Stephen Howard

My wife has an absolutely captivating accent gifted from her formative years spent in small town North Carolina. Just one of myriad traits that served to enchant me almost from the moment we met and continue to do so today. I say almost because, oddly enough, the first time we met, an industry meeting in Texas I believe, she was afflicted with a bad case of laryngitis and barely said a word to me, leaving me with the all too understandable impression…that she was decidedly less than impressed. Well, I’m not sure what combination of visual and perceptive disability coupled with a restricted prospect pool caused her to miraculously choose to embrace a life with me, but please don’t pinch her…I pray every day that she remains unwoke to the reality of her current spousal predicament.

But one of her loveable quirks is the somewhat sheltered belief that country music is somehow an exclusive possession of the South and that non-southerners likely should keep an enthusiasm for fiddles, banjos, steel guitars and the Boot Scootin’ Boogie predominantly closeted for fear of prosecution for cultural appropriation. I’m still a bit fuzzy on why it’s OK for Coke (Atlanta) and Pepsi (New Bern, NC) to be enjoyed openly north of the Mason-Dixon and yet Elvira (Giddy up, oom poppa, omm poppa, mow mow) should somehow be restricted access. She doesn’t seem to mind that the McDonald’s down the street sells sweet tea…

I’m a fan of many types of music. My father instilled in me a love of jazz and classical, my mom used to have hair down to her waist and played folk songs on her Martin guitar, my early teens were spent speeding around a skating rink “dancing” to KC And The Sunshine Band, and my rebellious later teens and twenties were dedicated to 70s and 80s rock. Somewhere along the way I purchased a cowboy hat, several pairs of boots and spent many a night in country bars developing a love for that genre as well. One of my favorite performers is Toby Keith, though I haven’t seen him in person yet, and the song that quite loosely pertains to the vastly belated point of this column is As Good As I Once Was. Although the vast majority of the lyrics are about as distant from my experience as the Pulitzer Prize is certain to be, two lines of the chorus loosely support my forthcoming point: “I ain’t as good as I once was, But I’m as good once as I ever was.”

Although this issue is the Life Insurance issue, it also boasts our 23rd Annual LTCI Survey—and it’s long term care insurance I’m about to critique based on my experience. My disappointments may likely be due to the reticence of one particular company trying to limit outflow with no prospect of new income—they’re out of the LTCI business now—but I encountered an unforeseen, perhaps due to my ignorance, decline of claim due to the strictures of the ADL provisions of my mother’s policy (and I suspect many others).

Backtrack a bit. Mom fell and broke her hip in March 2020, went to a rehab facility for about three months, and then returned to her home. As is too often the case with those in their 80s, her health and fitness slowly declined until her passing this February. We found a marvelous care coordinator/advocate and arranged initially for 18 hours of care—12 hours including overnight and four hours in the middle of the day. The purpose at that point was mainly to have someone there to help with chores that caused too great a strain, and to be there if another fall or other emergency happened. But that evolved as she declined into providing help (or at least oversight) for standing, sitting back down, trips to the restroom, etc. She could do these things herself, with varying degrees of struggle, but it was a mercy to have someone help her and a moral imperative to have these efforts at least supervised. Around that time it was decided we needed to get 24 hour care, and we did so. Somewhere in there we filed a claim for her in-home care and a representative came to evaluate her.

Back to Toby: “Now my body says, ‘You can’t do this boy,’
But my pride says, ‘Oh, yes you can.’”

Cognitive issues were off of the table. Mom was sharp as ever. But she showed that with great strain she could grab her walker and the side rail we had installed on her bed and raise herself to her feet. She showed that she could very slowly walk to her bathroom with her walker. She could transfer food from a plate to her mouth, and said that if forced to she could struggle to the kitchen and microwave a Lean Cuisine. She admitted that if on the seat in her shower she could clean herself and that she could pull on loose leisurewear and slide her feet into slippers. Most of these things (except the physical task of eating) caused great exertion, stress and discomfort, but could technically be done. The very real and severe danger that at any time during any of these activities she could fall and seriously injure herself if unattended apparently wasn’t a factor in consideration of the claim. The claim was denied, but by the time we received that notice she had declined further and actually had to be physically assisted in all but the transfer of food to mouth. Hospice was initiated and she passed only a few weeks later. Thank God as comfortable as possible, in her sleep, in her own bed.

Mom’s 24 hour care cost more than $5000 per week ($30x24x7). Thank God again that she could afford it. Her LTCI policy would/should have paid $123 per day. Quite frankly I just can’t see myself fighting as hard as need be to maybe recoup somewhere between $2500 and $7500 for however many months or years it would take.

I’ve found a great life serving this, I believe, noble business—don’t get me wrong—and I have great faith in many parts of it to help those in their times of greatest need or sorrow. My point is really that the adjudication of ADLs should at least more frequently take into account the stress, amount of exertion necessary, and risk of injury if unattended or unsupervised, rather than simply if, due to stubborn pride combined with a life tenet of honesty, a given set of tasks can, by strictest definition, be accomplished on this particular occasion by oneself.

