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Key provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are set to expire Dec. 31, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors is making renewal of those provisions one of its top legislative priorities this year.

Kevin Mayeux, NAIFA CEO, told InsuranceNewsNet that the association wants Congress to extend the provisions that impact individual taxpayers while keeping the tax-preferred treatment of life insurance and related financial products.

“It’s important that many of those provisions, if not all of them, get extended, hopefully permanently,” he said. “But we also want to make sure that we continue to ensure that the products and services our members offer – whether they are protection products or investment products – are given the right tax treatment to encourage more Americans to make sure that they’ve got the right protection in place, can plan for their financial futures, and can do it in a way where they’re incentivized to do so, as opposed to being penalized.”

NAIFA looking at tax issues

One provision of the TCJA – the Section 199A deduction – is another part of the tax law that Mayeux said NAIFA wants to see Congress extend. As part of the TCJA, Congress added a new deduction for pass-through businesses under Internal Revenue Code Section 199A and made slight cuts in individual income tax rates. Unlike corporate profits, pass-through business profits are taxed only once, at the owner level.

Mayeux said extending the Section 199A deduction would benefit many NAIFA members who are small-business owners. “We want to make sure our members can continue to make a decent living so they can take care of their clients properly,” he said.

House Republicans also are considering new limits on corporate state and local tax (C-SALT) deductions as an offset option for a broader reconciliation bill extending the TCJA tax cuts. Mayeux said placing new limits in effect runs the risk of raising premiums on insurance and annuity products, something NAIFA opposes.

“That makes it more difficult to convince people to put those right policies and products in place so that they can have a firm and secure financial future. What we need to do as a country is eliminate roadblocks and difficulties and better encourage individuals to save and be prepared,” he said. “So capping C-SALT deductions would be incredibly detrimental to the industry and to the American consumer in the long run, because of what it’s going to do to premium costs.”

NAIFA also plans to work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to bring stability to the Medicare market, preserve agent commissions, and crack down on “bad actors” who are misleading consumers about Medicare Advantage, Mayeux said.

“We want to enhance, or at least preserve, the role of a trusted advisor to help people put together their health plans for the year, as well as help protect the consumer against bad actors,” he said.

Working with 50 state legislatures

In addition to being an advocate for the industry in Washington, NAIFA’s state associations work with legislative bodies in all 50 states. The association also works with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the National Conference of Insurance Legislators “to help make sure that draft regulations and draft statutory provisions come out where the role of the trusted advisor is prominent and that we’re looking after consumers’ best interests,” Mayeux said.

He said some state-level issues impacting NAIFA members include whether states will mandate or implement long-term care insurance programs and whether states will impose fiduciary standards on financial and retirement advice.

NAIFA members are concerned about government-imposed regulations that hinder their ability to provide advice, Mayeux said.

“At the end of the day, while everyone wants to make a living, they also are concerned about making sure their clients have access to the right protection products and can put together a proper financial plan so that they and their families can live a good life,” he said.

“We want to protect commissions, reduce regulations and remove or reduce barriers for agents and advisors to give the right advice to their clients – and then hopefully that will result in people being better prepared financially.”

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Efforts to regulate the use of big data and artificial intelligence by insurance companies are rife with myths that threaten to harm policyholders, a leading trade group claims.

“[U]nfounded notions about the effects of using big data and AI in insurance are running rampant, inappropriately serving as the basis for and inappropriately driving creation of new policy relative to risk-based pricing,” reads the conclusion of the issue paper from the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

Established in 1895, NAMIC represents mutual property and casualty insurance companies.

AI and big data are proving to be a natural fit for the insurance world. After all, data sharpens underwriting decisions, produces the most accurate risk assessments and helps to better connect insurance producers with potential buyers.

Forty-seven percent of technology executives say AI will have a significant impact on the insurance industry in the next three years, according to a recent LIMRA survey, but 48% of insurers do not have an AI training program yet.

Adoption of AI by insurers is being met with concerns from regulators, advocates, and policymakers over the potential for proxy discrimination, an algorithmic bias. While rulemaking has proceeded slowly, some states adopted statutes regulating the use of AI.

Notably, the Colorado AI regulation requires life insurers to report how they review AI models and use external consumer data and information sources, which includes nontraditional data such as social media posts, shopping habits, internet of things data, biometric data and occupation information that does not have a direct relationship to mortality, among others.

Life insurance companies are also required to develop a governance and risk management framework that includes 13 specific components.

Although Colorado acted first, several other states are considering AI legislation to restrict how insurers handle personal and public data.

Insurance is risk-based

The rush to regulate the use of AI must take into account that insurance works best when underwriters get an accurate risk pool, explained Lindsey Klarkowski, NAMIC’s policy vice president in data science, AI/[machine learning], and cybersecurity.

Many of the AI bills “are taking a one-size-fits-all approach to applying standards to the operation of AI without recognizing distinct differences in how different industries operate,” Klarkowski said. “Insurance is distinct in function. It’s distinct in price, and it’s distinct in its legal framework from many other consumer products, because, by its nature, it is a risk-based product where the rate must be matched to risk.”

