IUL vs WL vs TL - lets talk

Hey everyone, love the site! Lots of great discussions and advice here. There's a subject of much debate internet wide and even among licensed agents, so lets break it down. What income classes, short term goal sets, long term goal sets, and risk tolerances does everyone think of for each of these three product types. Let's look from an objective standpoint, no thought to pitches or commissions.
 
I'll be honest DHK, I'm well aware of the confidence needed for this industry, but I would advise a tone down of the high emotion for the sake of this discussion. This is a discussion, not a heated debate. No necessity for the "total education" education comment. When it comes to education, there are not many that have taken the time and research dedication as I have. This is purely a discussion topic for the masses of forum users. I don't know your AP, your closing rate, your 5/10/15 year retention rate, or how your clients view you, so I can't estimate about your ability, but I can say this much... let's be civil and respectful here. We all try to have our clients best interests in mind, both short term and long term. Thank you.
 
I personally believe in a diversified life portfolio with inclusions of products outside of the life life market. As far as short term goals, depending on age and income, I believe Term Life is usually the best fit to cover outstanding debt (including family calcs) with a minimal Whole life policy while premiums are cheap(er) for final expense, probate, and estate tax (if their estate is large enough). Excess funds up until the desired inheritance value, in my belief, is best put in a well designed IUL policy or potentially a Bond. Any excess funds beyond that, should be split into higher risk investments to accelerate wealth building. My personal belief. I would love to hear more opinions.
 
I'll be honest DHK, I'm well aware of the confidence needed for this industry, but I would advise a tone down of the high emotion for the sake of this discussion. This is a discussion, not a heated debate. No necessity for the "total education" education comment. When it comes to education, there are not many that have taken the time and research dedication as I have. This is purely a discussion topic for the masses of forum users. I don't know your AP, your closing rate, your 5/10/15 year retention rate, or how your clients view you, so I can't estimate about your ability, but I can say this much... let's be civil and respectful here. We all try to have our clients best interests in mind, both short term and long term. Thank you.

Damn. Someone read too far into my post with their own inflections. (I do the same thing on occasion.)

First, this isn't "for the masses of forum users". This is answering YOUR question that you posted. Everyone else can read for their own entertainment.

Let me help you: There is VERY LITTLE out there by the agencies to help people truly understand the miracle of cash value life insurance. I just shared with you some of the best out there... available for FREE.

When I mean TOTAL educational contribution... I mean it. It wasn't to disparage you. If anything, it's a disparaging remark against the industry that seems to want to keep all these benefits a SECRET or only made known on a "pay to play" basis, or you have to "connect the dots" yourself through all the textbooks available in order to determine how these policies actually benefit your clients.

If you join the forum's Facebook group, you can download a PDF copy of HS311 - Fundamentals of Insurance Planning that I uploaded there. (I hold the ChFC designation.) It's dry reading, but there are some parts that are very helpful, once put into the correct context. It won't help you sell a policy one bit, but section 8.8 can help you understand the internal mechanics of how permanent policies work.

However, since I have also written plenty on some of this for my blog, here are some links:

https://davidkinderfinancial.wixsit...and-Invest-the-Difference-ALWAYS-wins-sort-of

https://davidkinderfinancial.wixsit...st/2018/11/02/DING-DING-DING-WE-HAVE-A-WINNER

https://davidkinderfinancial.wixsit...rance-Company-Keeps-My-Cash-Values-When-I-Die

https://davidkinderfinancial.wixsit...le-post/2018/09/21/Infinite-Banking-Explained

There's lots more on my blog that you can read that (in my not-so-humble opinion) is very good and you'd find very "compliance-friendly".
 
I keep it simple. Protect the income first. Let's get the client through the income bearing years, let's get their kids outta the house, etc.

After the income is protected, then we can talk about the rest of the strategy... be it permanent life, ul, whatever else there is a need/desire.

Other strategies work too, this is simply what works for me... protect the income, then the legacy.
 
I do agree with the industry in and of itself being disparaging, it's not necessarily because of the industry itself. There's a desire to "know" that many MANY people don't have. You don't want to know about cam profiles, crank positions, and impulse trains when you take your car to the mechanic, correct? You just know that it needs to be fixed, and WANT it fixed when your car is returned. Education is first and foremost what we do, but only to the extent that its comprehensible and desired by the client. Drip feed from there. It took awhile to read through all of the blog posts that you've linked to (I do appreciate the value of back-linking for the sake of SEO), but ultimately, I'm still left with the impression that you may be biased towards whole life when in the grander scheme of things... its not close to an ideal investment or savings vehicle, there are many different vehicles that outperform it when it comes to cash value accumulation. It's main benefit is long long term death benefit for specific purposes. It has a specific purpose depending upon the financial profile of the client. Many have no desire to know how it works, or why various methods work well... that's why they trust us... we do (or are supposed to. Understandably, insurance has had a black eye for far too long due to commission only oriented agents), but hopefully we can eventually change that.

Now as a disclaimer, I have very few acronyms after my name... but with number crunching, there's some things that make sense in some scenarios and some that don't. What works well for a $50,000/year household doesn't work for a $15,000/household. Same can be said for a $500,000/year household and a $10,000,000/year household. There's many MANY different criteria and personal economic priorities that shift as a person moves up the income level. Unfortunately, many of the ones that need financial direction the most cannot afford a CFP, ChFC, or a CLU. Welcome to the massive socioeconomic divide.
 
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