Helping Insurers & Other Financial Services Companies

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I’ve been a professional writer for our industry since 1978.  When not on a client project, I spend my time researching and developing articles.  Below is a sample menu of some of the thousands of pieces I can deliver to enhance your newsletters, websites and policyowner magazines.   

GENERAL INSURANCE AND PLANNING TOPICS:

• Here’s What I Want From My Agent (Financial Advisor):  Most people are afraid of agents, or at least afraid of getting too involved with them and being sold, manipulated, pressured.  That’s the reason given by 86% of people who do not buy insurance they say they need:  They dread high-pressure sales tactics.  And let’s face it, that image is well-deserved in some cases.  This piece will be an actual “What I’m Looking for in My Agent’ checklist that can be printed out by the individual and given to an agent.  It will not be at all negative (and will in fact stress the value and services of the agent), but it will give the prospect an opportunity to help lay down some mutually agreeable ground rules for the relationship.

• How to Create a Lifetime Income You Can Never Outlive:  This annuity piece focuses on the advantages of annuities: tax-benefits, potential for lifetime income, and more.

• Ten Questions About Women and Retirement:  This piece is about the need to plan and the tough decisions women must consider to help assure a financially secure retirement.

• IRA Self-Quiz:  This series of true/false questions about IRAs is an ideal topic for the first quarter

• How to Set Financial Goals and Priorities:  This piece is about why we need financial goals (based on personal desires and needs) and the step-by-step process on how to set and prioritize our goals into workable tasks.

• How to Talk to an Insurance Agent:  This article addresses the fear most people have about insurance agents and gives them some information that will enable them to (1) select a quality agent and (2) create an meaningful dialogue with the agent they select. 

• How to Achieve Financial Independence:   This is a topic of universal interest.  Most people talk about becoming financially independent, but few actually achieve that goal (it's actually more a wish than a goal).  This article shows them exactly how to do it.  

• What is the Value of the Services of a Stay-at-Home Parent?  This article looks at some documented studies that analyze the value of the non-working spouse.  Unlike many other pieces we’ve seen in recent years, this will not be an over-inflated bit of silliness, but the result of several scientifically conducted university studies that offers solid, quantifiable numbers.  Ideal for developing life insurance needs.  Nonetheless, it demonstrates the need for life insurance on stay-at-home parents.

BUSINESS-RELATED TOPICS:

• Business Management Pop Quiz:  Will You Be Able to Retire?  More than 7 out of every 10 business owners say they have no intention of retiring.  Is it because they love to work?  Or is there a more frustrating reason, such as they cannot sell the business?  This article will promote action to make sure they have positive choices.

• Financial Statements are Powerful Business Tools: Good financial records are the tools that help business owners track their company’s past performance and present financial health, plus set realistic goals for the future.  This article discusses the what, why and how of financial records to help a business track and plan its success. 

• Insured Buy-Sell Agreements:  "What will happen to my business if something happens to me?  What will happen to my family if something happens to my business?"  Owning a business means living with uncertainty.  Many business owners, however, have reduced that uncertainty and bolstered their family's financial security by having insured buy-sell agreements drafted for their businesses.  This article will provide an overview of the concept.  

• Do You Have An Exit Strategy?  To borrow a common saying about boat and sports car owners, the two happiest days in a business owner’s life are the day he starts it and the day he sells it.  Unfortunately, few business  owners give much thought to what they are going to do when it is time to pack it in.  The problem:  Few have adequate retirement resources; many do not have a clear successor or succession plan; and few have any idea how to sell their companies.  As a result, many SBOs either keep working long after they are ready to retire, or they shut down a going enterprise for a total loss.  This article (1) looks at the problems SBOs face when they begin to look at retirement and (2) explores their viable options.   

• Planning & the Business Owner -- Life Insurance Makes Planning Easier:  Many business owners would rank long-term planning just above an IRS audit on their lists of least favorite things.  Why? The heart of the matter is that planning is difficult...and there never seem to be adequate resources to meet every objective.  That's why some business owners -- the ones who do plan -- recognize the power of life insurance to stretch dollars and help achieve their objectives.  This article looks at the need to plan, the fact that most business owners do not plan and how life insurance can make planning work.

GENERAL FINANCIAL & MONEY TOPICS:

• Five Dumb Things You Should Not Do With Your Money:  This is a candid discussion about basic money management.  Advice includes such things as: necessities first, luxuries second; if you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford to buy it; etc. It will be a fun piece.

