outcomes and, if necessary, tweak them. You can experiment to see how the results change if you tweak the automated letters’ headlines, content, or scheduling.
Examples of real-world usage cases
Let’s look at a few instances where marketing automation and CRM have increased sales.
Onboarding
CRM as a data source
Email/push notification channel
Trigger: First purchase or new sign-up
One of the most common marketing automation applications is onboarding, and CRM gives the procedure a lot of strength.
When sales record a deal as won in CRM, marketing automation receives a trigger to begin the onboarding process for the new customer. Educate and instruct your customers while assisting them in using your items.
You can start to drive more purchases later in the onboarding messages. Running a referral campaign, as Dropbox did, is one clever method to accomplish this. Dropbox grew by 3,900% in just 15 months by giving users who invited their friends to use the platform free data storage.
Upsell
CRM as a data source
Message: Email
Customer segment: devoted customers
Customers that make several purchases show interest in your business and are frequently prepared to make additional purchases. They are a fantastic segment group for your upselling campaign because of this. The required information can be extracted from CRM, such as a list of clients who have made at least three purchases from you.
Send an appealing coupon together with a tailored campaign letter. Set a deadline to ensure that customers respond quickly, and make it obvious what benefits the offer will bring to the recipient and why they should take advantage of it.
Customers who didn’t purchase the first email can be reminded that the campaign ends in three days after a few days have passed.
The upsell campaign also provides a possibility for more precise segmentation. If a consumer doesn’t purchase the campaign, you can separate them into platinum-level customers and lower their status.
Birthday presents
CRM as a data source
Channel: SMS/email
The customer’s birthday is the trigger
On their special day, remember your customer with a thoughtful gesture! In B2B marketing, the first purchase anniversary is celebrated, whereas, in B2C marketing, the customer’s birthday is honored.
Set the automation to regularly monitor the CRM for persons with birthdays coming up in the next ten days. Send these clients a personalized note to commemorate the forthcoming event.
Being proactive while sending anniversary texts is a fantastic idea because many of us like to organize the celebration in advance. The customer is more likely to accept your offer if the benefits are clear in advance.
Reawakening Inactive Customers
CRM as a data source
Channel: SMS or email
trigger: circumstance
Encourage your passive customers to do business with you once more. Get a segment of customers from CRM who haven’t purchased in a specific amount of time. Send them individualized messages to reacquaint and entice them to return to you.
It’s crucial to convey the value in these messages as well. Show the customer the advantages of coming back to you. For instance, you may SMS customers and offer them a complimentary delivery.
Although this automation chain has a different target market, it is similar to upsell automation. The automation can be carried out in the background and repeated monthly or on any other schedule that works best for your company.
Return the data to CRM.
CRM and marketing automation needs to communicate back and forth. You must ensure that the data isn’t just delivered to the CRM; it is also pulled back from the automation platform.
Giving the contacts scores depending on how they respond to your marketing communications is a practical technique to ensure this. You can award different points to contacts at various points throughout the automation chain, such as one point for viewing the message, five points for selecting the aggressive CTA, and so forth.
The scoring system allows you to distinguish between hot and excellent leads. Every morning, send all contacts with lead scores greater than 5 to sales using CRM filtering.
Try the CRM that Increases Closing Rates by 28 Percent on Average
Only when a wealth of client data is available can an efficient automated chain of communications be built. Therefore, a dependable CRM system is essential. After using Pipedrive’s CRM for a year, users average a 28 percent increase in transaction closings. Pipedrive can help you gain customers and encourage upsells with targeted marketing automation campaigns.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Life Insurance For Cancer Patients And Survivors
The ability to obtain standard life insurance will often be hampered if you have recently received a cancer diagnosis or treatment. A cancer diagnosis is not necessarily a surefire roadblock to buying life insurance.
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Even though it could be pricey and restricted, you can still get some forms of life insurance if you presently have cancer.
Having a diagnosis of cancer usually makes it impossible to obtain insurance.
Basal cell carcinoma is a condition for which most insurers do not impose restrictions, according to Travis Price, an independent senior market insurance agent in Manton, Michigan (skin cancer).