Stats show that only a small percentage of brokers actively try to sell LTCI. It’s postulated that underwriting strictness, the spectre of dramatic rate increases, and the “use it or lose it” negative perception of the prospect combines to cause agents to shy away from the LTCI sale. I wonder, though, how many producers spurn LTCI sales because of pissed off clients who’ve had claims for just 17 percent of the daily cost of care similarly denied.

At this writing Hope’s been back in NC visiting family for four days, with five more “the thing most dear is absent” days to go until she returns. I’m still vacillating on whether or not to have Alabama playing on the Sirius when I pick her up from the airport.[SPH]

The pandemic has impacted our industry to a great degree—Zooming across the kitchen table, increased digital app submission, fewer calls for paramed exams and fluids, Rx, MIB and DMV results speedier and more integrated, limits for business on an automated and accelerated underwriting basis raised, maximum issue ages lowered, and underwriting holds on those determined to be greater risks due to the potential effects of COVID-19 infection.

And the lasting health legacy of the coronavirus hasn’t yet been tabulated—the long term effects of COVID infection post recovery, including both physical and cognitive impact; delayed or forgone wellness checks, preventive procedures and routine physicals; postponed surgeries and needed treatments; dental cleaning and exams; and the psychological and physical effects of drastically disrupted routines. To say nothing of maskne, lizard hands, awkwardly placed sanitizer saturated pocket wet spots, your wife insisting you wipe down every freaking thing you are even thinking about touching, and walking around with an imaginary (or in some TikToked treasures not) six foot hula hoop around you.

And then there’s the risk of thrombosis from cells attempting to defend against the microchip injected along with the COVID vaccine. (Really?!? I myself entertain more positive delusions.)

LIMRA stats from 2020 reveal that only 54 percent of Americans have any life insurance coverage, a notable decline from 63 percent just a decade ago. Further, there are 60 million households with an average life insurance gap of $200,000. Those numbers by themselves might lead one to postulate that the un- and under-insured problem could be mitigated (and monetized) if we could only find a way to reach this vast market with a) convincing messaging that could educate and inform the populace in such a way as to reinforce the need via real life consequences of inaction on those most loved and left behind; b) concurrently changing negative perceptions of the life insurance industry as a whole; and, c) a refined technological process of acquiring prospects, presenting options, submitting applications in good order and distributing policies in a speedy, cost effective and sufficiently profitable way. Problem solved, right? Easy as 1,2,3… We should be able to find a way to make the life insurance purchase more actionably important than the new bass boat or the flashier, newer car. And easy and quick enough to sooner vault the tendency/obsessive drive to procrastinate. COVID-19 has helped some with that last bit.

I wonder how many of those folks are either uninsurable or rated at a level that makes sufficient coverage simply too expensive for their already squeezed budget. But there must be a decent percentage who explored only one source, perhaps even just their P&C agency’s annual life insurance mailer, and after this too brief investigation believed their health (or age) made the purchase untenable. Discouraged by the health questions sufficiently to convince themselves that they couldn’t obtain coverage at all. Or see that a certain policy with affordable rates today is age banded and the possibility of a convergence of rate versus available income in the future might force abandonment of the policy with nothing to show for it but decades of lost premiums and lost alternative spending opportunities. Many of the underinsured are covered only by group coverage obtained at the workplace, and thank God for that, but typical amounts cover basic funeral expenses and not that much else, to say nothing of the likelihood that policies are abandoned when changing or between jobs—particularly, as too often in this pandemic, when the period of unemployment is lengthy and the next opportunity seems lost in the fog.

So is the race to top tech, today COVIDly need based, also surreptitiously postulated as a panacea for reaching a nearly inexhaustible source of prospects among the uninsured? Or is that vast perceived herd actually thinned—by unknown complications of survived coronavirus infection, age and its effect on risk, and neglected health maintenance conventions in the short term, and more steadfast statistically by those who don’t feasibly qualify due to some combination of income, age and health? How many will Hal refuse to accept after filtering them through his various protocols?

Obviously misinformation, distrust, disinclination, and “tomorrow” present a significant but hurdleably-reached middle market mass who really should be contacted and convinced. But I’m not sure C-3PO and R2D2 are currently particularly suited to execute that task, at least not by themselves. How many of the reported un- and under-insured populate the subset of unable to automatically insure?

We’ve been hearing conspiracy theorists prognosticating about “black box” underwriting for years. Will the Coronavirus redact the flourish, diligence, and birthright of the lifeblood of the brokerage business, the BGAs and the agents they serve, by virtually eliminating the human element of fighting for the best possible rate for clients “outside the box?” Most vexing: Is automated accelerated underwriting Pied Pipering our brokerage industry toward seeking and selling to only the most likely to be approved? Isn’t that the formula we once viewed with entrepreneurial disdain as the forced realm of the career agent? Will automated accelerated underwriting truly help significantly with the un- and under-insured problem?