• Don’t Blow a Financial Windfall:  Many people dream about the joys of receiving a financial windfall and finding themselves on Easy Street.  Unfortunately, sudden wealth isn't all it's cracked up to be.   This article looks at how to handle newly acquired large sums of money, whether from an inheritance, life insurance or a lucky lottery ticket.

• Husbands, Wives and Money:  This is perhaps the hottest subject I've ever written about...for rather self-evident reasons.  It's a guaranteed "gotta read" by every reader who has ever savored the joys of marriage.  The fact is, most domestic discord -- and the majority of divorces -- have money as the key catalyst.  But we take a pleasant, non-threatening approach to this...keeping everything light and upbeat.

SENIOR TOPICS:

• When Roles Reverse -- Adult Children as Caregivers:  Your parents need your help -- perhaps financially, perhaps with daily care.  You suddenly become responsible for their needs.  The good news is that family members are taking care of each other.  The bad news is that, when an aging relative needs assistance, the toll on the caregiver family members can be high.  In this article, we look at this increasingly common situation, along with the financial responsibilities that it includes.  We also look at how to meet those responsibilities through LTC as well as life insurance on the adult children.

• "Contingency Planning" Protects Both Generations:  Here's an all-too-common scenario:  An aging parent suddenly falls ill and an adult child is just as suddenly thrust into the role of managing his or her affairs, often with little or no previous involvement.  The price can be high in terms of time, money and strain on the child's own family life.  This article discusses the importance of "contingency planning."  Then we offer (1) advice for adult children; (2) advice for the parents; including (3) specific suggestions: update your will, set up joint checking accounts, drafting contingent power of attorney, LTC insurance, etc. 

• Long Term Care insurance -- The Solution for the Ages:  This article is based on a unique phenomenon: Men and women in their sixties and seventies who are actually the kids -- since they have parents in their 90s...or older, who in turn have grandchildren in their 40s and 50s.  Very often, the "senior children" are facing the unpleasant choice of having to place their parents in a nursing home.  Even more unpleasant is the potential cost...that can actually impact four or more generations.  That's why the solution "for the ages" is LTC insurance.  This article explores this unique, but increasingly common, situation and discuss the place for LTC for all the generations.

TOPICS FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN: 

• Most Women are Underinsured.  Are You?  This article takes a Q & A approach to discussing life insurance needs for women, including: (1) If anything happened to me, would my husband be able to pay the bills?  (2) If I don't work outside the home, what is there to insure?  (3) If I'm single and have no dependents, why do I need life insurance?  (4) If I am already financially secure, do I really need life insurance?

• Why Women Need to Plan Their Estates:  Why should women take an active role in planning their estates?  Because somebody has to.  This article looks at (1) the unique need that women face; along with (2) the four goals of estate planning.

• “She’ll Outlive Us All!”  A Daughter’s Conversation:  This narrative – an experiential story --will be a personal and positive review of the current longevity situation, which will be dealt with not as a problem, but as a blessing when approached from the right point of view and with planning.  The focus in on women.

• Women & LTC:  Protecting Yourself and Your Family: (“I’ll Be No Burden on My Children”) This is a personal narrative story, a slice-if-life discussion between a woman and her mother, as the mother discusses why she bought “TLC” insurance.

HEALTH, SAFETY & WELLNESS:

• Safety Quiz:  Identify "Danger Zones" to Avoid Falls at Home:  There's nothing humorous about that tired old line: "I've fallen and can't get up."   Especially as we age, a fall can have serious consequences.  This article, based on a checklist from the American Physical Therapy Association, provides a sense self-quiz to reduce the risk of a fall. 

• Use it or Lose it -- How to Keep Your Brain in Shape:  What factors keep your brain active and alert?  This article looks at these factors and then offers specific activities to help keep your brain in shape.

• Five Steps to Balanced Living -- A Self-Quiz:  There are no sure-fire formulas for happiness in this life.  But there are several things that keep coming up time and time again that contribute to a sense of well-being.  Using a self-quiz format, this article discusses five major factors. 

• How to Talk to Your Doctor:  This is always a hot topic.  It covers both wellness and money, since a little communication can cut medical bills!  Too many people assume their doctor is a mind reader, and then expect miracles.  This article offers tips on how to prepare for an office visit, with the focus on the need to communicate clearly. 

For more information about these and other topics for your newsletter, website and magazines, please contact me.