Primerica reports 13% growth in term life net premiums in 3Q, 5% increase in agents

[Allen Trent]

So I'm confused then. Affordability was the issue. Now term has never been cheaper than it was, yet life insurance ownership is at an all time low...

# of active agents selling life insurance has plummeted in the last few decades. Tons of people holding licenses may never use them as a staff person, PT person in a MLM setup and a ton of stock broker/financial planners that good life licenses but sell no Life insurance. If people don't buy it at work or go find it themselves, many are never approached by agents like they were 20-40 years ago

 

[Golfnut2112]

# of active agents selling life insurance has plummeted in the last few decades. Tons of people holding licenses may never use them as a staff person, PT person in a MLM setup and a ton of stock broker/financial planners that good life licenses but sell no Life insurance. If people don't buy it at work or go find it themselves, many are never approached by agents like they were 20-40 years ago

Your right, 20 and 30 years ago there were a lot more agents. I live in a small town boarding Ohio and Pennsylvania with maybe 50,000 people in the area.
At that time Pru, Met, American General and Western Southern had approximately 100 agents between them, today every one is shut down.

 

[Golfnut2112]

When the cost of living rises in comparison to earnings, and everybody wants a big house, its often a choice of paying a mortgage or paying premiums.

It shouldn't be. I just wrote a guy a $500,000 30 year term for under $40 a month.

 

[LGilmore]

It shouldn't be. I just wrote a guy a $500,000 30 year term for under $40 a month.

I was going to state that it is hard to stay in this business selling $25 a month premiums. Unless they are coming to buy immediately, you're not making a lot of money per hour. We can talk about underserved markets but it is really difficult to survive in some of those markets.

What I have found is the "I messed up and listened to a prime agent market" These are people over 50 that have a level term policy ending and realize they still have a need. Premiums aren't cheap and commission percentages make it worth while to serve them. In most cases it's a 20-30 year term or a GUL without a lot of "selling". They know they need something and you can provide answers and costs.

 

[Golfnut2112]

It was the easiest and fastest sale I ever made, it was my new son in law. But I agree with what you said the 50+ market is wide open because their term ended or is ending and most did not invest the difference.

 

[pfg1]

It was the easiest and fastest sale I ever made, it was my new son in law. But I agree with what you said the 50+ market is wide open because their term ended or is ending and most did not invest the difference.

Hard to say no when a gun is pointing at you.... "you best take care of my daughter boy" LOL

 

[toolbelt]

and most did not invest the difference.

Even if people bypassed insurance altogether, and instead invested the premium equivalent over 20-30 years, its not going to make anybody independently wealthy, or allow them to lie on a beach and drive exotic sports cars as illustrated in MLM pamphlets. Disposable income is at an all time low while personal debt is at an all time high. At least for Mainstreet Americans. In the 60's, there was one tv on the block (if you were lucky). Today, the average home has 3 tvs. Society has a spend now, worry later mindset.

 

[VolAgent]

# of active agents selling life insurance has plummeted in the last few decades. Tons of people holding licenses may never use them as a staff person, PT person in a MLM setup and a ton of stock broker/financial planners that good life licenses but sell no Life insurance. If people don't buy it at work or go find it themselves, many are never approached by agents like they were 20-40 years ago

Yet, it has never been easier to buy life insurance. You can buy it over the phone, internet, in a multitude of ways. And an agent can help more people than before as most agents are not visiting people in their homes anymore.

So if affordability was issue, and its been solved, why do fewer Americans own life insurance now?

 

[Golfnut2112]

Since premiums are cheaper than ever what do you think the cause could be?

 

[DHK]

Perhaps Albert Gray is still right 70 years later?

The things that failures don't like to do, in general, are too obvious for us to discuss them here, and so, since our success is to be achieved in the sale of life insurance, let us move on to a discussion of the things that we as life insurance men don't like to do. Here, too, the things we don't like to do are too many to permit specific discussion, but I think they can all be disposed of by saying that they all emanate from one basic dislike peculiar to our type of selling. We don't like to call on people who don't want to see us and talk to them about something they don't want to talk about. Any reluctance to follow a definite prospecting program, to use prepared sales talks, to organize time and to organize effort are all caused by this one basic dislike.

Perhaps you have wondered what is behind this peculiar lack of welcome on the part of our prospective buyers. Isn't it due to the fact that our prospects are human too? And isn't it true that the average human being is not big enough to buy life insurance of his own accord and is therefore prone to escape our efforts to make him bigger or persuade him to do something he doesn't want to do by striking at the most important weakness we possess: namely, our desire to be appreciated? Perhaps you have been discouraged by a feeling that you were born subject to certain dislikes peculiar to you, with which the successful men in our business are not afflicted.