However, given the nature of small cell lung cancer, there is a good chance that no life insurance would ever be placed with you.
What Kinds of Life Insurance Are Available to Cancer Patients?
Following a cancer diagnosis, you will probably be able to qualify for a guaranteed issue, group life, and final expenditure life insurance policy, which provides coverage for last expenses and burial fees. However, with a cancer diagnosis, you could not be eligible for the two most popular forms of life insurance — term and whole.
These forms of life insurance often don’t allow for application rejection, and the applications don’t typically even include any health-related questions.
The possibility of limited coverage quantities is one compromise. The fact that guaranteed issue and final expense life insurance sometimes have graded death benefits means that your beneficiaries won’t receive the total payout if you die away within two or three years of purchasing the policy. (The timetable will be specified and depend on the policy.) The nature of your disease will also impact what coverage you may qualify for.
How Long Does It Take to Regain Life Insurance Eligibility After Cancer?
Although each insurance provider is unique, you usually need to have been cancer-free for at least five years to be eligible for freshly issued term life insurance, whole life insurance, or other forms of coverage.
Depending on the type of cancer, its invasiveness, and the likelihood that it may return, there may be a waiting time for life insurance after cancer.
Waiting periods for life insurance following cancer. Certain insurers have higher underwriting requirements for specific diseases that need remission for at least a decade.
Life insurance waiting periods after different cancer types
Here are sample waiting periods for various types of cancer from Trusted Choice, a network of independent insurance agents:
Bladder cancer: 2 years
Bone cancer: 5 years
Breast cancer: 2 years
Cervical cancer: 1 year
Colon cancer: 2 years
Kidney cancer: 3 years
Leukemia: 10 years
Lung cancer: 3 years
Lymphoma: 2 years
Metastatic cancer: 5 years
Ovarian cancer: 3 years
Prostate: 1 year
Rectal cancer: 2 years
Skin melanoma: 1 year
What Kind of Life Insurance Is Best After Cancer?
Traditional life insurance may be possible if you have had cancer for at least five years. Here are a few potential choices.
**Long-term care insurance**If you’re eligible, term life insurance is often the least expensive method to get protection. You’ll probably have to undergo a life insurance medical examination, so be ready to discuss your prior cancer diagnosis and treatment when questioned.
You may lock in prices for term life insurance for a predetermined amount of time, such as 10 or 20 years.
**Permanent life insurance**Whole life insurance and universal life insurance are two options for permanent life insurance. If you pay the premiums, these plans can offer life insurance as long as you live.
streamlined life insurance issuesWhile simple issue life insurance does not need a medical exam, you might be required to complete a brief health questionnaire.
A simplified issue might be an excellent decision if you are cancer-free but not in perfect health.
**Life insurance with a guaranteed issue**You cannot be refused guaranteed life insurance because of a medical exam, health standards, or medical history requirements. That may seem enticing, but the cost of the coverage you receive will be high, and the policy’s death benefits will be low.
**Life insurance for burial**Burial insurance, intended for life insurance purchasers over 50, is designed to cover expenditures associated with the end of life, such as funeral fees and unpaid medical bills. Obtaining this coverage doesn’t need a medical checkup.
How Does Cancer Affect the Price of Life Insurance?
For all plans, including those for cancer patients and survivors, most life insurance firms employ a categorization method to calculate the prices for life insurance. Following cancer, some suggestions to improve your chances of finding life insurance.
Work with a knowledgeable independent life insurance agent first and foremost. Independent brokers deal with various insurance providers and will be aware of those more receptive to covering cancer patients. Find an independent agent that specializes in impaired risk underwriting in particular.
With these techniques, you might be able to get affordable life insurance no matter when you become eligible for it after cancer.
By eating well and exercising, you may improve your general health.Avoid using tobacco. Quotes for life insurance are often substantially more expensive for smokers.
Choose a profession with less risk. Police officers, firefighters, pilots, and construction workers are among the occupations that might see increased costs.
Avoid dangerous pastimes, including scuba diving, skydiving, and mountain climbing. Your quotations will take them into account and increase the Price.Maintain a spotless driving and criminal history. DUIs, prior arrests, and other criminal convictions may impact your rate or ban you from coverage.
