Financial Protection with Insurance Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Creating Retirement Protection

1

Covid-19 Creates Difficult Economic Times

1

Inflation Affects Retirement Vehicles

2

Inflation Affects Every Financial Vehicle on Earth

3

Utilizing Insurance Products for Growth

4

Insufficient Planning Haunts Retirees

5

Insurance and Longevity

6

Retiring with Insufficient Retirement Funding

8

Creating Income During Retirement

10

  Rising COVID Medical Costs & the Effects on Insurance

11

  COVID-19 Appears in 2020 Creating Additional Costs

11

  High Medical Costs in Normal Times

13

Long-Term Care Insurance Policies

18

Selecting the Appropriate Insurance Policy

20

Preserving Retirement Plans

21

Debt Can Affect the Purchase of Insurance

23

Debt Affects Insurance Rates

25

Saving for the Future

26

An Aging Nation Impacts Insurance & Governments

29

Buying the Right Insurance Products

33

Compounding Power is Important

35

Retirement Income

35

Social Security Benefits/Age of Collection

36

Supplementing Income with Annuities & Personal Savings

37

Women Live Poorer in Retirement than Men

37

Primary Insurance Amount (PIA)

39

  PIA Definition

39

  PIA Formula Bend Points

39

  Benefit Based on PIA and Age

39

  Average Indexed Monthly Earnings

39

Summary

40

  Monthly Benefit Amounts

40

Old Computing Methods

41

  Average Indexed Monthly Earnings

41

  Indexing Yearly Income

41

  Computation

41

Supplementing Employer Pension Benefits

42

Tax Deferred Retirement Benefits

43

Individual Savings

43

Managing Income in Retirement

44

Pre-Retirement Income

44

Retirement Shortfalls

45

Getting a Return on Savings

47

Receiving Income from Investment Vehicles

49

Taxation on IRA’s, Annuities and More

49

Withdrawals Prior to Age 59 ½

50

  The Age 55 Penalty Exception

50

  The Five-Year Rule for 72(t) Payments

51

 

 

Chapter 2: The SECURE Act Apply to Insurance Producers

52

SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022

57

Public Law 116-124

57

H.R. 1994 AN ACT

59

  SEC 1 Short Title, Etc.

59

Title I: Expanding Coverage and Increasing Retirement Savings

59

  SEC 101 Expanding automatic enrollment in retirement plans

60

  SEC 102 Increase In 10% Cap

66

  SEC 103 Rules Relating to Election

66

  SEC 104 Increase in Credit Limitation

69

  SEC 105 Small Employer Auto Enroll Credit

69

  SEC 45T Auto-Enroll Option

69

  SEC 106 Multiple employer 403(b) plans

70

  SEC 107 Repeal of Maximum Age for IRA

71

  SEC 108 Indexing IRA catch-up limit

72

  SEC 109 Higher catch-up limit to apply

72

  SEC 110 Treatment of student loan payments as elective deferrals for purposes of matching contributions

72

  SEC 111 Application of credit for small employer pension plan startup costs to employers which join an existing plan

73

  SEC 112 Qualified Cash or Deferred

74

  SEC 113 Penalty-Free Withdrawals

76

  SEC 114 Deferral of tax for certain sales of employer stock to employee stock ownership plan sponsored by S Corporation

79

  SEC 115 Withdrawals for certain emergency expenses

79

  SEC 116 Allow additional nonelective contributions to SIMPLE plans

79

  SEC 117 Contribution limit for SIMPLE plans

79

  SEC 118 Tax Treatment of nontrade or business SEP contributions

80

  SEC 119 Application of section 415 limit for certain employees of rural electric cooperatives

80

  SEC 120 Exemption for certain automatic portability transactions

80

  SEC 121 Starter 401(k) plans for employers with no retirement plan

81

  SEC 122 Assist States in locating owners of applicable savings bonds

81

  SEC 123 Certain securities treated as publicly traded in case of employee stock ownership plans

81

  SEC 124 Modification of age requirement for qualifies ABLE programs

82

  SEC 125 Improving coverage for part-time workers

 

SEC 126 Special rules for certain distributions from long-term qualifies tuition programs to Roth IRAs

82

SEC 127 Emergency savings accounts linked to individual account plans

83

SEC 128 Enhancement of 403(b) plans

84

Title II: Preservation of Income

84

  SEC 201 Remove required minimum distribution barriers of life annuities

84

  SEC 202 Qualifying longevity annuity contracts

85

  SEC 203 Insurance-dedicated exchange-traded funds

85

  SEC 204 Eliminating a penalty on partial annuitization

86

Title III: Simplification and Clarification of Retirement Plan Rules

86

   SEC 301 Recovery of retirement plan overpayments

86

   SEC 302 Reduction in excise tax on certain accumulations in qualified retirement plans

