August 2008

Table of Contents

Editor Column: Kate Kinkade

Benefits and the Hispanic Employee: Keys to Successful Hispanic Marketing
by Bilda Acuña
• The explosive growth of the Hispanic population is having an enormous impact on how benefits are offered and how brokers and agents reach this audience.

Health insurance Benefits Are Essential to African Americans and Latinos
by Kelly Moore
• Health insurance benefits are particularly important to African Americans and Latinos.

Dental Survey–Part II
Fearless Dental: Take the Mind-Numbing Pain out of Finding the Right Carrier
Welcome to Part II of California Broker’s 2008 Dental Survey. We’ve asked the top dental providers in California to answer 28 crucial questions to better help you, the agent, understand their benefits, features, and services.

The Looming Impact of Consumer Driven Plans On Healthcare Providers
by Mark Reynolds
• An HSA can be a successful funding mechanism for frugal employees when funded by employers. However, having employees fund their own HSAs is seldom a workable strategy because employees are either unwilling or unable to fund their own HSAs.

HSAs Continue Rock Solid Growth
by Roy Ramthun
•The latest numbers show, for the first time, that healthcare accounts, such as HSAs and HRAs, have settled into a long-term growth pattern that adds 3 million Americans per year, while employer support for the product keeps getting stronger. 

A Wise Investment in Workplace Productivity
by Jeff Spahr
• Any investment your client makes in vision coverage has potentially far-reaching effects on health, productivity and satisfaction in the workplace.

Weathering the Reverse Mortgage Storm
by Kelly J. Carter and Monte Howard
• In order to meet the demands of this Baby Boomer generation, the use of reverse mortgages has become an integral part of the retirement planning discussion.

Elder Consumers Need New Forms of Financial Literacy
Regarding Reverse Mortgages
by Jack Chandler
• The savvy insurance agent who understands the overlooked values of reverse mortgages and helps clients understand the importance of this powerful financial tool stands ready to lead older Americans to a better lifestyle and a more rewarding retirement.

Will New Laws Affect the Reverse Mortgage Industry?
by Robert Trommler
• As with any honest, hard working people in a chosen line of work, those of us in the reverse mortgage industry strive to maintain and improve the reputation of our craft.

Looking to Build a Forward-Thinking Retirement Plan for Baby Boomers? Think in Reverse
by Dan DeKeizer
• Americans are still unclear about how reverse mortgages work and when they are appropriate. This lack of understanding only underscores the need for professional help to guide people through their options.

Don’t Leave Out An Important Piece of Your Client’s Portfolio
by Curtis M. Cole
• The same life insurance policies that the large financial institutions have been buying up in record numbers can be purchased by individual investors and held in their own portfolios.

Life Settlements Can Benefit The Growing Senior Market
by Larry Simon
• As the Baby Boomer generation continues to grow, many seniors may be unaware of a valuable financial-planning option – life settlements.

Life Settlement Underwriting - The Flip Side of The Coin
by Lance Wallach, CLU, CHFC, CIMC
• Despite the continued growth in the life settlements market, the number of insurance or financial professionals that have actually completed a life settlement is surprisingly low.

View from the Top
Top Life Executives Give Their Take on the State of the Industry
by Leila Morris
• Life insurance executives give their take on everything from emerging products to the economy. Now is a good time for agents to call on new prospects because their current financial advisors may not be talking to them.