#lifehealthadvisors #ethos #lifeinsurance #lifeinsurancematters #mycoverage
After receiving a cancer diagnosis, is life insurance still an option?
Even though it could be pricey and restricted, you can still get some forms of life insurance if you presently have cancer.
Having a diagnosis of cancer usually makes it impossible to obtain insurance.
Basal cell carcinoma is a condition for which most insurers do not impose restrictions, according to Travis Price, an independent senior market insurance agent in Manton, Michigan (skin cancer).
However, given the nature of small cell lung cancer, there is a good chance that no life insurance would ever be placed with you.
What Kinds of Life Insurance Are Available to Cancer Patients?
Following a cancer diagnosis, you will probably be able to qualify for a guaranteed issue, group life, and final expenditure life insurance policy, which provides coverage for last expenses and burial fees. However, with a cancer diagnosis, you could not be eligible for the two most popular forms of life insurance — term and whole.
These forms of life insurance often don’t allow for application rejection, and the applications don’t typically even include any health-related questions.
The possibility of limited coverage quantities is one compromise. The fact that guaranteed issue and final expense life insurance sometimes have graded death benefits means that your beneficiaries won’t receive the total payout if you die away within two or three years of purchasing the policy. (The timetable will be specified and depend on the policy.) The nature of your disease will also impact what coverage you may qualify for.
How Long Does It Take to Regain Life Insurance Eligibility After Cancer?
Although each insurance provider is unique, you usually need to have been cancer-free for at least five years to be eligible for freshly issued term life insurance, whole life insurance, or other forms of coverage.
Depending on the type of cancer, its invasiveness, and the likelihood that it may return, there may be a waiting time for life insurance after cancer.
Waiting periods for life insurance following cancer. Certain insurers have higher underwriting requirements for specific diseases that need remission for at least a decade.
Life insurance waiting periods after different cancer types
Here are sample waiting periods for various types of cancer from Trusted Choice, a network of independent insurance agents:
Bladder cancer: 2 years
Bone cancer: 5 years
Breast cancer: 2 years
Cervical cancer: 1 year
Colon cancer: 2 years
Kidney cancer: 3 years
Leukemia: 10 years
Lung cancer: 3 years
Lymphoma: 2 years
Metastatic cancer: 5 years
Ovarian cancer: 3 years
Prostate: 1 year
Rectal cancer: 2 years
Skin melanoma: 1 year
What Kind of Life Insurance Is Best After Cancer?
Traditional life insurance may be possible if you have had cancer for at least five years. Here are a few potential choices.
Long-term care insurance If you’re eligible, term life insurance is often the least expensive method to get protection. You’ll probably have to undergo a life insurance medical examination, so be ready to discuss your prior cancer diagnosis and treatment when questioned.
You may lock in prices for term life insurance for a predetermined amount of time, such as 10 or 20 years.
Permanent life insurance Whole life insurance and universal life insurance are two options for permanent life insurance. If you pay the premiums, these plans can offer life insurance as long as you live.
Streamlined life insurance issues While simple issue life insurance does not need a medical exam, you might be required to complete a brief health questionnaire.
A simplified issue might be an excellent decision if you are cancer-free but not in perfect health.
Life insurance with a guaranteed issue You cannot be refused guaranteed life insurance because of a medical exam, health standards, or medical history requirements. That may seem enticing, but the cost of the coverage you receive will be high, and the policy’s death benefits will be low.
Life insurance for burial Burial insurance, intended for life insurance purchasers over 50, is designed to cover expenditures associated with the end of life, such as funeral fees and unpaid medical bills. Obtaining this coverage doesn’t need a medical checkup.
How Does Cancer Affect the Price of Life Insurance?
For all plans, including those for cancer patients and survivors, most life insurance firms employ a categorization method to calculate the prices for life insurance. Following cancer, some suggestions to improve your chances of finding life insurance.
Work with a knowledgeable independent life insurance agent first and foremost. Independent brokers deal with various insurance providers and will be aware of those more receptive to covering cancer patients. Find an independent agent that specializes in impaired risk underwriting in particular.
