Jeff Mooers

About Jeff Mooers

Posts by Jeff Mooers:

January 3, 2019

30 Million Equals 2

Amy bought two $15MM policies in 2015. She has a high net worth, and 2 kids. Her estate is conservatively estimated at $60MM, so she funded two trusts with life insurance. She was 57 then, and got a Preferred approval due to her family history.

We did a Policy Review, because that is never, ever a bad idea. Now that she’s 60, Protective doesn’t ding her for her family history. If we got Best Class, the premium was about the same, but she’d get a new policy, with longer guarantees and better conversion options down the road. We found ourselves staring at another Preferred approval.

But Amy was relentless-she got updated labs. And a treadmill. And an ultrasound. And labs again. It became her personal mission. And she did it. We placed $30MM of new coverage-not for Amy, but for her 2 kids.

Let us help you with Policy Reviews.

June 17, 2018

A Big Piece of the Rock

He said thanks, and he’d buy a big policy, just as soon as he got that Trust done. You know the Trust. That trust.

Fast forward 8 months. Trust is now forgotten, but the need is still there. But he’s older, so other carriers are now less expensive. So we go to both of the now less expensive carriers. One says Standard Plus (that darn Sleep Apnea again), the other wants a blood test to get to Best Class (testosterone, ferritin, glucose, cholesterol).

So we go back to Pru, they stick to their original offer, and we place $4MM at Best Class. Then we get an application for $10MM more.

Is it because the agent worked so hard for the client? You be the judge. (yes).

(And the Best Class part. And the need for coverage. And the premium affordability.)

Need a Miracle? Submit one HERE.

June 17, 2018

Mr. Mean

Scott is one of our favorite agents, even though he hardly writes any business with us. You know who you are, Scott. You know who you are.

He came to Patty in our office with a problem. He has a mean client. Let’s call him Mr. Mean. Mr. Mean paid his quarterly premium on the last possible day, but for whatever reason, was 12 dollars short. Nobody knows why, and we’re not asking Mr. Mean.

Subsequent premium notices were ignored-probably torn to shreds and littered-because Mr. Mean knew he’d paid the darn thing, and this “Banner” company should leave him alone. Banner lapsed the policy and we got involved.

We offered to send in 12 crisp one-dollar bills (and some quarters for interest)-knowing, of course, that we couldn’t; Banner insisted that the policy owner call in…..and that, friends, is precisely what NOBODY wanted to have happen, because he is mean.

We found a friend in Policy Service who fixed it all-reversed the disbursement, reactivated the policy, and refused our cash-and Mr. Mean never, ever knew……Thank you, Banner. You are good to us. Especially you, Kris.

April 22, 2018

We Delivered, Now So Can She

Here’s some of a recent email she sent me-an email with the Subject of “Life Insurance for the most dangerous country on earth”:

I have a tricky situation for you. I need to get life insurance for my sister-in-law, but currently she is here on a visa and is still a citizen of El Salvador. When I tried several years ago to get life insurance for my father-in-law who is here on the same type of permit, even though they have all been here for over 20 years, there didn’t seem to be a carrier willing to write coverage for someone with Salvadoran citizenship. Any chance you would have any carriers that would take this on nowadays? I don’t even care how expensive it is (well, okay, that’s a lie), but I legally have to find coverage for her somehow because she is going to be carrying my baby very soon. Yep, you read that correctly! Any help you can provide or any direction you can point me in would be much appreciated.

We then found out that her visa is the “temporary protected status” that was cancelled in January. So her status is stable here until September 2019 when she’ll be forced to return to “that sh**hole country”.

Thanks to our friends at Prudential, we were able to issue a Best Class policy. I’ve never been so proud and excited to deliver a $269 annual premium, ever.

Need a Miracle? Submit one HERE.

April 4, 2018

Staggeringly Fascinating QUESTIONS

I’ve been doing a fair bit of traveling, attending marketing meetings from Walnut Creek to Tampa. I have a lot of new ideas, but I want to try a different approach.

You are my customer, my client, my friend, my relationship. So how about I ask you what YOU want, what YOU think is important?

Check out the topics below, and please. Seriously. Tell me what you think!

Indexed Universal Life:

Can you sell it? Are you selling it? To whom?

There are some products out there that look extremely attractive.

United of Omaha has two SOLID IUL options, both simple and transparent-with a Guaranteed Refund Option (think ROP).

Lincoln has a brand new IUL with a 40 year no lapse guarantee, and an 8.75% cap, guaranteed for the first 10 years.

We’re quoting it here and there, but not selling a ton, and I’m wondering why. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a guarantee junkie. But I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Tell me what you think!

Accelerated Benefit Riders:

I have to hand it to our carriers-in this plodding, low interest rate environment, they’re super focused on differentiating their products, any way they can. And most of the effort is going toward Accelerated Benefit Riders, or ABR’s.

You have Terminal Illness, Critical Illness, Chronic Illness, and Long Term Care.

AIG has no fewer than FIVE ways to access a death benefit early.

My question:

Does ANYBODY care? Have you ever sold a policy because of its ABR?

Tell me what you think!

Drop Ticket Term:

Quick Story on our First Ever Ticketterm Case:

Ticket was dropped, but with the wrong client name. She used an alias.

There. That’s pretty much it. You know where it went from there. Poof. Almost gone forever. But we fixed it.