86

  SEC 303 Retirement savings lost and found

87

  SEC 304 Updating dollar limit for mandatory distributions

87

  SEC 305 Expansion of Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System

87

  SEC 306 Eliminates the “first day of the month” requirement for governmental section 457(b) plans

88

  SEC 307 One-time election for qualified charitable distribution to split-interest entity; increase in qualified charitable distribution limitation

88

  SEC 308 Distribution to firefighters

88

  SEC 309 Exclusion of certain disability-related first responder treatment payments

88

  SEC 310 Application of top-heavy rules to defined contribution plans covering excludable employees

89

  SEC 311Repayment of qualified birth or adoption distribution limited to 3 years

89

  SEC 312 Employer may rely on employee certifying that deemed hardship distribution conditions are met

90

  SEC 313 Individual retirement plan statute of limitations for excise tax on excess contributions and certain accumulations

90

  SEC 314 Penalty-free withdrawal from retirement plans for individual case of domestic abuse

90

  SEC 315 Reform of family attribution rule

91

  SEC 316 Amendments to increase benefit accruals under plan for previous plan year allowed until employer tax return due date

91

  SEC 317 Retroactive first year elective deferrals for sole proprietors

91

  SEC 318 Performance benchmarks for asset allocation funds

91

  SEC 319 Review, and report to Congress relating to reporting and disclosure requirements

92

  SEC 320 Eliminating unnecessary plan requirements related to unenrolled participants

92

  SEC 321 Review of pension risk transfer interpretive bulletin

93

  SEC 322 Tax treatment of IRA involved in a prohibited transaction

93

  SEC 323 Clarification of substantially equal periodic payment rule

93

  SEC 324 Treasury guidance on rollovers

93

  SEC 325 Roth plan distribution rules

93

  SEC 326 Exception to penalty on early distributions from qualified plans for individuals with a terminal illness

94

  SEC 327 Surviving spouse election to be treated as employee

94

  SEC 328 Repeal of direct payment requirement on exclusion from gross income of distributions from governmental plans for health and long-term care insurance

94

  SEC 329 Modification of eligible age for exemption from early withdrawal penalty

94

  SEC 330 Exemption from early withdrawal penalty for certain state and local government corrections employees

95

  SEC 331 Special rules for use of retirement funds in connection with qualified federally declared disasters

95

  SEC 332 Employers allowed to replace SIMPLE retirement accounts with safe harbor 401(k) plans during a year

95

  SEC 333 Elimination of additional tax on corrective distributions of excess contributions

95

  SEC334 Long-term Care contracts purchased with retirement plan distributions

96

  SEC 335 Corrections of mortality tables

96

  SEC 336 Report to Congress on section 402(f) notices

96

  SEC 337 Modification of required minimum distribution rules for special needs trust

96

  SEC 338 Requirement to provide paper statements in certain cases

96

  SEC 339 Recognition of tribal government domestic relations orders

97

  SEC 340 Defined contribution plan fee disclosure improvements

97

  SEC 341 Consolidation of defined contribution plan notices

97

  SEC 342 Information needed for Financial Options Risk Mitigation Act

97

  SEC 343 Defined benefit annual funding notices

98

  SEC 344 Report on pooled employer plans

98

  SEC 345 Annual audits for group of plans

98

  SEC 346 Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) act

98

  SEC 347 Report by the Secretary of Labor on the impact of inflation on retirement savings

98

  SEC 348 Cash balance

99

  SEC 349 Termination of variable rate premium indexing

99

  SEC 350 Safe harbor for corrections of employee elective deferral failures

99

Title IV: Technical Amendments

100

Title V: Administrative Provisions

100

Title VI: Revenue Provisions

100

  SEC 601 SIMPLE and SEP Roth IRAs

100

  SEC 602 Hardship withdrawal rules for 403(b) plans

100

  SEC 603 Elective deferrals generally limited to regular contribution limit

101

  SEC 604 Optional treatment of employer matching or nonelective contributions as Roth contributions

101

  SEC 605 Charitable conservation easements

101

  SEC 606 Enhancing retiree health benefits in pension plans

102

Title VII Tax Court Retirement Provisions

102

  SEC 701 Provisions relating to judges of the Tax Course

102

  SEC 702 Provisions relating to special trial judges of the Tax Course

102

      Editor’s Observations

103

 