I love the white plastic Stormtrooper robot insurance “advisor” commercials…I’m waiting for the one to come out where he pulls out a blaster and PEWPEWPEWs a guy who comes in that is obviously a KC barbeque devotee who thinks the almost exclusive purpose of plants is for feeding his food. Might be my doppelganger.[SPH]

My wife and I count Serena as one of our dearest friends. She is a beautiful, vibrant, incredibly bright and imminently loveable young woman with a great sense of humor. Her laughter, often at my expense, when not threatening to damage one’s eardrums absolutely lights up the room. We often trade barbs, some subtle and some not, and to that end I purchased a t-shirt for myself specifically with her in mind. Pursuant to full disclosure, one of my more narcissistic conceits is the collection and public display of witty, sarcastic, ironic or pathetically punny casual outerwear. Examples include “Irony, The Opposite of Wrinkly,” “I am your internet girlfriend,” and, in a nod to the pandemic, “This too shall pass (just like a kidney stone).” Today’s is “I’m ashamed of what I did for a Klondike bar.”

Back to Serena. One of the most recent times she came over to watch a football game, I greeted her at the door wearing my Chief’s jersey (although she’s a “Ewww…one of thooooose!” Patriots fan). After she had settled in on the couch I switched to the aforementioned t-shirt bearing the poignant message: “I’m having people over to stare at their phones later if you want to come by…” Half way through the second quarter she finally noticed and flipped me the bird while chuckling. Before the two minute warning she was eyeGlued to iPhone again.

The obsession with mobile devices has led to some sobering statistics. According to The Zebra, distracted driving causes 35 percent more injuries than drunk driving. Per distracted driving stats from 2015, driving while using a cell phone caused 391,000 injuries while driving under the influence of alcohol caused 290,000 injuries. From my personal experience, “probably some kid (anyone significantly younger than me) messing with their phone” has replaced “that guy’s wasted” as my first reaction to observed “creative lane management.”

For many younger couples stringent measures must be instituted to prevent mealtimes, either at home or in a restaurant, from lapsing into insulated exercises in tiny screen REM. Some restaurants, as well as other businesses, even go so far as posting archaic printed messages offering to “cheerfully wait on you after you’ve finished with your phone.”

These days the least used app by far on our telephones…is the telephone. I sometimes fantasize that someone develops a…err…tablet…to help with mobile device overuse. But even I have found it difficult to imagine not being able to check email when away from my office, Google available businesses on the fly for any number of products and services, or get vocalized directions to addresses not fully familiar to me. We’ve come a long way from the 10 pound bag phone I felt so privileged to possess not so very long ago.

It’s undeniable that there are myriad benefits to today’s mobile device adaptation and adoption in our industry. Speed to issue, app accuracy, info gathering, proposal presentation, policy detail access…the list is extensive. But likely the most positive result of our embrace of advanced tech and mobile solutions is the enhanced ability to reach more of the Nation’s un- and under-insured by exploring and exploiting the tools, systems and platforms on which millennials and GenXers skulk. Mobile devices and other tech advances allow agents old and new to meet and engage younger (more easily underwritten!) prospects on social media platforms where they seek and offer advice from and to their peers (referrals?) and offer a quicker much more seamless buying experience to those who’ve become accustomed to Amazon’s nearly immediate gratification.

Millennials and Gen X are much more likely to do internet research and survey their peers when considering a variety of purchases—including insurance products. Tablets in the hands of brokers at the time of sale offer younger clients the buying experience that they’re most familiar with, as well as providing more apps in good order and digital (archivable) policy delivery.

Stridently exclaimed as crucial to your business’ continued health, keeping as current as possible on tech and social media trends has become the price of streaming (formerly admission) for those hoping to connect with the literal wealth of prospects “coming of age” as serious insurance prospects. Whether this adoption proves Faustian or not, as a blasphemously disinclined late baby boomer technidiot I need to reinforce to myself that this is, indeed, clearly necessary…kinda like a colonoscopy. [SPH]

Maybe…finally…we might soon be able to have a dinner party with more than four people. We might be able to hug loved ones whose births significantly preceded ours (as of January 12 of this year I’ve slapped a moratorium on the adjectives “old” and “older”) without worrying about unintentionally infecting them. We might be able to travel again soon! And…be still my heart…we might be able to have face-to-face industry meetings again! Damn I miss my Biz Buds!

A look in the mirror is a daily disenchanting reminder that I don’t have a mystical painting locked in my attic, but reflecting on 2020, and in particular my prior periodic disappointment with my travel schedule, I’m again awakened to how much I took the blessings that came with my chosen profession for granted.

I realize that my pre-pandemic travel schedule was nowhere near as demanding as that of your typical carrier regional rep. I salute them for their diligence. Hope and I would average about a dozen business trips per year. Inevitably, however, a few nights before a departure I would bemoan the interruption of a planned project—sometimes home, sometimes business. Thankfully, as soon as I saw a familiar face in the lobby of the meeting hotel my reticence would evaporate and I would again appreciate the opportunity to catch up with “friends of long standing.”

Our last trip, a little over a year ago, was to NOLA to attend the TMA meeting, and the hints of the severity of the coming crisis were still just meandering whispers, unsubstantiated speculation, and suggestions that seemed at the time to be born of an overabundance of caution. Granted, the China travel ban (and cries of xenophobia) began January 31, but on March 10th the U.S. count of confirmed cases had just crested 1000. NOLA had no reported cases when we landed. I greeted my friends with hugs, despite the aforementioned cautions, and the clueless “Hell, if hugging you kills me I’ll still die a happy man.” Then the first two NOLA cases were reported, rumored to stem from a conference at the Marriott…we were at a Marriott…fortunately at the other Marriott, on the opposite side of Canal Street. No more hugs. This was real. And then our trip was cut short due to a family emergency and we flew home, planning to change out our travel duds and fly to Oregon. Hope had sinus symptoms and a scratchy throat and went to the doc in KC, where, upon revealing that she had just flown, she was instructed to quarantine at home for 14 days. Fortunately it wasn’t COVID-19, but by the end of the quarantine travel was all but forbidden. We haven’t been further than 25 miles from the house since.

