Turning Life Insurance into Long Term Care Insurance

I wanted to share this great 2 part article with you..
It's titled "Turning Life Insurance into Long Term Care Insurance."
It's written by Yale Hauptman, an elder law attorney in New Jersey.
The article discusses how cash received from a life settlement can help pay the cost of care for seniors.  According to Yale "This might allow Mom or Dad to stay in an assisted living setting or at home longer before money runs out and a move to a nursing facility becomes necessary.  It could also help get a family through a Medicaid penalty period resulting from gifts that were made several years before that can’t be repaid."
Part 1
http://www.hauptmanlaw.com/new-jersey-long-term-care-planning/turning-life-insurance-into-long-term-care-insurance-part-1
Part 2
http://www.hauptmanlaw.com/new-jersey-long-term-care-planning/turning-life-insurance-into-long-term-care-insurance-part-2

The policies involved in these situations are typically - what the life settlement industry considers  - small face policies.  That means they have death benefit of under $500,000.
There are very few buyers for these type of policies.
Golden Bridge Funding LLC is one of these buyers.
If you have a situation you would like to discuss please feel free to call us, email us, or visit our website at www.GoldenBridgeFunding.com

I would never recommend a life settlement.......

Recently I received a phone call from an agent.  He said he had a client who wanted to sell her life insurance policy.  My first question was "How old is your client?".  He told me his client was in her late 50's.  I broke the bad news to him that unless the client had  serious medical issues she probably wouldn't qualify for a life settlement.  I explained that the market is generally looking for LE's (life expectancies) of around 10 years or less.  This took him by surprise.  He asked why any client would sell their life insurance policy if they only had 10 years or less to live.  He said he would never recommend that his clients sell their policy if they had less than 10 years to live. He would tell them to borrow the money.  Well it's not always easy to borrow the money to pay premiums.

I think this conversation elicits a discussion on a few of the reasons one sells their life insurance policy.

But before we go further I want to bring up an important point.  Life settlements don't make sense for everyone.  Every situation has to be examined on its own merits.  But its important that everyone is aware of life settlements.

The most common scenario I see when reviewing cases is an older person who has had their universal life insurance policy for many years , their cash value is dwindling down, and since they haven't paid their premium in a few years have recently received a notice that the carrier is requiring them to pay a higher premium to keep the policy in force.
Well there's a reason for this.   These people are usually in financial straits.  Typically they have limited resources and are on a fixed budget.  They either haven't planned well for retirement or are experiencing unexpected extra ordinary cost, such as nursing home care or a home health aid.
If you were a bank would you lend these people money to pay premiums?  Banks are not in the life settlement business and are not interested in tracking lives and premiums.

Another scenario which is not uncommon is business' selling their key man policy.  Sometimes the reason they are selling the policy is because they are having financial issues.  Again if you were a bank would you lend money to this business so they can maintain their life insurance policy.

Another common situation are people selling their term policies.  Typically they bought the term insurance because they had a insurance need for a limited time that they needed covered.  Now that the need is gone they typically don't want to maintain the policy.  Often times they don't have the resources to pay the conversion premium.  Is it better to let this policy lapse or to convert that policy into a lump sum of cash?

Well clearly you can see there are plenty of situations where a life settlement makes sense.  People cant always afford to continue their coverage, nor can they always borrow to pay those premiums, nor do they necessarily want the coverage.

How laws and regs affect your engagement in the market | Life Settlement

Within the last five years, the industry has developed and implemented new legislation and regulations to govern the life settlement market. Although they have increased the paperwork and due diligence process, they have also fostered an environment of policy owner and beneficiary safeguards. Life settlement experts Erez Rotem and Alex Sirotkin of Integrity Life Solutions, LLC, are interviewed by Steve Savant, syndicated financial columnist and talk show host, on this episode of "Let's Get Down to Business."

Bridging the Financial Gap - Life Settlements

In today's economy, many older people can't find the money to pay for their long-term care. One idea that might help would be to sell their life insurance policy for more than what the insurance company would give them for it. That's where we come in. Golden Bridge buys life insurance policies

Viatical-Life Settlement Providers Licensed in New Jersey

If you are looking to sell your life insurance policy in New Jersey (NJ) you need to go through a
Viatical-Life Settlement Provider licensed in New Jersey. 
 http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_insurance/viatsettlelist.html
As you can see the list of life settlement providers is rather long.
If your policy has a death benefit over $250,000 then most likely all of these providers would be happy to review your policy.
However if you have a policy with a death benefit under $250,000 - what we in the life settlement industry call small face policies -then your list just got smaller.
If your policy is under $50,000 well now your list is itsy bitsy small.

Golden Bridge Funding LLC (www.goldenbridgefunding.com) is a licensed life settlement provider.
We focus on small face policies.  That means we will buy policies as low as $10,000 in face amount.

Has not having someone buy small face policies been holding you back from getting involved in life settlements.

Well now you have no more excuses.