With these techniques, you might be able to get affordable life insurance no matter when you become eligible for it after cancer.
By eating well and exercising, you may improve your general health. Avoid using tobacco. Quotes for life insurance are often substantially more expensive for smokers.
Choose a profession with less risk. Police officers, firefighters, pilots, and construction workers are among the occupations that might see increased costs.
Avoid dangerous pastimes, including scuba diving, skydiving, and mountain climbing. Your quotations will take them into account and increase the Price. Maintain a spotless driving and criminal history. DUIs, prior arrests, and other criminal convictions may impact your rate or ban you from coverage.
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Customer Relationship Management Software’s Objective
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A CRM Software’s Definition
An application used to manage and store customer data is known as CRM software. This data may include personal information, preferences, buying patterns, interactions with the business and other customers, and other things.
What Advantages Do CRM Software Offer?
Businesses use CRM software to cultivate and preserve relationships with their current clientele. CRM software enables businesses to better understand the needs of their customers, respond to those needs by improving services and products, attract new clients, and more.
What Purpose Does Customer Relations Management Software Serve?
Now let’s talk about some of the main objectives of CRM software. Including the following:
Find New Clients
CRM software is widely used by businesses to attract new clients. A business that sells goods and services online, for instance, can use its CRM software to entice new clients by emailing them and providing them with special discounts, coupons, and other offers.
Identify and Keep Your Customers
CRM software can assist businesses in learning more about their client's requirements so that they can enhance their products, services, and other aspects. In other words, by offering customers goods and services that are on par with or better than their expectations, CRM software can aid a business in keeping its current clientele.
Encourage Customer Loyalty
Many businesses use CRM software to reward existing customers for their loyalty by sending them emails with rewards, discounts, etc. These programs are also being used to collect customer feedback so that changes can be made in response to it.
How Does a CRM Software Operate?
Through the following three steps, customer relationship management software assists businesses in developing customer relationships:
Step 1: Gather Data on Customers. The first step of this process entails gathering data on clients using a variety of techniques. This data may include specifics like the client’s name, contact information (such as a phone number, email address, and mailing address), gender, age group, purchasing patterns, and preferences, among other things. It may also contain information about previous interactions between the business and the client (such as the most recent time the client purchased goods or services from the business).
Step 2: Store Information in a Database. In order to make the information easily retrievable at any time, the collected data is stored in a database in the second step. A company should be able to easily access this information from its database at any time during this six-month period, for instance, if it wants to send marketing materials to new customers once a month for the first six months after acquiring them.
Step 3: Produce Reports from Database Data. The third step entails obtaining pertinent data from the database for additional analysis and decision-making. For instance, if a business wants to analyze customer behavior to attract new ones (see step 1) or customer feedback to improve its business processes (see step 3), it should create reports based on the data stored in its database so that it can use such reports for analysis.
#areteautomation #marketingautomation #leadconnector #emailmarketing #contentmarketing
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Estate Planning and How Life Insurance is Involved
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At first thought, life insurance may not seem to have a bearing on how to dispose of your assets in your estate plan. However, life insurance can be an integral, indispensably important part of a well-thought-out estate plan. There are numerous other benefits to owning a life insurance policy aside from providing a large sum of money to beneficiaries.
Life insurance provides immediate cash upon death that can pay debts, final income taxes of the insured, and funeral expenses. Life insurance cash can also pay estate taxes and avoid the forced sale of assets. Mostly, the proceeds from life insurance will pass to the named beneficiary free of income tax. Life insurance proceeds can transfer to a trust as part of a will the insured created for the benefit of minor children, special needs, or elderly relatives. The proceeds of a life insurance policy can be payable to someone other than the insured’s estate and avoid passing through probate when owned by an irrevocable insurance trust. For example, the funds can pay marital settlement obligations for spousal or child support. If the insured owns a closely-held business, a life insurance policy can fund a buy-out of their interest. Proper beneficiary designation forms of a life insurance policy prevent proceeds from going through probate.