There are myriad negative consequences of the pandemic, most tragic of course are the unfathomable death toll, the horrible suffering of many who didn’t die, and the effect those cases had on the loved ones of those patients. The forced extended isolation of children during crucial times of social development and learning. But there are numerous, albeit by comparison trivial, societal warts brought on by the virus. Unpleasant blemishes on our day-to-day interactions. I hate not being able to see people’s faces when I’m talking with them. Over a year in, and at least several times per week I get 20 feet or more toward a store before slapping my forehead and returning to the car to retrieve my mask. I’m not a Seinfeld “close talker” but I vastly prefer a bit closer than six feet unless I’m loudly questioning the parentage of the “Bold Adventurer” who just made a three lane swerve right in front of me to exit the freeway. Fist bumping used to be just mildly cliche over-”Bro”ing, but now knucks and elbow taps are the requisite condoms for our social greetings and partings.

By all indications the vaccination of America is progressing, and I’m eager for the opportunity to chat in person with business friends, many of whom started as clients but over 38 years have grown to mean so much more. Prayers and fingers crossed that these coronavirus-caused communication carbuncles are soon sufficiently salved. I don’t care what Dr. Fauci says, I’m going to thoroughly enjoy my next firm handshake and Bro-hug with back slaps.

There isn’t any Dr. Pimple Popper to fix 2020, but in 2021, when properly vaxxed, I am going to lean into my business travel with greater enthusiasm and more fully appreciate the blessings I’m given by having frequent opportunities to renew my business-fostered friendships, and grow new ones, even if it still has to be mask to mask.[SPH]

COVID-19 has brought our industry, in some cases kicking and screaming, to an important tipping point—quicker adoption of myriad tech solutions. Initially to scramble for systems to manage widespread work from home accommodation, initially hopefully for a relatively short time, but further to aid distribution in maintaining sales levels as reality birthed a seemingly ever-increasing atmosphere of caution making traditional face-to-face interaction almost completely untenable. Although many advances were already in the pipeline, the pandemic accelerated adoption at a previously unimaginable rate (at least to this peripheral observer).

Countless research studies have indicated younger generations’ embrace of doing online research themselves prior to contacting an insurance professional coupled with firm expectations of a much quicker buying process from application to policy delivery. Many necessary speed-to-issue processes were already established pre-pandemic and being diligently refined to suit these generational markets to the benefit of all stakeholders. For just one example of how new tech initiatives are shaping expedited service to consumers, I urge you to read Ken Leibow’s insightful Tech-Tock… column in this issue. Truly exciting stuff for our industry.

But sitting across the table or desk from an agent was still widely viewed as beneficial by most consumers as the insurance professional still offered the significant advantage of a wealth of experience and product knowledge well beyond the scope of all but perhaps the most diligent amateur coverage Clouseaus. And while Nick and Nora could easily find pet insurance for Asta, and possibly unearth a comprehensive body of evidence on life insurance, at best they were still just “rounding up the usual suspects.” It would be a fortuitous revelation for them to include asset-based long term care in their lineup, and traditional long term care insurance or disability income coverage never even made it into the precinct for questioning.

That’s where you folks came in—you are the extremely reliable sources who could point them in the right direction to consider all the angles and be sure all the possible solutions are explored. Further, you are the security professionals tasked with protecting their lives and their families from as many dastardly events as possible. You are the ones who know who all the possible culprits are and how to best thwart their potential financial and emotional impact—and thus you are still indispensable.

But even Hercule Poirot would have had a heck of a time solving the Murder on the Orient Express via a Zoom call. Your job has become more difficult when social distancing morphs into few if any face-to-face meetings. More power to you if you haven’t felt the impact. I consult with the family’s agent via email, phone and text, but when I needed a sheaf of policy forms for my mother he dropped the folder on my porch, backed off, and then we had a very brief, mask-garbled conversation outdoors eight feet apart or more. Not exactly prime relationship nurturing stuff.

Good friend Dave Murphy has some great tips in this month’s Purpose-Driven Professionals… column that I would urge you to read. To compensate for the lack of in-person meetings, he offers some great insight on maintaining (and building) relationships with your clients—stepping up your game while utilizing your other communications sources—to be sure that forced “out of sight” doesn’t mean “out of mind” for you and your clients. Now our secondary relationship reinforcing vehicles like social media and email, as well as primary communications like phone calls and individual personal actually stamped cards and letters, can be even more beneficial as connection sources to help fill the crevasse forced between us by COVID-19—but I believe that personalization is the key. Our communications need to reinforce that we still care rather than be perceived as simply reminders that we’re still “out there.”

