Listen Up Hawaii: Ignore LTC Planning at Your Peril

Check out this article that appeared in the NY Times:

Ignore Long-Term Care Planning at Your Peril

You may never need long term care, but if you do, you’ll know that you’re prepared for whatever life may bring.

Most of us realize the fact that it’s going to be more expensive for us to take care of ourselves down the road, and we need to budget accordingly. Prior to making any decisions, make sure you talk to your advisor or agent about how to handle any proposed increases or changes in policy structure.

Consider this: In a recent Financial Planning Association blog, Ira L. Barnett, LUTCVF, said, “There are two possible mistakes someone can make in deciding to obtain LTC insurance: 1. Buy the coverage and never have a claim (loss of premium paid, lost income potential, etc.). 2. Not buy the coverage and have a claim. Personally, mistake #1 is a lot more attractive!”

So when is the best time to buy long term care insurance?

Answer – Of course, most of us need to balance our investments and expenses carefully, and long term care insurance has to be factored in with many other responsibilities. But it is important to note that long term care insurance is generally less expensive for younger buyers than for older ones. In addition, it is smart to buy long term care insurance while you are relatively healthy. Unfortunately, once a person’s health declines, he or she may become ineligible for long term care insurance.

The simple answer is this: the right time to buy long term care insurance is when you can afford it, and before you need it. We can work with you to help create a policy that meets your needs and suits your budget. Call me for a FREE needs analysis and informational booklet, (808)216-4147.

Betty White supports “Life Settlements”

First of all, I would expect nearly everyone in America to be familiar with Betty White. After starring in 2010’s wildly popular Snickers Super Bowl ad, this Emmy Award-winning 88-year-old Hollywood icon is clearly a major part of our pop culture. I can say with certainty, that the same cannot be assumed about the life insurance industry’s much less recognizable product: “Life Settlements”.

While this superstar could get top dollar endorsing practically any product or service she wanted, White felt so strongly about the value of life settlements and the need to create consumer awareness of the option, that she is endorsing life settlements. We that are in the industry really thank you, Bette White! Because of her, many older Americans who may know little about life settlements, and may, therefore, be wary of them are now being educated on its merits as a valuable financial product for seniors.

So, what are life settlements? Well, a life settlement, according to Wikipedia, “is a financial transaction in which the owner of a life insurance policy sells an unneeded policy to a third-party for more than its cash value and less than its face value.”

In basic terms, a life settlement, or “senior settlement”, as they are sometimes called, involves selling an existing life insurance policy to a third party—a person or an entity other than the company that issued the policy—for more than the policy’s cash surrender value, but less than the net death benefit. While Life settlements can be a valuable source of liquidity for people who would otherwise surrender their policies or allow them to lapse—or for people whose life insurance needs have changed, they are not for everyone.

Life settlements may make sense for people who no longer need or want their insurance policies, and would otherwise surrender their policies or allow them to lapse. But even then, you should proceed with caution. Consult with your broker or other “trusted” financial services provider. And finally, make sure that you are dealing with properly licensed entities who are aware of the confidentiality policies of the parties involved and understand the tax implications of the transaction.

The Things We Do for Love

We go to great lengths for our loved ones. We work hard to provide them with a life filled with happiness, comfort and opportunity. In fact, there’s almost nothing we wouldn’t do for our loved one. However, there’s an economic plague in this country of people being under- or un-insured. According to research by LIMRA International, a worldwide association of insurance and financial services companies, the majority of adult Americans do not own an individual life insurance (LI) policy.

Some advisors will sit down and talk your ear off about life insurance in terms of numbers and percentages. At that point, they’ll whip out fancy illustration charts to explain to you why it’s an important financial instrument to own. Numbers aside, I believe there is really only one simple reason to own life insurance and that’s, L-O-V-E. That’s right, it’s love. The bottom line: You buy life insurance to provide financial protection for those you love (and, as the case may be, the business you have worked hard to create). What can say “I love you” better than a promise to provide for the ones you love, while you’re here (living benefits of investment-grade LI), or even after you’re gone.

Maggie Leyes, with the nonprofit LIFE Foundation, asks the critical question: “How long would it be before life would become a financial struggle for your family if you weren’t in the picture anymore?” That’s where life insurance comes in—it helps you plan for the unexpected and ensure the financial well being of your family if you were to die. Ensuring that you have the proper amounts of life insurance in place is right thing to do, and it doesn’t have to be a chore, either. Start with this easy online Life Insurance Needs Calculator.

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, the perfect time to take stock of your life insurance needs. Don’t be another statistic of the un- or under-insured. Take the first step by checking out this video and/or the information about the different types of life insurance that are available to find out which may be right for you.

Life Insurance Awareness Month is the Ideal Time for an Insurance Review

About LIFE
The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping consumers make smart insurance decisions to safeguard their families’ financial futures. LIFE was founded in 1994 in response to the public’s growing need for information and education on life, health, disability and long-term care insurance. LIFE also seeks to remind people of the important role insurance professionals perform in helping families, businesses and individuals find the insurance products that best fit their needs. To learn more about these topics, please visit www.lifehappens.org.

About Life Insurance Awareness Month
Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM) was created by the LIFE Foundation in response to growing concern about the large number of Americans who lack adequate life insurance protection.  According to LIMRA International, 68 million adult Americans have no life insurance, and most with coverage have far less than most experts recommend. Held each September, Life Insurance Awareness Month is an industry-wide effort involving hundreds of leading companies and thousands of insurance advisors.