Do not underestimate the importance of having cash funds immediately available in an uncomplicated way. Often the passing of a loved one or family member comes with a string of expenses that often exceed cost expectations. Much of what Americans have resides in investments like 401ks, IRAs, housing, and other illiquid assets with very little cash on hand. Life insurance proceeds protect families from having to force the sale of these assets at unfavorable tax rates. Some inheritable assets come with immediate payment requirements. Homes not fully paid off, cars, and the like can leave families with short-term liabilities requiring cash.
Understanding Estate Planning Strategies with a Life Insurance Policy
One of the more popular estate planning strategies that fit many situations is an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT). Though a beneficiary or third party cannot rescind the trust, modified, or amended post creation, it still offers heirs several financial and legal advantages. These advantages include asset protection, favorable tax treatment, and assurance beneficiaries use the proceeds in a manner concurrent with the benefactor’s wishes. Typically, life insurance policies are the chief assets held in an ILIT.
Before purchasing a life insurance policy, particularly if you want to create an ILIT, speak with your estate planning attorney regarding potential income and estate tax consequences. If you have an estate large enough, it can be subject to federal and state estate taxes depending on the applicable laws in place at the time of your passing. Your ILIT should be in place before binding a life insurance policy to it. Remember that states have different laws regarding an ILIT; to avoid problems, your ILIT must follow your state’s rules.
Using a Gifting Strategy for your Life Insurance Plan
It is possible to gift an existing life insurance policy to your ILIT. Unfortunately, if you were to die within three years of making the gift, the policy amount can be included in your estate for tax purposes due to a rule known as a “lookback period.” In effect, this isn’t making the policy proceeds taxable, but it adds the policy proceeds amount to the total value of the estate, in turn making it part of your estate subject to taxes. As federal estate tax exemption amounts frequently change, it is prudent to fund your ILIT by purchasing a new policy. Doing so will avoid the possibility of a lookback period.
When using an ILIT, whether or not you are married, use the second to die, survivorship policy, or are single and have an individual policy must be considered. Choosing between variations of permanent life insurance for your ILIT, such as whole standard life, universal life, and variable life insurance, can be confusing, and your estate planning attorney can guide you to your best option.
If you own a business and one adult child will take over the business. Still, other adult children are not interested or involved in the enterprise. The life insurance proceeds can provide the cash to buy out those inheritors’ business interests while leaving the business intact. Blended family systems can also benefit from life insurance payouts to ensure that all children receive an inheritance, not just the children of the last surviving spouse.
Life insurance should be a part of your family estate plan. It can increase the wealth your heirs inherit and provide a ready source of cash for immediate financial obligations after your death. Which form of life insurance best suits your needs will depend on your age and situation.
To speak with your estate planning attorney about how to use life insurance as an effective tool in your estate planning, please contact us to schedule a meeting. We are here to help.
If you Need Help, It Would Be Our Pleasure...
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Credit: Snyder Law
Date: Oct 18, 2021
*Source: https://www.snyderlawpc.com/estate-planning-and-how-life-insurance-is-involved/*
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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Life Insurance and Wills: If You Have One, Do You Need the Other?
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As a company that sells term life insurance, we get one question a lot: What’s the deal with life insurance and wills?
And that question is really a lot of questions bundled into one: How does life insurance work? What exactly is a last will and testament? If you have one, do you need the other? What if the choices in your will don’t align with what you chose for your life insurance policy? How does a trust fund come into the picture?
We’re here to break it down for you.
First, a few definitions. Life insurance is an agreement between you and an insurer saying that if you pass away during a certain time period, the insurer will pay a “death benefit” to the person you choose. For example, this could be your spouse or children.
Next, a will is a document that states your wishes upon your death, such as whom you’d like to care for your children, and who should inherit your assets. A trust, meanwhile, helps control not just who inherits your assets but how. So, for example, you could leave your estate to a trust that dictates that your child shouldn’t inherit until she turns 30 (whereas she’d otherwise inherit when she becomes a legal adult at 18).
“The coronavirus has made it clear to many how necessary having life insurance and end-of-life instructions are to protect your loved ones,” says Michelle Stroble, a senior advisor with KPM Planning. “Do it now.”
If I Have Life Insurance, Do I Even Need a Will?