My question:

Do you want access to a Drop Ticket application process?

Tell me what you think!

Another Cheap Term Carrier:

Want one? We have access to a well-known carriers term portfolio, and they just announced a really good conversion product.

Hint- In an ocean of uncertainty, it’s a whale of a company.

Please tell me what you think.

March 5, 2018

Leading by Example

I think I might be the best agent H.D. Mooers and Company has. I got referred by some new clients, a husband and wife living in San Francisco. Check out this timeline:

10/16: applications sent to client

10/20: applications sent to carrier

10/21: exams completed

10/27: both approved Best Class

Bring it, people. And if you need this done, and have clients who will cooperate, call me.

On The Other Hand: we have this one, that ultimately ended well:

8/20: application comes in, gets scrubbed, sent to carrier.

8/27: DOB on contingent beneficiary verified. (Really?)

8/29: replacement form for the state of Tennessee is requested by carrier. On a California case. That isn’t replacement.

9/12: yes, two weeks later, Tennessee replacement form waived.

9/13: APS, MVR and Rx check still outstanding. For 3+ weeks at this point. Per the underwriter, “I hope to have an approval soon!”

10/16: yes, over a month later, approved Preferred.

10/25: policy mailed to agent

11/7: reissued policy mailed to agent

12/11: case taken to paid.

Oh and by the way, this was a Preferred risk, 37 years old, for $250k of term. The annual premium is $664. 4 months. Lord.

February 20, 2018

Renew the Review

A healthy 54 year old woman came to one of our absolute favorite agents over in Marin. She had a $1M UL policy, about 15 years old, with about $80k in cash value. Here’s the thing- it was supposed to be paid up by now.

But she did a little checking (with the agent’s help), and found out she’d need to start paying $13k a year to get the policy to go to age 100, and that wasn’t guaranteed.

We settled on a $1M policy with a 1035 exchange of the $80k, no premiums for the first 5 years, and then half the other company’s premium beyond that. Got her coverage, guaranteed, to 105. She signed up.

And then the roof caved in. She didn’t get the Preferred we were expecting. She got a Standard offer. We held our breath, ran new numbers, and the guarantee went to 103. Everybody was happy. Phew.

February 1, 2018

Jeffrey D. Mooers of H.D. Mooers & Co. has been named Chairman of (NAILBA) 2018

“As a third generation BGA, Jeff’s historical perspective, coupled with his enthusiastic embrace of the future of brokerage, make him an ideal Chairman as we develop the new NAILBA,” said NAILBA CEO Dan LaBert. “We have already established an outstanding rapport and I’m excited to partner with him on the many changes we will bring to our membership.”

Mooers will be joined on the Executive Committee by Myra Palmer of The Palmer Agency in Atlanta, GA, in the role of Chairman Elect, and as NAILBA’s Secretary/Treasurer, Seixas “Chad” Milner III, The Milner Group of Lawrenceville, GA. James Sorebo, of Marlton, NJ-based Four Seasons Financial Group will remain on the Executive Committee as Immediate Past Chairman for 2018.

Commented Mooers, “We are a new, nimble, NAILBA. A new generation. I believe in our member’s growing, and that that will cause membership growth. If we focus on helping you grow, then NAILBA itself will grow. The quality and energy at last year’s Annual Meeting demonstrated our commitment to the partnership we share with each other, and with vendors, IMOs, associations, and carriers. We want to take that much, much further in the upcoming year.” He concluded, “I am excited to work with our outstanding Board and staff in the coming year to achieve this goal.”

President of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, Alan Protzel of St. Louis-based The Marketing Alliance, completes his two-year term in 2018. The Foundation Board added two new Directors, Danny Brooks of Cookeville, TN-based Southern Insurance Group and Michelle DeClerck of West Des Moines-based Conference Event Management. The complete NAILBA Charitable Foundation Board list with biographical information is available here.

NAILBA also welcomed two new Directors to the Board: John Gilbert of West Des Moines, IA-based The National Brokerage Corp (TNBC) and Victoria Van Dusen-Roos of Diversified Brokerage Services, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. The complete NAILBA Board list with biographical information is available here.

“We are fortunate that both our association and our Foundation are represented by strong, strategic leadership, one of the many factors that persuaded me to join this organization. We are looking forward to a new era for NAILBA and the Charitable Foundation, and I’m proud to be a part of it,” concluded LaBert.

February 1, 2018

The Top 10 Types Of People Who Think They Can’t Get A Good Rate On Insurance But Are Wrong

by Jeffrey D. Mooers
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE
January 2018

I remember eavesdropping on a lunch conversation a while back, because I usually eat alone, because one man’s ‘isolation’ is another man’s solitude (thank you anyway, Doctor).

A guy was talking to his lunch date, saying how he wished his father could get life insurance but he couldn’t seeing as how he was a diabetic.

Come to find out, this guy was a financial planner. Licensed to sell life insurance. And he was not aware that diabetics could qualify for competitive rates.

Fact is, the landscape has changed and continues to do so. Underwriting has loosened in many areas (and, admittedly, tightened in a few).

What is fascinating is the wide variety of responses we find with similar impairments. One company’s declination can be another’s Preferred.

Here then, the top 10 cases where great rates—and lousy ones—can be found:

Read full article here.

January 30, 2018