I’ve been on exactly one Zoom call so far (I suppose I should be ashamed to admit that), and I spent agonizing moments deciding on an appropriate background, arranging my laptop to be sure it showed my semi-impressive library in the background rather than the cluttered kitchen where I actually work, but spent an inordinate amount of attention hoping one of the dogs didn’t crap on the floor behind me on camera. I do enjoy the facetime calls with my wife’s family, but it was a painfully inadequate substitute for actually being there for Christmas. There are currently more than 400,000 reasons that this pandemic sucks much more important than me missing spending the holidays with my beloved inlaws. Too damned many people missed the company of family and friends permanently and in their hour of greatest need for that comfort.

My hope is that all these tech advances that are helping us cope don’t become so ingrained that we, as an industry, come to rely on many of them increasingly exclusively rather than rebound when we can and return to face-to-face interaction. Ours is a relationship business, and a smile and a handshake are integral to developing the depth of caring relationships that bolster our drive to continually protect families and businesses from financial ruin. Those relationships garner referrals—some with challenges not particularly formula fitting. More important—it simply must not evolve to become merely a transaction. An interview with a disembodied voice, a needs analysis survey form and a series of clicks.

One great “consolation prize” for missing a vast gathering of dear friends in Vegas to celebrate my recent harrumphtieth birthday was a fantastic app my wife found—VidHug.com. She got her family members and 37 of my dearest industry friends to post individual Happy Birthday videos (many misguidedly sweet and encouraging and others…not so much so) which she then converted into a single video presentation. It was truly the best birthday present I’ve ever received. I heartily recommend it—especially at this time when we’re forced to stay physically distant.

I sometimes sneak out of the house to the grocery store before my wife can complete her InstaCart order, and I increasingly awaken to find myself being “that guy” who is holding up the line by expanding on the customary conversation with the meat counter guy, or the deli girl, or the cashier. I hope this crap lets up soon (hopefully before I’m banned from Price Chopper) because I really miss seeing the great friends I’ve made in 38 years in this business…and I bet you do too. [SPH]

Congratulations Chip Milner!

It is my distinct pleasure to congratulate Seixas G. “Chip” Milner, Jr., the recipient of the 2020 Douglas Mooers Award for Excellence. The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) honored Milner, Chairman of the Board, The Milner Group, Lawrenceville, GA, at a virtual awards event held December 17, 2020, as part of the association’s annual meeting, NAILBA 39: ENGAGE.

The annual award, NAILBA’s most coveted and prestigious accolade, honors distinction in brokerage and is presented to the individual most committed to furthering independent life brokerage as a distribution system, and who demonstrates an exemplary record of community service.

“The people in our industry are among the best I’ve ever known,” Milner said in his acceptance speech. “Many of the men and women I respect most are past recipients—some of them, my dearest friends. With great humility, I am honored to accept this award. I hope and pray this philosophy and the calling of this industry will continue for generations to come.

Milner should know about generations of service to the brokerage industry—The Milner family becomes NAILBA’s first to realize two generations of Mooers Award winners. Chip’s father, Sexias G. Milner, one of NAILBA’s founding members, was the first ever recipient of the honor, bestowed at NAILBA’s fifth annual meeting in 1986. Chip’s son, Sexias “Chad” Milner III, named President and CEO of the Milner Group in 2017, served as NAILBA’s 2020 Chairman. One wonders if his astute handling of the agency’s reigns and his undeniable dedication to the brokerage business may very well portend a third Mooers Award in The Milner Group’s future!

Chip Milner graduated from King College in Bristol, TN, in 1974 and went to work for AXA Equitable in 1975. In 1976 he began working for his father, eventually becoming President and CEO of The Milner Group in 1990. He served as Chairman of NAILBA in 2001 and is a member of the Risk Appraisal Forum and various other brokerage industry boards. The Milner Group is an integral part of LIBRA Insurance Partners and was among the first members of LifeMark Partners (which merged with BRAMCO Financial Resources to form LIBRA in 2019)

Milner is a proudly ordained elder in the PCA Presbyterian Church and is a past member on the Board of Trustees for Montreat College and Westminster Christian Academy. He loves spending time with his wife, four children, and seven grandchildren, as well as playing basketball, general aviation, and going on mission trips with his church.

Broker World and the Howard family have been blessed to be associated with the Milners since the magazine’s inception in 1980. Broker World Founder Bill Howard considered Sexias Milner Sr. a great friend and instrumental in the decision to start the magazine. In my 38 years in the business I’ve developed a great admiration for the family and the agency, and I’m proud to be able to call the Milners my friends. Bravo for the Milners, and my heartfelt congratulations to Chip for an honor richly deserved! [SPH]

God bless the folks out there I see on local news channels offering so many great ideas on how to make the best of our current situation and suggest ways to make great personal progress in circumstances I don’t think many of us not in or seeking public office would have ever remotely considered advantageous.

Had I been even vaguely so constructively inclined I’d have a style-magazine-feature-worthy sock drawer, a bountiful vegetable garden, a house cleaned, organized, renovated and decorated to suit any obsessive-compulsive’s wildest dream, and would have learned to cook (all organic) as if Cordon Bleu trained since birth. I’d have finished (hopefully Volume One of) my memoirs, become professionally proficient at some artistic medium and hand crafted all of my outgoing christmas presents at such an appealing level that one could actually believe recipients when they said they loved them. That awkward pause and hitch in their voices would be representative of genuine disbelief and overwhelming gratitude rather than mentally shifting gears to desperately find a way to believably compliment some adult equivalent of the dreaded macaroni sculpture.