 

Chapter 3: Life Insurance

107

Policy Provisions

108

Defining the Contract

108

Policy Application

109

Policy Ownership

110

Preventing Money Laundering Activities

110

Terrorism Produces Insurer Risk

110

    Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

111

Legal Requirements Adopted

112

    The USA Patriot Act

112

Broker-Dealer Requirements

114

AML Program Requirements

115

Know Your Customer (KYC)

118

Compliance

118

Suspicious Activity Reports Filing Requirements

118

A Change in Thinking

119

A Global Problem

120

Covered Products

122

Nine Identified Money Laundering (ML) Methods

123

 1. Single Premium Life Insurance Contracts

123

 2. Early Policy Redemption

124

 3. Claim Fraud

124

 4. Cash Premium Payments

124

 5. “Free Look” Periods

124

    Example

125

 6. Collusion

125

 7. Third-Party Premium Payments

125

 8. Risks Involved in International Transactions

125

 9. Fraudulent Customers

126

Money Laundering Indicators Not Unique to Insurance Products

126

   1. Large One-Off Cash Transactions

126

   2. Use of False Addresses

126

   3. Overseas Business from Higher Risk Area

127

  Policyholder Characteristics and Behaviors

127

  A Known Criminal or Criminal Associate or Relative

129

  Erratic or Abnormal Use of Policies

129

  High Premiums Compared to Verifiable Income

129

  Lack of Concern for Charges or Costs

130

  Undue Interest in Payout Options

130

  Change of Beneficiary

130

  Insurance on Assets Inconsistent with Income

130

  Early of Suspicions Claims

131

Product Characteristics and Maintenance

132

   1. Policy Payments from Third Parties

133

   2. Multiple Sources of Funds to Pay Premiums

133

   3. Significant Premium Top-Ups to a Policy

133

   4. Overpayment of Premium

133

   5. Using an Insurer like a Bank

133

   6. Early Redemption

134

   7. Unusually High Commission Charges

134

Customer Due Diligence (CDD)

134

Policy Features and Provisions

136

Premiums

137

Policy Options

137

  Nonforfeiture Options

137

  Dividend Options

138

  Settlement Options

138

State Required Provisions

140

  Incontestability

141

  Misstatements in the Application

141

  Deferment Clause

142

  Nonforfeiture

142

  Loan Values

142

  Grace Periods and Reinstatement

143

Allowed Policy Provisions

144

   Suicide

144

   Aviation

144

   War

144

General Provisions

145

   Deduction of Indebtedness

145

   Change of Beneficiary

145

   Assignment

146

Beneficiary Designation

146

Policy Payments

148

  Cash Values

148

  Dividends

149

  Proceeds

149

  Special Clauses

150

Contract Use

152

Group Insurance Principles

152

Eligible Groups

152

   Single-Employer Groups

152

   Multiple Employer Trusts (METS)