A well-considered life insurance policy can cover a lot of expenses for your loved ones, but it shouldn’t be your only estate planning tool. Life insurance policies and wills operate in different ways. Namely, life insurance offers “new” funds to help your loved ones cover future expenses. A will, meanwhile, defines your wishes for the property you own now.
Life insurance benefits can do much more than cover funeral expenses. For example, your beneficiary can use the benefit to fund a college education or pay off a mortgage.
Unlike assets included in a will, an insurance policy payout does not have to go through the probate process. A will, meanwhile, specifies how your other assets are distributed—your home, your car, your personal belongings—and it must go through probate. That’s the process of taking your will before a judge who can ensure that it is sound and that its instructions are being carried out correctly.
“If you don’t have a will,” Dan Papuga, a Certified Financial Planner with Northwestern Mutual, warns, “the state in which you live will appoint a lawyer who will be paid out of your assets, off the top, to settle your affairs in probate court. And they will dictate how long your assets will be frozen. In some places, it could take two to three years until all those affairs are settled, and only then would remaining assets be paid to the named beneficiaries.”
What If My Life Insurance Policy Contradicts My Will?
A common misconception is that the will takes precedence over other instructions, but that’s not always the case. For example, maybe you name one person as a beneficiary on your policy, but name someone else as your beneficiary in your will. What happens then?
In short, a life insurance policy isn’t contingent on your will, so the person you named in your policy will get the life insurance benefit. The person you named in your will, however, is eligible to receive everything else covered by the will, like property and possessions.
New instructions in your will won’t override the beneficiary designation you made on your life insurance policy. If you want to change the beneficiary of your life insurance policy and the beneficiary of your will, you’ll need to update that information in both places.
Can I Direct My Insurance to ‘Follow the Directions in My Will’?
Often, the answer is no. For many policies, such as the one sold by Fabric, you can’t redirect your life insurance benefit to the instructions in an existing will. If you want your life insurance choices to be consistent with the choices you’ve made in your will, you’ll usually need to simply make sure you coordinate those decisions in both places.
Another option is to designate a trust as the beneficiary of both your will and your life insurance policy. That would grant you finer-tuned control over how your assets are distributed, and would ensure that your choices are consistent across the board (because they all redirect to the same trust).
Your life insurance beneficiary takes precedence (for the death benefit from your insurer) over the person you’ve named in your will. The only exception is if your designated beneficiary dies before you do. In that case, if you don’t have a named beneficiary for your life insurance policy, the death benefit would go to your estate and pass through the probate process.
That is why it is wise to have a contingent beneficiary—that’s essentially a backup beneficiary—and to review all of these documents on a regular basis, as well as every time you have a major life change.
Find out how to choose a beneficiary for your life insurance policy and your will.
Can I Make a Trust My Beneficiary?
You can name a trust as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
There are two types of trusts that are specialized for life insurance: an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) and a revocable life insurance trust (RLIT). These trusts are constructed so that life insurance policy is the primary asset owned by the trust. (You can also name a “regular” trust as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.)
An RLIT is a life insurance trust to which you can make changes down the line, while an ILIT cannot be changed later.
Why would you want a trust that reduces your flexibility and forbids you from making any changes down the line? The main reason people tend to use ILITs is to reap the benefits of the fact that they aren’t taxable. So, you might use an ILIT to set aside money for a predetermined purpose, such as paying off estate taxes. That said, the lack of flexibility is a major drawback of ILITs. Plus, while ILIT assets get excluded from your estate for tax purposes, they are included as part of your beneficiaries’ estate. Bottom line? ILITs tend to make the most sense for people with very considerable assets, since estate tax doesn’t kick in until you’ve got more than $11 million to pass on.
RLITs, meanwhile, offer limited benefits since they function largely the same way as a designated beneficiary in a life insurance policy. The main pro of this approach is that if you were incapacitated, your trustee could more easily take the helm.
These types of trusts are typically a more expensive route because not only do you have to pay insurance premiums, you also have to pay trust administration fees.
What If I Live in a Community Property State?
Community property laws mean that unless there’s a prenuptial agreement, each partner in a marriage is entitled to half of the assets accumulated during the marriage. The proceeds from a life insurance policy are assets, so you might think that the surviving spouse would get half of those proceeds in a community property state.