Klarkowski authored the issue paper titled, “Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Risk-Based Pricing: Dispelling Five Common Myths.”

It is in the consumer’s interest for insurers to parse the data and create the most precise risk profiles, Klarkowski. Some advocates have concerns that a continued refinement of data and technology could lead to “a risk pool of one,” she added, at the exclusion of high-risk insureds.

“The more accurate risk rating is, the more insurers can take on riskier policyholders,” Klarkowski explained. “For example, identifying insurable risks in traditionally uninsurable areas, and then as a foundational matter, that risk pool of one argument ignores statistical credibility and the benefits of risk spreading.”

Insurance AI lawsuits

While AI continues to play a bigger role in the insurance world, discrimination complaints are growing as well.

State Farm was sued in the Northern District of Illinois over claims that its AI discriminates against Black customers. The class-action suit claims State Farm’s algorithms are biased against African American names.

Plaintiffs cited a study of 800 homeowners and found discrepancies among Black and white homeowners in the way their State Farm claims were handled. Black policyholders faced more delays, for example.

Klarkowski noted that existing laws prevent discrimination.

“Regardless of whether the work is AI-assisted or whether the work is done by a human, there are still laws in place today that rates cannot be unfairly discriminatory,” she said. “There are laws in place today that the data points that are used and the rates that result must be actuarially sound.”

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Agents and advisors have long used life’s milestones to approach their clients about the need for more financial protection. After all, events like getting married, having a baby, or going to college, often signal a need by their clients for additional protection. Three financial professionals, Robert Arzt, David Appel and Brian Haney, recently offered some helpful hints on how financial professionals can make the most of these milestones and help their clients work toward securing a sound financial future.

Discussing the need for life insurance with an agent is not at the top of most people’s list of favorite things to do, said Arzt, founder and president of Polaris One and Insurance.CoachU.com, as he shared some of the most “successful” milestones that agents and advisors can use to initiate and hopefully sell more financial services to their clients.

However, Arzt said, the times when people are the most open to these discussions are when they involve family and personal life changes. This is “because the consequences of not owning life insurance have a personal impact on the ones they love and want to provide for,” he said.

Arzt shared some family and personal life changes:

• Marriage or partnership: A desire to financially protect a spouse or significant other.
• Birth or adoption of children: A desire to ensure their future financial security. “This is especially true if the child has special needs,” Arzt pointed out.

The next category in which the topic of life insurance becomes easier to discuss with clients is homeownership and asset protection, added Arzt.

The two life events in this category are:

• Buying a home: Protecting mortgage debt is not only a self-serving thing to do, but it often is also mandated by the mortgage lending institution, Arzt pointed out.
• Owning high-value assets: “Life insurance is one way where you can protect financial assets from diminishing through taxes, thereby leaving more to one’s family and heirs. This also applies to protecting a business from a forced sale or an undervaluation,” he said.

Other categories in which there is a need for life insurance, but they may not create a sense of urgency to purchase them, include: health and aging issues, financial wake-up calls, career milestones, and retirement planning, he said.

When asked for some of the steps that agents can take to use these milestones successfully and hopefully make more sales, Arzt had this to say: “Becoming a trusted advisor is the best way to serve your clients. Their needs come first. One of the best ways to be that trusted advisor is through client education. In addition to conducting a thorough factfinder, preparing your client for potential future events is key. Regular communication and excellent customer service will help retain clients and ensure future sales.”

Additional milestone strategies

Appel, with Appel Insurance Advisors, LLC, consistently approaches the following groups:

1. New Emerging Wealth Parents: They are building a family, and life insurance should be a core component of any financial plan.
2. College Age Children: The college expenses are close to being complete and they can start thinking about the second phase of their planning, which, most of the time, will involve some kind of long-term care planning.
3. Wealth Transfer Planning for HNW Clients: In retirement, high-net-worth clients start thinking about wealth transfer, creating a legacy, and creating wealth for future generations.

Appel also uses the following graph and segments with most of his clients:

Segment I

The beginning section of the bell curve, where milestones may begin for a client:

• Career, Marriage or Partnerships, Children, Debt and Mortgages, Promotion, Retirement Savings.
• Starting a career, understanding workplace benefits and what may need to be supplemented with personal planning.
• Getting promotions, which hopefully come with a higher income, buying a first home, taking on debt, school loans and how to plan around these new financial obligations.
• Starting to focus and plan around retirement savings, whether in employer-sponsored plans or individually.
• Two biggest concerns at this time in a client’s life are securing income for themselves as an individual, or if they have a spouse and if children are in the picture, making sure that they can attend private school if applicable, or college, whether the parent is here or not.
• Is there disability insurance in place? And if there is, the client should analyze a group disability insurance work plan to see if it is sufficient, and if not, look at piggybacking a group plan with an individually sourced policy.

