Good afternoon all.  Recently I received an email here at ProSchools from an interested reader wondering if I have “any insight as to which life insurance carriers are the [sic] best?”  Interesting and loaded question.  The term “best” is subjective at least and highly arguable at worst.  Ask 20 producers “what life carrier is the best life carrier” and you’ll likely get 20 different responses in most cases.  As with all insurance companies, there’s good and there’s bad.  Having been licensed in this industry for 25 years, I have seen the good, bad and indifferent.  From huge multinational corporations to smaller, regional carriers- they all have both good and bad.

When asking the individual his or her preference, it’s been my experience that all producers have “favorites” in terms of preferred carriers in which to submit business.  This could be for any number of reasons:  underwriting ease, pricing, customer service, commission structures (you shouldn’t be placing your clients with a particular carrier only because of a higher commission structure) and a host of other reasons.  Looking at the individual agent for recommendations is like asking any individual for a preference- they will steer you to the company that they prefer best due to their own individual experiences.  What does that mean?  Nothing more than one person’s preference… not necessarily the preference of many agents, just that one agent. So what now?  Simple… we need statistics!  Being one that always has some type of statistic available when the need exists, let’s look at some numbers!  Read on for data! Read the rest of this entry »

Good Afternoon all!  A number of people in California have emailed me asking me about insurance licensing for insurance candidates in the Golden State.  As many are aware, things tend to be a little different in California and the insurance licensing process is a bit different as well.  The questions that I’m getting deal with many different concerns and I’ll do my best to answer them!  Read on for more details!

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Tried to write flood coverage lately?  Interesting phenomenon, this flood insurance thing.  Backed by the federal government, the program continually needs to be “re-authorized” as Congress can’t seem to get a handle on what to really do with the program.  The National Flood Insurance Program (”NFIP”) must be regularly “re-created” by the feds in order to remain effective.  Just like other things on Capitol Hill, it’s been mostly relegated  to the back burner, similar to other concerns such as estate taxation, the health care bill and several other important pieces of legislation.  Read on for details… Read the rest of this entry »

Good day all.  I have received numerous requests to post some specific information regarding the timelines associated with the recently legislated Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  This legislation is in the background of everything that is health insurance and there is still a lot of confusion over exactly what is changing and when the changes will actually occur.  Read on for the timelines and associated changes. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Pibbers!  Good morning to all of you.  I wanted to let you all know about the review for life and health insurance students that is going to be held on Tuesday, June 29,  2010 from 10:00 am until approximately 4:00 pm. The location of the review is at our Cedar Hills classroom and is at no cost for currently enrolled ProSchools students.  For those who would like to attend the review that are not ProSchools enrolled students, you are welcome to join us.  The cost for non-ProSchools students is $95, payable at the door for the entire review session and textbooks and related study materials are available for all students at a greatly reduced cost. We look forward to seeing you at the review session and remember that those who attend the review normally score 10-12 points higher on their examination compared to those who don’t attend the review!  It’s all in the numbers!  Keep working hard!

More and more insurance companies, agencies and insurance producers are using the myriad of social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and similar websites as a marketing tool and advertising medium.  A critical consideration for use of social media as an advertising venue are the individual state’s rules concerning advertising and marketing.  Susan T. Stead, a partner in the law firm Nelson Levine de Luca and Horst,  in an article published by The National Underwriter, says that “If insurance companies and agents do not use Facebook and Twitter carefully, they may find themselves not only in violation of insurance laws, but also with an increased risk of errors and omissions claims.”

Please read on for more information on this subject… Read the rest of this entry »

Hello fellow PIBbers!  It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged about what’s going on in the industry and I thought it would be both informational and interesting to take a look at some of the “newer news” that’s hit our industry in the last few months.  There have been some thought-provoking things that have occurred lately, and seeing that I have always been a fan of being a student of the industry, I thought that I would share a few of the more interesting tidbits floating around in cyber-space.  Please read on for more! Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Pibbers!  Good morning to all of you.  I wanted to let you all know about the review for life and health insurance students that is going to be held on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 from 10:00 am until approximately 4:00 pm. The location of the review is at our Cedar Hills classroom and is at no cost for currently enrolled ProSchools students.  For those who would like to attend the review that are not ProSchools enrolled students, you are welcome to join us.  The cost for non-ProSchools students is $95, payable at the door for the entire review session and textbooks and related study materials are available for all students at a greatly reduced cost. We look forward to seeing you at the review session and remember that those who attend the review normally score 10-12 points higher on their examination compared to those who don’t attend the review!  It’s all in the numbers!  Keep working hard!

I have been asked on several occasions to provide current information to those interested in or currently enrolled in Medicare.  This federal health care system changes a few things every year and most are just a bit confused as to what’s going on with these annual changes to the program, so I thought it would be a good thought to post the most current Medicare information for those interested.  The following info is valid for the calendar year 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Ah yes, fellow PIBbers, we have all of the information on what’s happening with your federal taxes in 2010!  There are lots of interesting things going on, not the least of which is that 2010 is the ideal year to die and also the year to give all of your stuff away and not get whacked with gift taxation!  Woo Hoo!  Read on for more details on  exciting federal tax news!  Read the rest of this entry »