But that’s not the case. Life insurance policies are separate because insurance is a contract that’s independent of community property law. For example, the beneficiary of your life insurance policy can even be someone other than your spouse.
That said, whole life insurance policies have a “cash value” component, which means that the money you put into the policy doesn’t just disappear. You have the ability to withdraw some or all of the money while you are still alive, if you choose (although this can have a negative effect on the death benefit if you were to pass away).
As a result of this cash value feature of whole life, half of the premiums that are paid for the insurance during the marriage are community property. That’s because at the time, the money for the premiums belonged to both parties. Still, if the surviving spouse wanted access to those funds, they would likely have to seek legal action to recoup them from the policy’s beneficiaries.
There are currently nine states with community property laws: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Three additional states Alaska, South Dakota and Tennessee—allow spouses to opt in to community property. The territories Puerto Rico and Guam also have community property laws.
Taking the Plunge
At the end of the day, one of the most impactful things you can do for your family is to start getting these basic pillars of estate planning in place: a will, a life insurance policy and, if it makes sense for your needs, a trust.
Stroble points out that many people may qualify for term insurance policies with monthly payments less than a cable or phone bill. For example, a 30-year-old woman in Florida in excellent health might be able to get $500,000 in 20-year term life insurance for about $25 a month, based on a life insurance quote from Fabric.
“Unfortunately, many people, particularly people of color, view insurance as an expense and not as a priority,” Stroble says. “For African Americans and other people of color in particular, the pattern has been like Sisyphus where one generation pushes the rock up the hill only for it to slide back down because of the lack of insurance, a will and a trust.”
It’s tempting to avoid discussions about life insurance, wills and trusts. However, there are numerous financial advisors who can help you develop an overall plan as well as review the legal and tax implications of your choices. Talking about death is awkward, but the consequences of not having these conversations are significant for your loved ones. If you need additional motivation to document your wishes, do it for them.
Credit: Angie Chatman
Date: Feb 2, 2021
Source: https://meetfabric.com/blog/life-insurance-and-wills-if-you-have-one-do-you-need-the-other
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norimeanewsletter · 2 years
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How Life Insurance Works During A Divorce
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Divorce can be devastating. Even an amicable divorce can cause financial hardship when you consider the cost of establishing and maintaining two individual households. While there are a lot of moving parts during and after a divorce, life insurance tends to be an afterthought.
If you’re going through a divorce, life insurance can help protect the assets you’ve worked to build. While every divorce will have a different set of financial challenges, life insurance can be a crucial component of a divorce settlement.
How to Handle Existing Life Insurance in a Divorce
Married couples often purchase life insurance to cover existing or anticipated debts or other financial responsibilities. Even when a couple decides to go their separate ways, these obligations may remain. That’s why existing life insurance considerations can be an important component of a divorce.
To ensure all life insurance has been accounted for, you may need to provide documentation of all your current assets, liabilities and insurance policies, pending a divorce complaint. For example, New Jersey requires each spouse to provide an Affidavit of Insurance Coverage at the beginning of a contested divorce case. This document outlines all policies you and your spouse had in place at the time you filed for divorce, as well as policies that have been canceled within the past 90 days.
Taking an inventory of all current insurance policies will help divorce proceedings.
How you handle life insurance requirements will be determined by your current and future life insurance needs as well as the affordability of keeping the policies. For example, let’s say you and your spouse each have a term life insurance policy and decide to keep the policies. You might each decide to be both the owner and beneficiary for the other person’s policy.
If you have a cash value life insurance policy, you and your spouse may decide to terminate the policy and then divide the cash value equally.
Other considerations may include surrender charges, which will reduce the surrender value of a policy.
Questions to Ask Your Attorney About Handling Life Insurance
When consulting with your attorney, keep in mind the fundamentals of why you purchased life insurance in the first place. Your attorney should then help you determine the future purpose of your existing and new policies in the context of the divorce. Some questions you may want to ask your attorney include:
What should happen to my life insurance policies after my divorce?
What insurance obligations will I have after my divorce?
How do I verify my ex-spouse is insured?