Chris Noth is the national LIAM spokesperson

Another way LIFE hopes to get Americans to think about their life insurance needs is by engaging the services of a celebrity spokesperson with a firsthand understanding of the benefits of life insurance. Actor Chris Noth, star of Sex and the City and Law & Order, was just nine years old when his father died in a car accident, leaving behind his mother to raise Chris and his two brothers on her own. Fortunately, Chris’ father was an insurance agent and understood the value of life insurance. The proceeds from his insurance helped the Noth family during that difficult time and enabled Chris’ single, working mother to put three sons through college. Throughout September, Chris’ story will be shared publicly in national TV and radio and public service announcements. Chris’ 60-second TV PSA can be seen at www.lifehappens.org/chrisnoth.

LIFE’s website is the leading source of objective information about life insurance. Spend a few minutes learning more and trying our interactive tools like the Life Insurance Needs Calculator.

Life Insurance Calculator

If you have any doubts as to how your family would manage without you, it’s time to take charge of your situation by getting a life insurance check-up today. Don’t gamble with your family’s financial future for one more minute. Take charge of your life insurance situation today and rest easier knowing your loved ones would be taken care of if something were to happen to you. If you find that you have a need for coverage, we strongly urge you to act by contacting us and we can help you safeguard your family’s financial future.

An Office with a Historic View

A few weeks ago, I spent a Saturday morning in a meeting at the Queen’s Court office building overlooking Honolulu Harbor. After all of our committee business was conducted, Richard Emery, president of Hawaii First Inc., took me on a quick tour of his offices.

The first thing that caught my eye was the strikingly beautiful flooring. It is done with ipe wood (pronounced ‘ee-pay’), one of the hardest, densest woods and comes out of Brazil. The next thing that jumped out at me was what seemed to be accurate paintings of scenes of tall sailing ships in Honolulu Harbor. As it happens, they’re meticulous reproductions on canvas of paintings by well-known artist/historian Raymond Massey. These ardently researched and historically precise images set the stage for what I saw next: The view from Emery’s floor-to-ceiling window behind his desk.

Massey’s painting of “Mad Jack Percival’s U.S.S. Dolphin”, a 12 gun schooner, leaving Honolulu harbor. [©Massey, All Rights Reserved]

With a perspective like that, its easy to see why Emery is so passionate about sharing the historic significance of Honolulu Harbor. “Few people realize that 100 ships a month visited Oahu before Capt. (James) Cook landed, then it increased to 200 to 300 in the 1800s,” Emery says. “My mission with this building is to tie these old sailing ships into the bigger history of Hawaii.”

Who Would Have Thought?…

Check out this fantastic, eye-opening video on the progression of information technology, researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Brenman. Here’s an example of the mind-bending statistics parlayed: According to this video, in 10 years China will be the number one English speaking country in the world. Yep, China. I can’t imagine what people would have said about this statistic, say 50 years ago. Who would have predicted? Here’s another compelling, wow-factor statistic on the progression of information technology in our pop culture. The internet started being widely used by the general public in 1995 and by 2005, 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S., met online! Whaaat?! While I acknowledge that there will be skeptics out there, and those who question these research findings, I just say, “who would have thought?…”

Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires

Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires: They’re just like you. But with lots of money.

Here’s a great article written by Kristyn Kusek Lewis for Readers Digest Magazine. She describes five very different millionaires and the practical, real life lessons they share that have contributed to their success. The third lesson in the stack really stood out for me, “Passion pays off.” The message: Love what you do. Accordingly, when you’re passionate about your work, you care about the consequences. “

According to research by Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, over 80 percent of millionaires say they never would have been successful if their vocation wasn’t something they cared about.” In reading Stanley’s book, what I found interesting is that he chose to exclude “misers”—for those whose God was money—in the final cut. From the more than 1,300 millionaires he interviewed, his overall goal was to survey people who were not just successful at building a mountain of dough. He included those who were also well balanced and seemed to enjoy their wealth and thus, life.

Back to Lewis’ RD article, Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires, I found it to be quite succinct and to the point. The author highlighted five people who have at least a million dollars in liquid assets and asked them to share the secrets that helped them get there. Here they are:

1. Set your sights on where you’re going

2. Educate yourself

3. Passion pays off

4. Grow your money

5. No guts, no glory

So what is the biggest secret? It’s simply to stop spending. According to Lewis, she says “Every millionaire we spoke to has one thing in common: Not a single one spends needlessly. She cites a survey that indicates many wealthy people spend money “with a middle-class mindset”, clipping coupons and shopping at sales. Real estate investor Dave Lindahl drives a Ford Explorer and says his middle-class neighbors would be shocked to learn how much he’s worth. Fitness mogul Rick Sikorski can’t fathom why anyone would buy bottled water. Steve Maxwell, the finance teacher, looked at a $1.5 million home but decided to buy one for half the price because “a house with double the cost wouldn’t give me double the enjoyment.”

Lewis points out that “millionaires may have earned their money through a combination of discipline and dedication, but it’s their frugal habits that keep them rich.” Over the years, as I observe those that have accumulated substantial wealth, the more I truly believe this to be the case.

The Productivity Paradox

In the June 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review, author Tony Schwartz explains how those in leadership positions have many opportunities to help their teams replenish their energy. Schwartz says, “It’s all about providing examples for others and creating a safe environment.”

Today, I listened to the corresponding, The HBR IdeaCast (iTunes podcast) and it certainly reaffirmed my position that we all need to ‘recharge our batteries’ in order to operate at our peak performance. According to Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project, the magic number happens to be, 90 minutes. That is, one hour and a half of focused work; then we need a re-energizing break. While he made it clear that the break shouldn’t necessarily equal the time spent on focused work, replenishing our energy is the critical part. The key, according to Schwartz, is how well you recover; not how long. He compared it to how some people work for a long period of time, but may not be as productive as someone working in a more focused manner. Similarly, breaks are dependent on the person, whereas some need more or less than others.

He went on to emphasize that humans are not made to operate like computers; we need to renew to succeed. Continue reading →