152

   Unions, Association, and Other Groups

153

 Creditor-Debtor Groups

153

 Underwriting Advantages

154

 Keeping Current with Business Needs

155

The Informed Consumer

156

Providing a Quote

156

The Contract Participants

158

  The Insurer

158

  The Insured

158

  Insurance Contract

159

  Underwriting and Rating

159

  Finance

160

A Public Interest

160

Key Person Insurance

161

Buy-and-Sell Agreements

162

The Key Person Principle

163

  Insurable Interest for Life Insurance

163

    Example

164

  Disability Insurance on Key Employees

165

    Example

165

The Small Company’s Exposure

167

  Loss of the Small Business Owner

167

Planning Ahead for Death or Disability

171

Insuring Entities

171

Private and Government Insurance

171

Private Insurers

171

  Life Insurance

172

  Property and Liability Insurance

173

Government Insurance

173

  Voluntary Government Insurance

173

  Compulsory Government Insurance

174

Mutual Companies

174

  Assessment Mutuals

175

  Non-assessable Mutuals

177

  Conversions

177

Reciprocal or Inter-Insurer Associations

178

Stock and Mutual Underwriting

179

Factory Mutuals

180

Superior Agents and Brokers

181

Chapter 4: Annuities

184

Annuity Choices

184

  Joint and Survivorship Annuities

184

  Guaranteed and Life-time-certain

185

  Level Annuities

185

  Capital-Back Guaranteed Annuities

185

  Escalating Annuities

186

  Inflation-Linked Annuities

186

  Enhanced Annuities

186

Annuity History

187

Agents Must Understand Terminology

190

Annuity Basics

194

  Choosing Between Fixed and Variable

195

  Choosing Between a Lifetime and Term

196

  Company Financial Strength

198

Annuity Extras

198

  Principal Protection

198

  Cost of Living Protection

198

The Ups and Downs of Annuities

199

    Principle Protection

199

  Tax Efficiency

199

Supplementing Other Retirement Income

200

  Reasons to Buy an Annuity

200

  Reasons to Avoid Buying Annuities

200

Making the Right Annuity Choices

201

Many Annuity Choices

202

Annuities for Retirement

204

Everyone is Living Longer These Days

204

Putting Off Retirement

205

Fixed-Rate Annuities

207

  How Fixed Rate Annuities Work

207

Variable Annuities

209

  Annual Expenses

210

  Funding Variable Annuities

210

  Variable Annuity Fees

211

  Variable Annuity Death Benefit

211

  Surrender Fees

211

  Early Withdrawal Penalty

211

  Taxation

211

Equity-Indexed Annuities

212

COVID-19 and Annuities

212

The Future Outlook

213

  Insurer Investments were Affected

214

Insurance Producers May Struggle

215

Assessing COVID-19 Impact

216

Financial and Practical Impact on Insurers

217

  Short and Long-Term Insurance Impacts

218

The Life Insurance Industry in America and Around the World

219

  Underwriting During the Aids Crisis May be Similar

219

  Non-Health Elements Affecting Policy Underwriting

219

  Underwriting Life Insurance Products in these COVID-19 Times

219

Applications for Annuity and Life Insurance Policies

221

Policy Provisions Now Apply to COVID-19

223

Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation

224

Section 1. Purpose

226

Section 2. Scope

227

Section 3. Authority

227

Section 4. Exemptions

227

Section 5. Definitions

228

Section 6. Duties of Insurers and Producers

230

Best Interest Obligations

230

Disclosure Obligations

232

Conflict of Interest Obligation

233

Documentation Obligation

233

Application of the Best Interest Obligation

234

When Annuity Transactions are Not Based on a Producer’s Recommendation

234

Supervision System

235

Prohibited Practices

237

Safe Harbor

237

Section 7. Producer Training

238

Section 8. Compliance Mitigation; Penalties; Enforcement

239

Section 9. Recordkeeping

240

NAIC Model Law Appendix A

240

NAIC Model Law Appendix B

242

NAIC Model Law Appendix C

243

 

 

Chapter 5: Health Insurance

244

Adverse Selection in Insurance

244

The Potential Future of the Affordable Care Act

247

Without Insurance Health Care is Expensive in the U.S.

248

Short–Term or Temporary Health Insurance

252

Health Insurance Plans Offer Variety

254

Manage Care Plans

254

Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)

255

Point-of-Service Plans (POS)

255

Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO)

256

Catastrophic Coverage

256

Health Savings Accounts (HAS)

257

Hospital Indemnity Policies

257

Critical Illness Insurance

258

Cancer Insurance

259

Accidental Death and Dismemberment Policies

259

Identity Theft Insurance

260

Long-Term Care Nursing Home Policies

261

Defining Long-Term Care

263

Partnership for Long-Term Care Begins

265

Partnership Policies Created

267

Medicaid is the Largest Nursing Home Payor

267

DRA of 2005 Provides Asset Protection

268

Agent and Consumer Education

269

Policy Benefits

269

Inflation Protection

269

Program Benefits

270

Making Benefit Choices

270

Daily Benefit Options

272

Determining Benefit Length

273

Policy Structure

273

Home Care Options

273

Simple and Compound Protection

274

Required Rejection Form

274

Elimination Periods in LTC Policies

274

Policy Type

275

Restoration of Policy Benefits

275

Preexisting Periods in Policies

275

Deciding Between Policy Types

276

Nonforfeiture Values

277

Waiver of Premium

277

Unintentional Lapse of Policy

278

Policy Renewal Features

278

Items Not Covered by the LTC Policy

279

Extension of Benefits

279

Affordability Contracts

279

Standardized Definitions

280

Minimum Partnership Requirements

280

Benefit Duplication

280

Partnership Publication

280

Truly a Partnership

281

Saving Assets from Medicaid Qualification

282

Accessing Policy Benefits

283

Asset Repositioning

285

Partnership Participation Does Not Guarantee Medicaid Qualification

286

Policy Considerations for Non-Partnership Traditional LTC Policies

286

Underwriting for Policy Issue

287

NAIC Model Regulations

288

Partnership Plans Protect Assets, Not Income

289

Application Age Affects Cost

289

Reducing Benefits to Save Premium

290

    Example

291

Policy Renewal

291

Policy Review: 30-Day “Free Look”