Segment II

The top of the bell curve:

• The client is at the peak of his career but still has a lot of room for growth. Expenses are at their peak, with college-age children. Clients’ parents/in-laws or relatives’ health may be failing, and the client might have to help them out emotionally, financially, etc.
• Clients may be juggling nuclear and extended families.
• “We find clients at this point also have a higher chance of dealing with a divorce situation,” Appel said.” This is the time for them to buckle down and really assess their overall financial situation.”
• Do clients have the right estate plan? Is it outdated? Do they need to contact an existing or a new attorney to bring documents up to date?
• Have clients outgrown their P&C agent and need to re-evaluate them?
• Is long-term care planning now more important than disability planning?
  

  Segment III

The upper half of the far side of the bell curve.

• Approaching Retirement: Are clients saving enough? What are they saving in, and do they need to balance their fully taxable retirement accounts with plans that are tax-free?
• Some insurance needs diminish or change: Should life insurance stop or continue? Should clients continue to need disability insurance, and is long-term care a concern now?
• Advisors should focus on Retirement savings & Distribution Planning, either fast funding it if the client realizes that they are short of their goals, assessing if and when they can retire, and what type of income they can draw from their principal, without jeopardizing spending through their capital.
• Long-Term Care Planning: Clients should look at family history, parents/relatives, longevity within the family, assess what’s in place to combat the financial threat, or what can be done to alleviate some, but not all, of the issues, since it’s an impossible thing to fully plan or insure for. “But we can help to take some of the burden off the family with proper planning by co-insuring the risk with an insurance carrier,” Appel said.

Segment IV

Clients face many challenges after hitting the top of the bell curve and heading down the other side. “The issues may be isolated to the type of client and their background, but these are many of the issues we have seen in our combined 70+ years of experience,” Appel said. “Many of these challenges can be alleviated by maintaining permanent life insurance policies that are either individually owned or trust owned.”

Examples of these include:

• State or Federal Estate Taxes: Creating capital to help offset taxes due upon death.
• Special Needs Planning: Again creating capital to maintain the lifestyle of a child or relative who has special needs and needs proper planning that doesn’t jeopardize public assistance.
• Equitable Family Distribution:  Alleviating the issues in families based on different lifestyles, success, and involvement in family businesses. “We may need to help make things fair for the family, not necessarily equal,” Appel said.
• Wealth Transfer Goals: This is helping clients maintain as much of their wealth for future generations if this is something that is important to them.
• Legacy Planning: For example, Appel said that a recent grandfather held his grandchild for the first time and decided that he wanted to plan now around that once-removed generation.
• Business Succession Planning
• Helping spouses if retirement savings goals have not quite been met at or near retirement.The need for client engagement between milestone events

Like Appel, Haney, who is CEO of The Haney Company, has used traditional milestones over the years to initiate the need to discuss more financial protection with his clients. But he has found out that the key is to not wait until the milestone. Instead, it is to build the habit with clients about when they may want to be engaged with their finances as their lives unfold.

“It is really important that from the start of a relationship, I work with clients to let them know that navigating their finances effectively is not static, but fluid, and requires vigilance from both them and me as their advisor,” Haney said. “I work to build that habit with them, so that they already know things will need to be addressed when, say, a baby comes, or they buy a house. It’s not always perfect, but like any healthy habit, being more active with your finances can provide lifelong benefits.”

According to Haney, the “most successful” milestones in creating a sale are job changes, marriage, kids being born, moving, and certainly eventually retiring. “These stimulate the most conversations and often grow the relationship,” he said.

Tertiary events can be worth noting, he said. “I also try and pay attention to the life events of the people close to my clients as well,” he explained. “With social media, if you happen to be connected with your clients, you may see them sharing information about things that have happened to other people they care for, and sometimes, I use those as a chance to reach out and see if they would like to talk about things themselves.”

Haney added that he approaches these events very delicately and with care, holding space for them in compassion, rather than using them as a means to sell more. But he has found that these kinds of moments, though not happening to them directly, can be healthy ways to stimulate good money conversations and moments when personal pressure may not be so significant.

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Agents and advisors are always on the lookout for ideas that will help them provide their clients and prospects with the financial protection they need to help cover the costs of care if they have a chronic medical condition, a disability or a disorder. A product that works well in this area is long-term care insurance. Two financial professionals, Kevin Sypniewski, CEO of AGIS Network, and Steve Cain, national sales leader at LTCI Partners, LLC, recently shared some information on what it takes to successfully sell LTCI in a workplace or group setting.

Why sell group LTCI?

As many in the industry know, group LTCI offers a wide variety of benefits. For example, according to Sypniewski, employers are a trusted source for most employees, and employers have the ability to support education for their employee audience through the use of email messages, webinars, live meetings and videos.

Additionally, insurance carriers know they are getting a better spread of risk and increased volume; so, they can offer discounts and underwriting concessions that they are not able to offer with a one-on-one sale, he said.

For Cain, the benefits of selling group LTCI include:

• Timely education of employees about retirement planning and helping them manage future healthcare costs
• Discounted and gender-neutral rates
• Guaranteed issue coverage (no medical questions)
• 100% portability
• Dual-purpose product design (Life + LTC
  Plans)
• Plans can be voluntary.
• Payroll deductions or direct bill options are available.
• 100% portability (no penalty or additional cost if an employee retires or leaves the group).
• Group rate structure and gender-neutral rates
• Timely education around retirement

As to when it makes sense to sell group LTCI as opposed to individual LTCI, Cain said that it’s a numbers game. “If you’re working with a client with a significant number of employees, it’s worth looking into Group LTC Insurance or Group Life + LTC Insurance plans,” he said.