Like I said, God bless those folks…but I’m still stuck too often in “Boy, 2020 really sucks.” My wife, apparently presciently named Hope, on the other hand, does seem to find ways to make the best of the situation while still recognizing that things are not as she would wish—all adulty-like. Although neither of us has eaten in a restaurant since early March, haven’t traveled more than 25 miles or so on a “trip” or been to the nail salon, hair care professional, or dental hygienist, she did decide to have a foot surgery she had been postponing (and soon another) because she, “Might as well…I can’t go anywhere anyway.” She’s doing everything in her power to convince herself that it will be nice for a change to be home for the holidays rather than enjoy an extended visit with her wonderful family in North Carolina. She disgustingly has almost all of her Christmas shopping completed (online)—and wrapped!—and, ever the fashionista, has taken great strides to upgrade her loungewear. I should really feel like the Country Mouse I suppose in my years-old sweatpants and ironic (or moronic) T-shirts. One of the talk show pinheads has suggested that going ahead and decorating for Christmas early might be a good way to pick up one’s spirits. Might be a good way to make me pick up dozens of bins of decorations and make a thousand trips up and down the basement stairs a week before Thanksgiving. Hark. The Herald Angels sing.

The logical (and grateful) recognition that Hope and I are much more fortunate than literally millions of Americans isn’t lost on me, but there is so much dyspepsia-producing content across all media that it seems Pepto Bismol should be at least as difficult to find as Wet Ones, Purell and Charmin. A deadly virus released, whether intentional or not, upon the world by our most dangerous political and economic adversary has deeply affected the world, our country and our industry.

The silver lining for insurance professionals is that our industry has, throughout its history, found ways to adapt to changing circumstances, be they interest rate suppression, challenging legislation or evolving consumer wants and demographics. Many of the changes being “forced” upon us now are the very things that can make the industry and our products and processes more appealing to younger generations. (More insight on tech innovations and adoption can be found in Mike Bridges’ excellent Tech-Tock column this month as well as Marc Glickman’s article Dear Actuary.) One would hope that the COVID-19 pandemic at least brings consumers’ awareness and acceptance of their own mortality more to the forefront and generates greater willingness to protect their families’ financial futures through life insurance, annuities, disability income coverage and long term care planning.

Signs of a vaccine in the near future are greatly encouraging, but still uncertain are the actuarial and underwriting impact the virus will have on product pricing, design and availability, how the economy will react to the policies of what will apparently be a new administration and what impact that will have on many products’ appeal to the consumer, and, frankly, what measures our politicians will take, rightly or wrongly, to control the public’s behavior ostensibly to curb the spread. An aggressive lockdown approach will affect the finances of many people who may otherwise be customers—fingers crossed that it be for a relatively short time for as many as possible. Food…er…trumps…insurance.

What won’t change is the drive and determination of insurance professionals like yourselves to get families protected through the purchase of your products. America’s courageous first responders and healthcare workers are certainly getting paid to respond in this crisis, but I doubt many of them are thinking of the money as the prime motivator as they tend to the afflicted. One truly beautiful sight during this pandemic moved me to the core—the coverage of people standing on their balconies to cheer and salute these brave souls as they emerged at each shift change. I choose to believe that, similar to those professionals, although the money might be nice, you are driven by the belief that you serve a higher purpose. I salute you, and may God bless you and keep you safe today and in the challenging year ahead.[SPH]

As if this damn pandemic hasn’t given us enough sad news, it is my somber duty to relay the passing of my friend Dave Wickersham, founder and CEO of The Leaders Group. Sad news indeed, particularly for those many, many advisors and BGAs who got to know him while working in the variable life space. Per Dave’s son and TLG President Sean Wickersham, Dave passed away recently due to complications from a cardiac event.

Dave Wickersham earned a bachelor’s degree in Zoology, with minors in Chemistry and Business, from the University of Northern Colorado where he also both played and coached football. He married his best friend, Berny, in 1976 and had one son, Sean, in whose capable hands The Leaders Group will continue to thrive despite this tremendous loss. In his spare time Dave enjoyed reading a great novel, mountain biking, wine tasting, shooting handguns, and fly-fishing.

Dave began his financial services career in 1979 as an underwriter for State Farm, then moved to E.F. Hutton where he worked as a financial advisor, life specialist and manager. He subsequently had the opportunity to help create an independent broker/dealer in Denver and worked steadfastly and diligently to bring life insurance and securities distribution closer together.

An avid supporter of life insurance, in 1994 Dave founded The Leaders Group with the focus of helping to distribute variable life through BGAs, a model that has thrived. In the 26 years that the firm has been in business it has grown from working with just a few agencies to now being recognized as the largest distributor broker/dealer in the world for variable life insurance and the premier broker/dealer for BGAs with more than 160 agencies calling it home. Dave also established a very robust retail arm that helps financial advisors thrive in the independent marketplace. The Leaders Group also hosts an annual Private Placement Insurance Forum in Las Vegas, attracting dozens of the industry’s top experts serving the affluent market. The annual forum features speakers and breakout sessions facilitated by experts in product development, investment options, and sales positioning and offers product solutions that provide tax efficiency and increased accumulation opportunities.