291

“Notice to Buyer”

292

Policy Schedule

292

Policy Terminology

293

Elimination Periods in Policies

297

Policy Termination

297

Mental Impairments of Organic Origin

297

Hospitalization Requirements

298

Home and Community-Based Benefits

298

Bed Reservation Benefit

299

Waiver of Premium

299

Selecting Other Types of Care

300

No Policy Covers Everything

300

Age Misstatement

301

  Third-Party Notification

302

Reinstatement of a Lapsed Policy

302

Section 6021: Expansion of State LTC Partnership Program

303

NAIC 2000 Model Act

305

  “Level Premium” Does Not Mean Unchanging Rates

306

  Financial Requirements for Rate Increases

307

Rate Certification from the Insurer’s actuary

307

Consumer Disclosure

307

LTC Personal Worksheet

307

Determining Policy Suitability

308

Consumer Publications

308

Post Claim Underwriting

309

Tax-Qualified Policy Statement

309

Replacement Notices

310

Policy Conversion

310

An Overview

310

The Model Act Applies to All

311

  Policy Renewable Provisions

312

  Payment Standards Must be Defined

312

  Preexisting Standards

312

  Policy Type Must Be Identified

312

  Activities of Daily Living (ADL)

312

  Life Insurance Policies with Accelerated Benefits

313

  Nonforfeiture Provisions

313

  Extension of Benefits

313

  Home Health & Community Care

314

  Additional Provisions for Group Policies

314

  Outline of Coverage

314

  Policy Delivery

314

  No Field Issued LTC Policies

314

  Policy Advertising and Marketing

315

  Prominent Statement Required Regarding Claims Not Covered

315

  Prior to the Sale

315

  Twisting and High-Pressure Tactics: Simply Illegal

316

  Association Marketing

316

Following the Sale

316

Failure to Pay Premiums

317

In Conclusion

317

A Few Unusual Policies

318

  Riot Insurance

318

  Fantasy Football Insurance

318

  Athlete Loss-of-Value Insurance

318

  Hole-in-One Price Insurance

318

  Body-Part Insurance

319

  Paranormal Insurance

319

  Death-by-Laughter Insurance

319

  Change-of-Heart Insurance

319

  Lottery Insurance

319

  Kidnapping & Ransom Insurance

320

  Key Person or Essential Employee Insurance

320

  Multiple-Birth Insurance

320

  Bicycle Insurance

320

  Surety Bond & Insurance

320

 

 

Chapter 6: Insurance Ethics

322

What Ethical Agents Know

322

Insurance Perceptions

322

Establishing Ethical Goals

324

    Example

327

Why be Ethical?

328

Following the Law

328

Ethics in the Workplace

329

Ethics Are the Same Regardless of the Name Used

330

Understanding How the Past Affects the Future

332

Companies Set Ethical Guidelines

337

    Examples

341

Promoting Ethical Behavior

341

An Ethical Theory: Egoism

344

   Is It Possible to Teach Ethical Behavior to Other People?

345

   What is The Scope of Ethics?

345

   What Does it Take to be A Moral Person?

347

   What Quality of Work Does the Individual Want to Perform?

348

   What is The Legacy Desired?

348

   Who Determines Ethics?

349

      Example #1

350

      Example #2

351

   What Are An Individual’s Responsibilities to Other Moral People?

351

The Theory of Objectivist Ethics

354

Holding an Ethical Code

355

    Example

356

   Sympathy/Empathy

361

Looking Professional

362

Courtesy

362

Mores

363

Measuring the Ethical Values of Others

367

General Education and State Mandated CE

368

Getting Education in a Timely Manner

370

Laying Out Policy Benefits and Limitations

372

Policy Replacement

375

When the Agent Allows Misconceptions

377

When the Premiums Seem too High to the Client

378

Obtaining Proper Application Signatures

378

Keeping in Touch After the Sale

379

Selling the “Fast Buck” Items

380

Commingling Funds

381

Professional Investment Advisors

381

Preparing for Tomorrow

382

Fixed and Variable Income

382

Financial Management

383

Due Diligence

384

Due Diligence Technical Versus Common-Sense Approach

387

Telling the Truth Requires Responsibility and Accountability

393

Selecting Insurers to Represent

403

Does Legal Also Mean Ethical?

403

Last Page

406

 

 

 

United Insurance Educators, Inc.

PO Box 1030

Eatonville, WA 98328