Moving into the LTCI group space

As agents get ready to sell LTCI, they should be aware of several factors. As Sypniewski pointed out, there are a variety of products and carriers that are in or are moving into the LTC market today, with very different products and pricing. “Do your research and read the LTC contract wording,” he said. “LTC is not as simple as life insurance…you die, they pay and there are very few gray area claims. LTC is a type of disability contract; so, contract language means everything. Don’t just trust the salesperson you are talking to when investigating carriers’ products.”

Cain added that it’s not easy to sell and implement Voluntary LTC Insurance plans. Agents need to implement a robust communication strategy with their clients and maintain a disciplined approach to these engagements.

Also, Cain pointed out, it’s easy for clients to nod their heads and think that LTCI planning makes sense. The tough part is finding funding for these programs or securing the employer’s commitment to educating their employees or marketing these voluntary plans.

The keys to success or failure for these voluntary programs are the enrollment conditions and the methodology, Cain said. “You must understand and be able to communicate the tax advantages of LTC Insurance – know the code sections and be able to share them with clients.” Agents should also be up-to-speed on all things LTC legislation (state and federal proposals), he said.

Strategies for success

So, what are some of the strategies that agents can use to successfully sell group LTCI? “If you are trying to focus on group/worksite LTC, find benefit brokers that you can partner with, as most do not do a lot of LTC, and it is an important specialization that you can help support if you do your homework and understand the market and the marketing of LTC,” Sypniewski said.
Cain added that agents will have success if they partner with employee benefits consultants – position themselves as the SME or expert in this area. “Simply talking to clients about this issue and these programs will lead to opportunities and sales…it’s that simple,” he said.

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Many seasoned agents learn how to get over their fear of calling prospects because they know that calling these folks is one of the most important steps they can take in their client-acquisition efforts. But this is not a task for the faint-hearted. It often requires a focused and positive mindset, learning how to accept rejection, and perseverance. Two industry professionals, Robert Arzt and Connie Kadansky, recently shared some critical insights on how new and not-so-new agents can overcome call reluctance.

What is call reluctance?

Call reluctance is a complex condition that applies not only to new agents, but also to established ones as well, said Arzt, who is founder and president of Polaris One and InsuranceCoachu.com. In fact, he pointed out, call reluctance crosses all industries in which there’s a need to make a sale.

Simply stated, he added, call reluctance is a form of anxiety that is experienced by sales professionals, causing them to hesitate or avoid making sales calls.

Arzt said that in his coaching experience, he has discovered that there are several root causes of call reluctance, and then elaborated on some of them. How many of us have ever had a bad experience with a salesperson? he asked.

“That negative interaction might make an agent think that he does not want to come across that way,” he said. “This hesitation can lead to procrastination, where it feels safer to do non-revenue-producing activities than to make calls.”

The three most common reasons for call reluctance that Arzt sees in his practice are:

1. The fear of rejection
2. The fear of self-promotion
3. Lack of confidence

Overcoming call reluctance

Arzt then offered the following suggestions that agents can use to help overcome call reluctance:

Belief: “You have to really believe in the value you will be delivering to your prospective
buyer,” he said. According to Ron Willingham’s book, “Integrity Selling for the 21st Century”, selling is a mutual exchange of value. Selling isn’t something you do to people; it’s something you do for and with them. While a strong belief in your value is essential, mindset alone may not be enough.
Many agents still struggle with call reluctance despite knowing that their work is valuable. “That’s why building confidence through knowledge, consistency, and preparation is crucial,” he said.

Confidence: “Become a student of your products and services. The more knowledgeable you become the more confident you will be. Tom Wolfe (a legend in the insurance world) once said, “Knowing that you know that you know, confidence replaces fear.”

Numbers Game: Knowing that there’s light at the end of the tunnel may help to overcome call reluctance. “Instead of seeing rejection as failure, view each ‘no’ as a step toward success. If you know that, on average, one in five calls results in an appointment, then every ‘no’ means you’re statistically closer to a ‘yes.’ This shift in mindset makes persistence easier.”

Consistency: Creating a repeatable schedule of outreach with set times and duration can help to eliminate procrastination. “If you only had to make calls for one hour each day at the same time each day, you get it over with, and can go on to other activities,” he said.

Preparation and practice: “Knowing what you are going to say and being able to say it in a professional way helps to build confidence in yourself and also gives others confidence in you,” he said.

Ultimately, Arzt said, overcoming call reluctance is about taking consistent action. “The more you engage in outreach, the more natural it becomes—turning hesitation into confidence,” he said.

Strategies for new agents

Sales Call Reluctance is the emotional hesitation to proactively prospect and self-promote, said Kadansky, a sales call reluctance coach who is certified by Positive Intelligence. She teaches negotiation skills for prospecting success. Telephobia is one of the 16 types of Call Reluctance, and is the easiest to overcome for motivated and goal-oriented agents, Kadansky added. “Prospecting is a mindset and an action-oriented skill that can be learned. Sales Call Reluctance isn’t just about fear. It’s about hesitation and avoidance,” she added.