How do we calculate the appropriate amount of life insurance?
How do we know if we are insurable?
Since life insurance is usually part of a broader financial or estate plan, it’s wise to consult with a financial planner who can guide you and help you assess the affordability of life insurance and the amount of coverage you need.
Chris Chen, CFP, of Insight Financial Strategists in Massachusetts, says, “Divorce gives individuals the opportunity to determine how they want to live separately and also of how they want to provide for the children they have together. For example, the supporting spouse may decide they will pay for their child’s college expenses. Therefore, they would want to determine if they need additional insurance coverage to account for this potential cost in the event that they pass away prematurely.”
What Divorce Settlements Often Say About Life Insurance
While marital assets are often split equally among the two parties, a court might determine that one spouse must make monthly alimony or child support payments to the other. These payments will ensure that the children are provided for and the dependent spouse is appropriately compensated after the divorce.
Generally, if there is a child support or alimony obligation, the court will require the spouse paying the support to have life insurance in place. If the spouse making payments already has a policy such as a group life insurance policy, the opposing attorney may require them to keep it.
If they don’t have a policy, they may have to purchase life insurance to ensure there’s still financial support if they pass away.
Both ex-spouses will need to work with their respective attorneys to decide the amount of the policy, who owns the policy, who pays the premiums, who are the beneficiaries, and how much of the policy goes to each beneficiary.
Rajeh A. Saadeh, a practicing divorce attorney in New Jersey, says, “In some instances, a payor may not qualify or can’t afford a life insurance policy. In this case, an alternative option would be to use a constructive trust, which sets aside a portion of the payor’s assets to secure future support just in case the payor passes away.”
Potential Life Insurance Problems
Here are a few of the most common life insurance problems that arise during and after a divorce.
Change was made to a life insurance policy
Sometimes the policy owner will make changes to the policy without alerting the beneficiary. For example, if an ex-spouse is providing support and owns a life insurance policy, they can change the beneficiary and never notify the other ex-spouse.
Or a policyholder might stop paying the premiums or allow the policy to lapse. This could terminate the policy, leaving the other ex-spouse without a financial safety net in place.
But there are ways to avoid these problems. One option is for the spouse to receive support to own the life insurance policy. This gives you full control over the payments and the naming of beneficiaries.
Another option is to have third-party authorizations on the account so you can obtain information if changes are made or an alert if the policy is about to lapse.
By having third-party authorizations, the ex-spouse can learn of changes to the life insurance, such as beneficiary changes, directly from the insurance company. This way, the ex-spouse receiving alimony or child support can ensure the policy is active and is safeguarding the support payments.
Reallocation of support
Financial circumstances can change for both parties after a divorce. You may need a reallocation of support if the payor loses his job or the recipient of alimony begins to make significantly more than the payor.
“When there’s a recalculation of support, there must be a reallocation of life insurance obligations. Since circumstances often change after a divorce, the family can go back to court to reallocate the support and life insurance obligations. However, if possible, handling these matters outside of court is more cost-effective and recommended,” says Saadeh.
Insurance obligations
Life insurance needs can also change over time. For example, if a payor is responsible for paying $100,000 in alimony over 10 years, the payor may only need a 10-year $100,000 life insurance policy. If the payor has already paid $50,000 in the first few years of support, they no longer need a $100,000 life insurance policy to protect the compensation. A divorce agreement may permit the payor to step down insurance over time as support is paid.
The payor could reduce coverage or add a new beneficiary to receive 50% of the life insurance death benefit.
It’s important to note that the insurance company will not automatically do this, it’s up to the policyholder to make these changes.
The Right Types of Life Insurance After a Divorce
“The right type of insurance will depend on what you already have,” says Chen. “Generally, since cash is short all over, term life insurance is a good solution for many different financial situations.”
Divorces are financially and emotionally complex. Your life insurance needs will depend on your financial situation and what you and your ex can reasonably afford. Taking the time to assess all of your options—and your longer-term financial plans—will help you determine the best way to protect assets after going your separate ways.
Credit: Ashley Kilroy
Date: Jun 14, 2022
Source: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/life-insurance/divorce/
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