CROSS SELLING
By CalBroker in conversation with Peter Buechler
Article Experience Options: Click here to Listen or Click here to Watch the full interview
Why annuities matter to seasoned brokers
Many experienced California health and Medicare brokers eventually face the same question: How do I turn a commission driven career into reliable retirement income without walking away from clients too soon? Peter Buechler has built Cohesive Insurance Services around that challenge, giving brokers a way to turn accumulated assets and ongoing relationships into guaranteed income streams while they plan their own exits.
Cohesive is a wholesale partner focused on fixed and fixed indexed annuities, single premium immediate annuities, and lifelong term care and disability solutions—all positioned to be sold on an insurance license without securities registration. Peter’s planning emphasis is clear, guaranteed retirement growth and lifetime income, so a portion of a portfolio behaves like a personal pension instead of just a fluctuating account balance.
“The type of planning that we do with these types of products is guaranteed retirement growth and income planning.”
Peter’s California based advocacy and expertise
Peter is a California native headquartered in Orange County and operates a national organization that still feels very local to West Coast brokers. For decades, he has served in leadership roles with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors including terms as President of NAFA Orange County and NAFA California and, more recently, as Government Relations Chair for the state, and now for Orange County.
That boots on the ground political work means he understands how state and federal rule changes shape the products brokers recommend, and the protections clients receive. He has spent years maintaining relationships with legislators and advocating for laws that support both producers and consumers and continues to stay active even after stepping back from top leadership roles.
“We lobby state and federally for laws that directly affect our industry and our clients and the products that we sell.”
What Cohesive does for health and Medicare brokers
Cohesive is designed for brokers who excel at relationships but do not live and breathe annuities every day. Peter describes the firm as a wholesale agency IMO, FMO, and BGA, that steps into the background to handle case design product selection and technical details while the broker stays in front of the client.
He works with a broad mix of health producers including individual and group health brokers and a large number of Medicare specialists whose clients are already at or near retirement. When a broker brings a case to Cohesive, the broker works directly with Peter who draws on his CFP, CLU, and CHFC level training to ensure product recommendations and tax considerations fit client goals.
“Our tagline for Cohesive is making the complex simple.”
Core annuity strategies for retirement income
Peter centers his recommendations around fixed guarantees rather than variable or securities-based products. For clients and brokers in the 65 to 80 range, he emphasizes two main structures that can create lifetime income from existing retirement assets.
- Single premium immediate annuities
- Take a portion of accumulated assets for example, from a 401k or IRA, and convert it into a personal private pension.
- Trade some liquidity for guaranteed lifetime income with available features such as return of premium or continued income for a surviving spouse.
- Fixed and fixed indexed annuities with income riders
- Deferred contracts that have a current account value plus a separate rider value that grows at a guaranteed rate until the client turns on income.
- Allow the client to choose the retirement start age and then receive guaranteed lifetime withdrawals while keeping access to account value within contract limits.
Across these designs, the hallmark is principal protection along with either guaranteed growth or guaranteed no loss and the potential for market linked upside in indexed solutions. For many brokers selling a book of health business, this safe, secure slice of assets becomes the foundation of their own retirement plan.
“All of these products we use are fixed guaranteed. You cannot lose any money.”
Tax aware planning for book sellers and clients
Selling a health book often means moving from ongoing renewals to a shorter-term payout structure that can create new tax exposure. Peter’s process starts with a fact finder to map out assets, income sources, and retirement time frames and then layers in strategies that coordinate qualified and nonqualified money.
He distinguishes qualified plans such as 401k IRA and similar accounts where distributions are fully taxable from nonqualified savings where only growth is taxed. He discusses taking distributions up to key tax bracket thresholds then shifting to other sources and using deferred annuities for nonqualified funds to secure tax deferred growth and manage current taxable income especially around Social Security thresholds.
In earlier years, he notes that accessing qualified plans or nonqualified annuities before age 59 and a half can trigger penalties unless handled carefully through specific distribution strategies. That is why he often pairs his work with the client’s tax advisor to decide which accounts to use and when.
“We typically would start with a good fact finder and identifying your assets your income streams and really what your retirement horizon looks like.”
Turning service pressure into opportunity
Health and Medicare producers know the grind of the last quarter of the year with certifications, carrier changes, and nonstop client calls. Peter acknowledges that annuities can look like an extra layer of complexity with many carriers and product variations, yet he has seen brokers successfully transition from zero annuity experience to being viewed as annuity experts by their own clients.
Cohesive makes that shift manageable by letting the broker choose how involved to be. Some simply refer cases and rely on Peter as the client facing expert. Others sit in and gradually take on more of the conversation after learning how to present solutions in a compliant, client-friendly way. Peter’s training background, including teaching the LUTCF annuities course, supports both tracks.
“You do not have to be the expert out the gate, but we can absolutely assist your clients starting tomorrow.”
“Our tagline for Cohesive is making the complex simple.”
A flexible glide path to retirement for brokers
For over 30 years, Peter has watched peers approach retirement in very different ways. Some cannot wait to exit, while others never want to stop working altogether. He sees annuities as a practical bridge for those who want to reduce intensity without abandoning the field.
Brokers can sell their health commissions and still stay active, helping clients with annuity planning either before or after the sale. They can also keep building an annuity book that generates income with less service burden than full time health or securities work and potentially sell that annuity book separately later. This optionality makes it easier to design a retirement that fits both financial needs and lifestyle preferences.
“They can still create that revenue stream and, frankly, if they want to retire, they can retire, sell their health insurance book, and keep their annuity book.”
Peter Buechler is President of Cohesive Insurance Services, a brokerage general agency serving financial professionals across the country. Based in Orange County, California, Peter brings decades of experience in financial and insurance planning and is known for his leadership in the annuity and insurance markets. A past president of both NAIFA–Orange County and NAIFA California, he’s a frequent industry speaker and advocate for professional growth. At Cohesive, Peter focuses on helping advisors succeed through integrated planning, education, and innovative case design.
Contact: PeterB@CohesiveInsurance.com ● 714-406-3022