According to Kadansky, agents need to connect prospecting to their bigger “Whys.” “They need to emotionally connect and understand that prospecting is the bridge between where they are and the impact they want to make. Make prospecting about purpose,” she said.

As to why so many new agents experience call reluctance, Kadansky said that they are stepping into unchartered waters and often lack a clear and compelling value proposition that helps them embody their real value. The best value proposition includes a question, such as, “Do you know how people struggle to fully protect their business? I help business owners get protected against unexpected risks and liabilities.” Agents need to master their value proposition through practice and role-play, she added.

Why agents struggle

New agents struggle because they are often at war with their own minds. Their inner saboteurs – fear, self-doubt, avoidance–hijack their actions almost every moment of every day. Without mental fitness, they unknowingly sabotage their prospecting activity. “Positive Intelligence is not just another mindset hack; it is a foundational practice that rewires the brain for resilience, confidence, and fearless prospecting. When agents build their mental muscles, they silence their saboteurs, activate their executive brain, and consistently act on their business demands. Prospecting becomes second nature,” she said.

Newer agents also struggle to feel credible. They think they need to know everything before they call or show up at an event. (Over-preparer Call Reluctance) “Agents need to know the basics, ask enlightening questions, truly listen and stop talking so much. If a new agent is prospecting among construction business owners, they need to ask Chat GPT about the types of questions the general contractor will ask them and then formulate and practice their answers. “Using AI is a godsend to any agent. Prompt engineering is vital when using AI,” she said.

Newer agents also need to define a niche and consistently show up where their ideal client networks. This exercise puts them front and center in the business world, helps them manage their visibility, and allows them to practice their value proposition. Their confidence will soar, and they will start submitting applications, she said.

In addition, new agents need to hold themselves accountable and be held responsible. “Without accountability, we all default to comfort,” Kadansky said. “Structured, customized coaching and tracking systems keep agents on the road to prosperous prospecting.”

Strategies to change your mindset

Kadansky also offered some useful information that agents can use to change their mindsets. She said that as ladies put on their mascara and lock eyes with themselves in the mirror, they should remind themselves that they are not just getting ready for the day; they are also stepping into their power. “You bring real value to the market, and the world needs what you offer. So, they should own it: “I am a professional lead generator who helps people protect what matters most.”

And as men run that razor across their faces, Kadansky said that they should look into their eyes, step into success, and take a moment to get real with themselves. She added that their future and success start with one powerful mindset shift: “I am a professional lead generator, and my #1 job is to help people secure their financial future.”

Kadansky shared examples of the mindset that should be embodied to help agents attain the right mindset. The examples include:

• I am a professional lead generator who protects families from financial devastation with the right insurance solutions.
• I am a professional lead generator who ensures businesses stay protected against unexpected risks and liabilities.
• I am a professional lead generator who gives my clients peace of mind, knowing their loved ones are financially secure.
• I am a professional lead generator who safeguards homes, vehicles, and businesses from life’s uncertainties.
• I am a professional lead generator who helps individuals and businesses navigate the complex world of insurance with confidence.
• I am a professional lead generator who ensures that my clients never have to ask, ‘What if I had been better prepared?’
• I am a professional lead generator who turns protection into empowerment, giving my clients control over their financial future.
• I am a professional lead generator who provides solutions, not just policies, ensuring long-term security for those I serve.
• I am a professional lead generator who makes insurance simple, accessible, and valuable for every client.
• I am a professional lead generator who prevents financial hardship by making sure my clients are covered before they need it.
• I am a professional lead generator who helps business owners protect what they’ve worked so hard to build.
• I am a professional lead generator who provides health insurance solutions that remove financial stress during medical crises.
• I am a professional lead generator who ensures disability insurance keeps families financially stable when the unexpected happens.
• I am a professional lead generator who prepares my clients for retirement by protecting their wealth and health.
• I am a professional lead generator who gives clients the confidence to live their lives fully, knowing they are protected.
• I am a professional lead generator who helps clients make the best decisions today for a secure tomorrow.
• I am a professional lead generator who understands that insurance isn’t just about policies—it’s about protecting dreams.
• I am a professional lead generator who brings financial security to families, businesses, and communities through education and guidance.
• I am a professional lead generator who helps clients see insurance as an investment in their future, not just an expense.
• I am a professional lead generator who ensures that no client faces a crisis without the right financial protection in place.

Kadansky added that sales call reluctance  is a learned behavior, and it can become unlearned.

“You can stop sabotaging your success by adopting the prospecting mindset, using neuroscientifically proven techniques to Master Your Thoughts around client acquisition, and using negotiation techniques while prospecting,” she said.

“Anytime anyone has an “I want, or an I need,” it is a negotiation. The prospect is your counterpart, not your adversary. Implementing negotiation skills helps agents stop talking so much; prospecting becomes more of a pull than a push.”

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AuguStar Retirement got the annuity industry’s attention this week by announcing a 24% premium bonus on its fixed indexed annuity.