In addition to The Leaders Group, Dave was a founder of The Life Insurance Center, a Colorado based application fulfillment center built for BGAs, and started and served as the CEO of TLG Advisors, Inc., an SEC Registered Investment Adviser that provides investment management and financial planning services for individuals, corporations, and retirement plans.

Dave Wickersham’s driving motto was “Doing the right thing is always the right thing.” I first met Dave at a LifeMark Partners (now merged with BRAMCO Financial Partners to form LIBRA Insurance Partners) meeting and he and his associates quickly became my go-to source for variable life articles. I grew to know him as a wonderfully gregarious and welcoming friend with a limitless wealth of knowledge of our industry and its workings as well as the incalculable patience to try to explain any number of its intricacies to one—me—not nearly as intellectually gifted as himself. I’ll miss most his broad smile, his deep, boisterous laugh and his marvelous quick wit. Rest in Peace my friend.[SPH]

(In lieu of flowers or other gifts of condolence, the Wickersham family prefers donations to be made in Dave’s honor to Samaritan’s Purse.)

I have a lot of friends on the west coast and I include them in my prayers every day, although I usually blanket the whole area, much as the thick smoke continues to do, and throw in “Please watch over all those I care about and keep them from harm.” I am truly humbled by the blessing that my work in this industry has given me so many dear friends there that I can’t easily count them all. And I can say that about pretty much most of the country.

Being a small business owner myself, I also feel a pang of sorrow almost daily as I hear about COVID-19 and attendant restrictions, or man-made fires, forcing many to abandon their dreams and service to their communities permanently. Also I have, as I imagine we all do, friends and important acquaintances outside of the business who are struggling mightily to keep their lives together in the face of either greatly reduced hours or unemployment brought on by the pandemic. Much like any trip I take to the animal shelter, I wish I could comfort and help them all.

My problems (ignoring the obvious personality issues) and the impact of COVID-19 on same really pale in comparison to so many others in our country today. And I think those serving in the insurance business are predominantly very fortunate that lockdowns, and mask mandates, and social distancing, and above all fear in general, have such a lesser impact on our ability to do business than the vast majority of small businesses we pre-COVID might have taken for granted.

Fear delusionally disguised as caution severely limits our nearly clandestine escapes from self-imposed virtual house arrest, skulking, like Frodo and Samwise in Mordor, to the post office, pharmacy, grocery or (gulp) Target and then immediately thoroughly rinsing in our shower/Silkwood decontamination stall. I’m firmly convinced that my wife would insist upon a full hazmat suit…if Lilly Pulitzer would only make one. Now not only do I not get to eat in restaurants, but Hope’s prevention protocols now enforce the mandate that even curbside carryout must now be either eaten tepid or reheated. Nothing flavors the pandemic like an already swiftly sogging Double Whopper further deconstructed in the microwave. And she’s a rabid mask Inquisitor, which I try my best to accommodate, but there are so many ordinances imposed on my already meek acquiescence that I’m constantly cowed by one inadvertent heretical violation or another. I find it quite the paradox that she’s perfectly fine with me cleaning raccoon poop off of the deck but goes all Torquemada on me if I touch the outside of my mask. Almost makes one misty for the halcyon days of E. coli and Salmonella.

As I’ve alluded to previously, my wife Hope hasn’t been to her nail salon nor me to SportClips since early March. Neither have we eaten a meal in a restaurant. I can’t remember the last time we saw a movie in public, and now speculation exists that the movie theater as a neighborhood entertainment source may be fading away forever. I contend, however, for all the new streaming, and on demand options, and cheap financing for huge TVs, and being able to watch in your jammies…I, and I bet you too, can’t make popcorn that tastes anywhere near as decadent as the large tub with “butter”—in the middle and on top—that you got from the annoyed teenager at the concession stand. I’ll come to miss that exasperated sigh and rolling of the eyes.
And how I miss traveling. I now formally apologize for nearly every single thing said bemoaning the rigors and pitfalls of our business trips (except for those reflecting my ironclad hatred of and resentment toward United Airlines). It has really hit home how much I miss it and miss seeing all the wonderful friends granted during almost four decades serving this great industry.

I have no idea, as none of us does, when actual real live in-person meetings will recommence, and even personal travel has been forbidden by Der Kommissar. Airports are viewed as mini Chernobyls, airplanes as modern day leper colonies, and now…because of Coronavirus…not because of any of the other obvious legitimate hygienic reasons…gas station and truck stop restrooms are immeasurably beyond consideration. So no road trips.

By now we would have visited about ten of America’s great cities and be looking forward to four or five more, including Hollywood, FL, for our favorite meeting—the annual NAILBA conference. But NAILBA Chairman Chad Milner, The Milner Group, Lawrenceville, GA, and NAILBA CEO Dan LaBert, inspired lemonade makers both, have announced an ambitious and extravagant virtual alternative.