Call us at 973-275-1110 or visit our website (www.goldenbridgefunding.com)

Abacus Settlements, LLC 516-417-5040	480 Forest Avenue Locust Valley, NY 11560	12/06/2006
Berkshire Settlements, Inc. 678-589-9950	154 Krog St., Suite 135 Atlanta, GA 30307	08/10/2010
CMG Surety, LLC 239-597-0128	Suite 200, 1016 Collier Center Way Naples, Fl 34110	07/11/2006
Coventry First LLC 877-836-8300	7111 Valley Green Road Ft. Washington, PA 19034-2209	10/01/2002
Credit Suisse Life Settlements LLC 212-328-4576	11 Madison Ave., EMA, 4th Floor New York, NY 10010	07/27/2007
Eagil Life Settlements, LLC 201-497-1429	50 Tice Blvd. Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677	03/06/2008
EconoTree Capital, Inc. 201-808-2302	1 Bridge Plaza N., #275 Fort Lee, NJ 07024	12/22/2011
Financial Life Services, LLC 203-964-1200	7 Partridge Hollow Road Greenwich, CT 06831	04/11/2008
Golden Bridge Funding, LLC 201-344-3712	422 Morris Ave. Summit, NJ 07901	10/08/2013
Habersham Funding, LLC 404-233-8275	Piedmont Center, Bldg. 11, Suite 910 3495 Piedmont Road, NE Atlanta, GA 30305	03/23/2006
Imperial Life Settlements, LLC 561-995-4200	701 Park of Commerce Blvd., Suite 301 Boca Raton, FL 33487	08/07/2007
Institutional Life Services, LLC 212-786-5521	340 Madison Ave., 21st Floor New York, NY 10173	06/26/2008
Legacy Benefits, LLC 212-643-1190	350 Fifth Ave., Suite 4320 New York, NY 10118	08/05/2008
Life Equity LLC 330-655-7522	5611 Hudson Drive, Suite 100 Hudson, OH 44236	08/23/2006
Life Partners, Inc. 254-751-7797	204 Woodhew Drive Waco, TX 76712	08/05/2008
Life Settlements International, LLC 212-829-7133	110 East 59th St., 6th Floor New York, NY 10022	06/28/2007
Lotus Life LLC 203-542-4800	2 Greenwich Plaza, Suite 1 Greenwich, CT 06830-6353	11/07/2008
Magna Life Settlements, Inc. 512-961-8256	805 Las Cimas Parkway, Suite 230 Austin, TX 78746	07/11/2006
Maple Life Financial LLC 301-347-4456	4350 East-West Highway, Suite 900 Bethesda, MD 20814	08/23/2006
Montage Financial Group, Inc. 949-367-7700	27201 Puerta Real, Suite 170 Mission Viejo, CA 92691-8010	09/27/2007
Peachtree Life Settlements, LLC 866-448-3017	201 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087	09/25/2007
Proverian Capital, LLC 212-532-2646	111 Broadway, Suite 603 New York, NY 10006	03/01/2007
Q Capital Strategies, LLC 212-418-3270	119 West 72nd St. #340 New York, NY 10022	11/01/2006
Spiritus Life, Inc. 949-790-9660	27525 Puerta Real, Suite 100-454 Mission Viejo, CA 92691	07/15/2010
ViaSource Funding Group, LLC 732-280-8500	106 Allen Road Bernards Twp., NJ 07920	10/31/2003

Golden Bridge Funding obtains NC Life Settlement Providers License

Golden Bridge Funding, LLC, a New Jersey based and licensed viatical (and life settlement) provider, has recently been awarded a life settlement provider license from the North Carolina Department of Insurance. Golden Bridge is a buyer of life insurance policies for investment, and specializes in small-face policies from $10,000 to $600,000 in face amount. Golden Bridge is managed by Erez Rotem, LUTCF and Alex Sirotkin, JD, professionals in the life settlement industry since 2003. Contact may be made by calling 973.275.1110, or on the web at www.goldenbridgefunding.com.

Do Life Insurance Agents have a responsibility to discuss the life settlement option with their clients?

What is an agents responsibility to his client?

According to this article - http://www.pearsonitcertification.com/articles/article.aspx?p=415191

"By definition, a fiduciary is a person in a position of financial trust. Thus, attorneys, accountants, trust officers, and insurance agents are all considered fiduciaries.

As a fiduciary, the agent has an obligation to act in the best interest of the insured. The agent must be knowledgeable about the features and provisions of various insurance policies and the use of these insurance contracts. The agent must be able to explain the important features of these policies to the insured. The agent must recognize the importance of dealing with the general public's financial needs and problems and offer solutions to these problems through the purchase of insurance products."



From this description it sounds like insurance agents have a fiduciary responsibility to explore the life settlement option for their clients.
So why aren't more agents discussing life settlements?
Why aren't agents mandated by law  to explore the life settlement option for anyone lapsing their policy or any one who has the ability to convert their life insurance policy but chooses not to?
Isn't a life settlements in the best interest of these clients?
Isn't it better for the clients to recover some of the money they've poured in as premiums over the years than to get nothing at all?

At least one state will look at this in the near future.
Here is a blurb from LISA (LIFE INSURANCE SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATIONhttp://www.lisa.org/ )

California Couple Sues Lincoln National   The court battle continues on in California, where a couple has filed a lawsuit against Lincoln National Life Insurance Co., alleging that had their insurance agent told them about the life settlement option they may not have reduced coverage on their policy, of which the premiums were becoming too expensive. One of the key arguments in the case is whether or not agents have a fiduciary duty to their client – of which Lincoln National believes they do not. While California law does not require consumers be told about alternatives to the lapse or surrender of a policy (something LISA has advocated for), this case further illustrates the need for states to consider such legislation that would allow consumers to be told about all of the options available to them when considering lapse or surrender of their life insurance policy.