The OrionShield 10-year FIA offers a new tiered premium bonus structure, AuguStar said in a news release. The structure allows clients to select up to a 24% premium bonus credited to their initial premium on day one. The new premium bonus options are even available for ages 81-85, the release noted.

“AuguStar’s bonus is one of the biggest bonuses we have had in the indexed annuity market,” said Sheryl Moore, CEO of Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc.

North American Company for Life and Health Insurance is tops with a “whopping” 27% bonus, Moore said, but several carriers are in the 20%+ bonus pool since rates popped back up in the fourth quarter 2022.

“The premium bonus options have always been popular for OrionShield,” said Marc Socol, AuguStar Retirement’s chief revenue officer. “By featuring five different levels of premium bonuses, OrionShield 10 rises to a new level.”

In addition, AuguStar has a new lineup of index options, including the S&P MARC 5 index and three new options developed in partnership with MerQube, which specializes in technology for next-generation index-linked investing, offering more diversification opportunities for potential returns.

The full index lineup features targeted volatility levels to offer “faster, more precise risk management,” the release said, which AuguStar said allows for quicker responses to market fluctuations, enhancing risk-adjusted returns.

“In under two years, our products have exceeded expectations with independent marketing organizations, the enhancements launched today position OrionShield among the most competitive in the industry,” Socol said.

Two years in business

A Constellation Insurance company, AuguStar is the rebranded remnants of the former Ohio National. By the time Constellation acquired the troubled insurer in 2022, Ohio National had torched some bridges with producers with its controversial decision to eliminate trailing commissions in 2018. The insurer also ceased selling annuities that year.

AuguStar Life Insurance and AuguStar Retirement rolled out operations nearly two years ago, with Clifford Jack, CEO of the latter company, promising an “innovative” product lineup.

An AuguStar executive declined comment on sales numbers for OrionShield.

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Many retirement savers, including pre-retirees, lack a basic understanding of Social Security benefits, according to a recently published paper by T. Rowe Price. Furthermore, fewer than 4 in 10 surveyed have much faith that they will receive their currently scheduled benefits.

Given the complexity of the system, this knowledge gap is understandable, the paper said, but it underscores the urgent need for better education and guidance on this important aspect of retirement planning.

Widespread gaps in Social Security knowledge

Despite having the highest accuracy rates on Social Security questions presented in the survey, older respondents to the survey still had notable gaps in knowledge. While nearly all pre-retirees (aged 50 and older) understood that a reduction in benefits occurs when Social Security is claimed before full retirement age, fewer (62%) understood that the benefits increase if they delayed their claim beyond the full age.

Additionally, only 45% of those over the age of 50 knew their approximate Social Security benefit amount. Younger respondents, particularly Generation Z and millennials, showed even less understanding of the system. While 80% knew that Social Security is funded by payroll taxes, two-thirds incorrectly believed that benefits automatically start at age 65 if they are not claimed earlier.

Low confidence in Social Security

Meanwhile, confidence in Social Security’s ability to pay out currently scheduled benefits was remarkably low among survey respondents, with only 38% expressing confidence. Pessimism was particularly prevalent among younger generations, with both Gen Z and millennials expecting to only receive just over half of their currently scheduled benefits. In contrast, baby boomers anticipate receiving 88% on average.

The white paper further examines this knowledge gap and pessimism, as well as the popularity of potential solutions to the long-term funding challenges of the program.

The following are additional survey findings:

• None of the survey’s solutions to Social Security’s long-term funding challenges gained widespread support from survey respondents. The choice of Congress not taking any action, thereby allowing the Social Security Trust Fund to deplete (which would result in a 20% cut), was the least popular solution, with 60% disliking this option. Raising or eliminating the income cap on payroll taxes, while technically receiving the most support in comparison to the other solutions, still only garnered approval from just over one-third of respondents.
• The official Social Security website, SSA.gov, is a frequent source of information about Social Security benefits, used by 64% of survey respondents. Use of the site jumps to 85% among respondents who are aware of their approximate benefits, highlighting a link between information-seeking behavior and benefit awareness.
• Among investors who work with financial advisors, 67% turned to them for Social Security guidance. While that indicates that advisors are an important information source, it also represents an opportunity to further educate clients on the benefit, the paper said.

“This research identifies a major gap in retirement savers’ knowledge about Social Security benefits that can adversely affect their retirement,” said Roger Young, CFP, senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price. “Whether investing on their own or through a financial advisor, it’s critically important for investors to learn as much as they can about Social Security. Greater understanding can help individuals make more informed decisions and lead to better retirement outcomes.”

Implications for advisors

In addition to sharing the above findings, the paper shared the following implications for advisors:

Offer comprehensive education and strategy: Advisors can educate clients about Social Security basics, including eligibility, benefit calculations, and the impact of claiming age. They can also demystify complex terms and provide personalized claiming strategies, helping clients decide the optimal time to claim benefits, based on their financial situations, health, and retirement goals. This includes strategies for couples to maximize their combined benefits.