NAILBA 39—ENGAGE! A Virtual Experience—Soaring To New Heights! NAILBA 39 is moving from in-person to a virtual event—three days extended to three months, complete with a virtual exhibit hall, live events and on-demand content. General admission will be complimentary to all industry professionals, promoted not only to NAILBA’s members, carriers, vendors and staff, but to a circulation list of 340,000+ industry professionals. Highlighted will be specific themed days of panel discussions, keynotes, workshops, and one-on-one talks. Launching November 19, the annual meeting will continue its commitment for bringing together the independent distribution community for business, networking and professional development.

Given virtual has no time restraints, NAILBA is seizing the moments and expanding the time for engagement between exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees from November 19 to February 24, 2021. This creates a whole new level of ROI for exhibitors, sponsors and especially attendees, giving a whole new meaning to the word Engage. NAILBA—Where Independence shines, relationships are built and business gets done. Online and on your time schedule the virtual platform allows for viewing on any device, at any time. Throughout the three months NAILBA 39 will offer live and on-demand activities for continuous engagement with the market 24/7. For more information please visit www.nailba.org.

I must confess to a certain eagerness to see what type of a mosaic is created by having 1200+ faces illuminated together on my Zoom screen. Hopefully the individual images will be so small that no one will be able to tell that I’m still in my jammies. [SPH]

It probably won’t make the AP wire that the role of a monthly trade publication isn’t #breakingnews. There are a number of industry eZines that fill that role.

Over almost 38 years I’ve been blessed that God has placed in my path a true wealth of friends and industry experts to help achieve this publication’s mission to provide insight, motivation, encouragement, hopefully occasional entertainment, and in the end useful, actionable information.

Any list of Broker World contributors must start with “Dr. Bob” Goldstone, impaired risk sage, who recently penned his 350th column for Broker World! His columns form most if not all of my awareness of and dedication to the crucial role the brokerage business plays in finding coverage for those with less than Preferred health. A wealth of useful insight into the benefits spectrum was, until recently, provided by Jan LeTourneau and is now offered by her astute associate Jason Folks. We get great tech insight from Mike Bridges and Ken Leibow…who are good enough friends to be able to look past my predilection for technidiocy.

The DI world was served on these pages elegantly for many years by great friend and industry icon Harold Petersen, now expertly handled by two of my dearest friends, Eugene and Michael Cohen. Eugene has trained literally thousands of agents in the intricacies of disability sales and Michael now leads one of the country’s very best brokerage general agencies. (And Shirlee Cohen is one of the most awesome women I have ever met.)

I’m truly blessed to have met Dave Murphy at an NBA meeting 20+ years ago—Dave offers readers practical, insightful sales encouragement derived from basic human nature and enlightened spiritual principles. “New” friend (10 years out of 38 makes him still a relative freshman) Charlie Gipple is basically six foot six of extended cranium jam-packed with knowledge of indexed products and presentation techniques that he masterfully intertwines with personal experiences and metaphors drawn from his life.

And then there’s Hagelman. A self-proclaimed curmudgeon (that’s a fancy word for “cranky old fart”), Ron has truly and sincerely dedicated his life to developing, educating, motivating, and arming our industry’s consummate sales professionals to help mitigate the potentially devastating impact a long term care event can have on both patient and family. And, ever since I asked him to be best man at my wedding, he seems unabashedly able to ask for favors in return.

His current subtle yet transparent attempt at (worthwhile and welcome) emotional extortion takes the form of an industry wide collaboration on a National Advisor Survey: “What Is The New Normal In Long Term Care Planning?” The survey is sponsored by Oliver Wyman actuarial consulting and Ron along with partner Barry Fisher of Ice Floe Consulting. The project is being advised and supported by NAILBA, NAIFA, numerous traditional and combo carriers and key distribution friends. And me. This agent/advisor-focused sales analysis is designed specifically to help reveal the mysteries of the structure and motivations of buying behavior from those who make the sales happen. You.

I urge you, as caring industry professionals dedicated to helping consumers protect against all manner of potential health and financial crises, to allow 10 minutes of your doubtless busy schedules (not counting the hours it will take to type https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2020/aug/long-term-care-planning-survey.html into your browser) to answer the survey. Even if you do not participate actively in long term care planning, please contribute your personal strictly confidential insights into “Who is selling What? To Whom? Why? And How?“ In return Ron and Barry will forward the complete research results from the largest survey of it’s kind to help you increase your own sales success. This represents an opportunity to better understand and improve your approach and own a valuable trove of in-depth actionable intelligence.

Further, I ask that you spread the word on your industry-focused social media accounts and share the survey link with your broker/advisor peers.

Our industry has many excellent sources of research data—LIMRA, The Society of Actuaries, Milliman (the source of Broker World’s annual LTCI product surveys along with Claude Thau), and new friend Sheryl Moore, Chief Storyteller at Wink, Inc., and Moore Market Intelligence—to name just a few. But to date none have undertaken a survey exploring this facet of the long term care expense abatement crisis that can only continue to become more crushing as Boomers age in. We need intel to achieve comprehensive understanding of the challenges and successes experienced and overcome by you—the active, caring insurance professional.

If you truly have the patience of a saint, please feel free to input https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2020/aug/long-term-care-planning-survey.html into your browser. If today you find yourself somewhat short of that ideal, you can go to www.brokerworldmag.com and click on the survey link there. [SPH]