Integrate with broader retirement planning: By incorporating Social Security into a comprehensive retirement plan, advisors can recommend strategies that complement other income sources like pensions, 401(k)s, and IRAs. This holistic approach can help clients optimize their overall retirement income, providing a clearer picture of their financial future and enhancing their confidence in retirement planning.

Address concerns and offer targeted support: Advisors can reassure clients about the viability of the Social Security system1 and potential changes to the program. This can help them make informed decisions without overreacting to uncertainties. Data show that 33% of workers who engage with financial advisors do not seek their guidance for Social Security benefit information. This is a significant opportunity for advisors to enhance their value proposition and deepen client relationships by offering expertise in this critical area.

The paper features the latest findings from the firm’s annual Retirement Savings and Spending Study, which was conducted in 2024, and explores the financial attitudes and behaviors of 401(k) savers.

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The first e-signature and workflow support platform specifically designed for life insurance should bring speed and simplicity to the industry, MIB Group said.

Paperless Solutions Group, an MIB company, leveraged existing technology to create PSG eXpedite to help manage electronic signatures while improving document processing, explained Andrea Caruso, executive vice president and chief operating officer at MIB.

“It takes the basics of e-signature, allowing seamless, secure interfaces back and forth, but it also adds on abilities like the ability to tag and add from an existing forms library,” Caruso said. “It allows for you to send it to multiple parties and add on additional elements that might need to be signed if you have an application and it needs to go to an advisor and then also to a client.”

The hope is that eXpedite will make life easier for producers and remove a commonly cited barrier to getting life insurance, Caruso said. Much of life insurance investment in recent years has focused on ways the power of technology can make buying life insurance and annuities a less stressful process.

“The agent needs to fill stuff out. The client needs to fill stuff out. And they get stuff from trustees or a policy owner service. There are always things,” Caruso noted. “You need to make sure all of your things are buttoned up. Having that without inconveniencing the client or the advisor and, frankly, streamlining the workflow associated at the BGA level or the carrier level, that was the ultimate goal.”

Not just life insurance

While developed to meet the unique needs of life insurance workflows, eXpedite can also support any process requiring an e-signature, including core functions such as human resources, vendor contracting, and other insurance segments, Caruso said.

“We focused it on life insurance because that was the advisory board that we put together,” she explained. “As we brought this to market, we brought it with life insurance in mind, but any organization that has broader needs is something that we could definitely look at as well.”

MIB rolled out eXpedite last year via APEXA, a centralized contracting and compliance solution that connects Canadian life insurance carriers, MGAs, and advisors through a single digital interface. APEXA is also an MIB business.

“We literally replaced their entire e-signature platform with this, and they have hundreds of thousands of transactions, and we did that last February,” Caruso said. “So, it’s been over a year, and it’s been working seamlessly.”

eXpedite is equipped to handle a multitude of tasks, MIB said in a news release, including:

• Unlimited signature parties and the capability to designate the sequence of signatories.
• Delegation of document control (to a BGA, advisor, or other) to enable other parties to tag fields, add questions or a cover letter, and expand document(s) routing to additional individuals for signature.
• Assignment of roles for recipients (those needing a copy of the final signed document) and watchers (those monitoring status).
• Robust notification system that keeps all individuals (signers or others) informed of document status.
• Adaptable email templates that can be adjusted to reflect client company voice and style.
• Ability to upload unique client forms and/or leverage the PSG carrier library of forms for easy package creation.
• Secure authentication, including text messaging or personalized one-time event (shared secret) process.
• Full API capabilities that easily integrate into new or existing workflows and systems.

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A string of deadly floods across central Appalachia in early 2025 has highlighted a dangerous truth: millions of residents in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee face growing flood risk while at the same time, their insurance participation is plummeting.

That’s the core finding of the latest issue from the Neptune Flood Research Group, which paints a stark picture of climate-fueled hazard, outdated infrastructure, and a deepening affordability crisis under federal flood insurance reforms.

Two decades of catastrophic events

The report catalogs two decades of catastrophic events: the 2010 Nashville flood ($2 billion in damage), the 2016 West Virginia flash flood (23 dead), the 2022 Eastern Kentucky flood (44 dead, 9,000 properties damaged), and two more events this year alone that killed 21 and triggered more than 1,300 insurance claims.

Yet for all the destruction, fewer than 1% of households across the three states carry flood insurance. In the 2022 Kentucky disaster, 95% of homes were uninsured.

“This is not just an oversight,” said Neptune CEO Trevor Burgess. “It is a tragedy in the making. And we as an industry have a responsibility to help educate and guide the consumer to help protect themselves in the right way.”

Burgess blamed the problem on a broken system of risk communication, affordability challenges, and outdated federal flood maps.

“When we study this issue, 60% of homeowners mistakenly believe that their homeowner’s insurance covers the risk of floodilng,” he said. “When the real answer is zero.”

Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Neptune is the largest private flood insurance company in the U.S. and the biggest alternative to the National Flood Insurance Program, with 235,000 customers in 49 states and Washington, D.C.

According to FEMA, about 365,000 buildings in these states lie in designated high-risk flood zones. But the First Street Foundation, which uses more advanced climate and rainfall modeling, puts the figure closer to 950,000 — more than 2.5 times FEMA’s estimate.

47% of W. Virginia homes exempt from mandates

This underestimation contributes to low insurance uptake. Only homes with federally backed mortgages in FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas must carry flood insurance. But in rural Appalachia, many homes are mortgage-free — 47% in West Virginia, and more than 38% in Kentucky and Tennessee — meaning they’re exempt from federal mandates.

“If you’re on the Gulf Coast or the Atlantic Coast, you’re more likely to see higher flood uptake because they’re subject to regular hurricanes and are required by law to buy flood insurance,” Burgess said. “But what we’re seeing now – and we saw it with Hurricane Helene last year in North Carolina – is the frequency and severity of storms is getting to the point where we’re seeing inland flooding far away from the coast, flooding that you used to only see on the coast.”

The result is a massive coverage gap in places repeatedly hit by floods. In Woodford County, KY, the highest NFIP participation rate is still under 30%. In many other counties, it’s below 2%.

Launched in 2021, Risk Rating 2.0 was intended to modernize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by pricing coverage based on individual property-level risk rather than broad flood zones. While hailed for improving actuarial soundness and pricing fairness, the new system has sent premiums soaring.

“Historically, because of the NFIP’s subsidization, they were sending people the wrong signal, making them think their risk was low because the premiums were low,” Burgess said. “Everything was cheap, and everybody was subsidized, and people were getting these mistaken signals.”

Many in W. Virginia, Kentucky face annual hikes

In rural Kentucky and parts of West Virginia, some households are now facing annual increases of 200% or more. Premiums can consume up to 9% of household income in certain counties — far above affordability thresholds.

The reform is causing an exodus from the program. Between 2021 and 2024, NFIP policy counts dropped 17% across the three states, with participation falling fastest in high-risk, low-income areas.

Despite dismal uptake, NFIP has still paid more than $600 million in insured claims across the region since 2005. Jefferson County, KY alone saw $48.5 million in payouts from 2,300 claims. In Tennessee, Davidson County (home to Nashville) accounted for $175 million in losses. In West Virginia, Kanawha County topped the list with nearly $27.5 million due to West Virginia flooding..

These figures reflect only a sliver of actual damage. Because most properties aren’t insured, most recovery costs are borne by homeowners, local governments, or federal disaster aid programs. “The real economic loss is many multiples of the insured loss,” the report concludes.

As NFIP prices rise and participation falters, Neptune contends that private flood insurance market could help close the protection gap. Unlike the NFIP, private insurers can offer flexible underwriting, multi-peril coverage, and tailor-made products — potentially at lower cost.

The Neptune report ends with a call to action: “This is not just a matter of resilience, but of equity and fiscal responsibility.” With more than 950,000 Appalachian homes now at substantial flood risk, modernizing flood insurance access — through public-private collaboration, clear risk communication, and affordability initiatives — is imperative.

Whether FEMA, insurers, and state governments can respond fast enough remains to be seen. But with floodwaters rising and insurance coverage shrinking, the stakes for Appalachia have never been higher.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments next week in a case that case challenging the Affordable Care Act’s no-cost preventive services requirement. The lawsuit will determine whether 151 million people will continue to have access to preventive health care services with no out-of-pocket costs.

Kennedy vs., Braidwood Management Inc. (formerly Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra) centers on whether an employer can be compelled to cover preventive medications as required under the ACA.

If the court rules in favor of Braidwood, the conservative Texas employers who filed the case, tens of millions of people who get their health insurance from their employer or through the ACA marketplace would be impacted by the removal of a preventive services requirement. Removing this requirement would erode the coverage of tens of millions of people whose insurers currently cover the full cost of everything from vaccines to birth control.

In June, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Braidwood can’t be forced to cover preventive medications as is required under the ACA. However, the court also determined a Texas judge carried out an “abuse of discretion” in his prior ruling by blocking federal agencies from enforcing the rule universally.

The decision in Braidwood Management v. Becerra affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services could not force Braidwood Management to abide by a preventive care mandate in the ACA. The court rejected another ruling, however, and remanded another one back to the lower courts. The mandate remained in place while the case continued to work its way to the Supreme Court.

Preventive services at issue

At issue is a provision in the ACA that requires private health insurers and companies to cover preventive services and drugs like HIV preventive drugs, known as PrEP. The provision also requires coverage of cancer screenings, vaccines, STD screenings, gestational health screenings and birth control.

Braidwood contended that this requirement violated the company’s religious freedom and beliefs.

Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, struck down the provision in September 2022. The appeals court said in last week’s ruling that it believed blocking the federal government from enforcing this mandate across the board was an “error” and “an abuse of discretion.”

However, the appeals court also determined other arguments had yet to be fully decided and should be subject to further review in the lower courts.

One issue left to be decided is whether the U.S. Preventive Task Force that decides which services must be covered under the ACA is constitutionally sound.

The ACA specifies four main categories of preventive care for all adults as well as for women and children in particular:

1. Services with an A or B rating in the current recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
2. Immunizations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
3. Preventive care and screenings for infants, children, and adolescents in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
4. Preventive care and screenings for women’s health specified in the HRSA guidelines.

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