0:04

Hello and

0:04

welcome to a another exciting

0:07

episode of Bridge the Gap where

0:07

we're balancing life through

0:11

health, wealth, business and

0:11

relationships.

0:16

Alright, hello everyone and

0:16

welcome to another exciting

0:18

episode. My name is Colton

0:18

Cockerell and I have my partner

0:21

in crime with me on the show

0:21

today, as always miss Trisha

0:24

Stetzel Trisha, how are you doing? Hey

0:26

guys, good

0:26

Colton. I am so glad to be here.

0:30

As a reminder to all of our

0:30

listeners this month on the

0:33

show, we're really focused on

0:33

family and relationships. Today,

0:36

we're going to be talking about

0:36

life settlements. I know you're

0:38

like, what exactly does that

0:38

mean? Well, who better to talk

0:42

about this topic? Then my friend

0:42

Regina Wagner with all things

0:46

senior consulting Regina,

0:46

welcome to the show.

0:48

Thank you so

0:48

much, Tricia and Colton for

0:52

having me here. It's my pleasure.

0:54

Absolutely energy. And before we get started, I want to two things.

0:55

First, I want to give a shout

0:58

out to our sponsor for this

0:58

episode. And that is results

1:01

extreme business solutions for

1:01

all your business coaching

1:04

needs. And second, Tricia, I

1:04

would like for you just real

1:07

quick. So I think it's so

1:07

important to give a brief

1:09

background on Regina. And just

1:09

really where, why she's in the

1:13

spot that she's in.

1:14

Yeah,

1:14

absolutely. Like I would give a

1:17

testimonial for this beautiful

1:17

woman any day of the week. And

1:21

as we talk about I want

1:21

everybody to keep in mind as we

1:23

talk about these life

1:23

settlements, where Regina is

1:26

actually coming from she

1:26

absolutely believes in life

1:30

insurance policies. Her Why is

1:30

just amazing around her parents

1:35

and her siblings and what she's

1:35

been through, and how life

1:39

insurance a life insurance

1:39

policy changed her life. And I

1:44

think that's really important.

1:44

As we talk through today, what

1:48

in the world is a life

1:48

settlement? And Regina, I'd like

1:52

for you to just kind of dive in.

1:52

And let's start with what in the

1:56

world is a life settlement?

1:58

Absolutely. Thank

1:58

you so much for that

2:01

introduction. Trisha. Everyone.

2:01

Again, my name is Regina Wagner,

2:05

I am a senior insurance

2:05

specialist. And I have been in

2:09

the insurance space for 26

2:09

years. Every time I say that, I

2:13

think to myself, wait a minute,

2:13

I don't feel older than 26. But

2:18

I want to start by letting your

2:18

audience know what a life

2:22

settlement is. In short, a life

2:22

settlement is the sale of the

2:28

existing life insurance policy

2:28

they have. And the sale for more

2:33

than the cash value, but less

2:33

than the death benefit. What it

2:38

does is it give policy owners an

2:38

opportunity to sell their policy

2:43

for significantly more than the

2:43

cash value offered by their

2:48

existing carrier.

2:51

So Regina, I'm

2:51

sorry, Colton. I was just going

2:53

to tack on to that. Why in the

2:53

world? Would I want to sell my

2:55

life insurance policy, Regina?

2:58

Oh, my goodness.

2:58

Let me start. I'm going to

3:01

answer that question. But let me

3:01

give you just a little bit of

3:03

history. Okay, life insurance

3:03

provides solutions for so many

3:09

financial needs, right. And I've

3:09

lost three siblings at young

3:14

ages. I know what happens when a

3:14

young person passes away

3:19

unexpectedly. And they possess

3:19

life insurance or they own it.

3:26

And then I know what happens to

3:26

a young person who passes

3:29

unexpectedly and they don't have

3:29

any. So you're not going to find

3:34

a a, a more committed or

3:34

advocate for life insurance than

3:39

myself. But to go to answer your

3:39

question, Trisha, people are

3:44

going to the sale. Because the

3:44

original need for the insurance

3:51

has changed. Seniors today are

3:51

living longer than their

3:56

spouses. They're living longer

3:56

than their adult children. And

4:01

yes, they're living longer than

4:01

their savings. So those are just

4:06

some of the reasons that a

4:06

person would sell. Think about

4:12

term insurance. Term insurance,

4:12

a person is having protection.

4:17

In the event something bad

4:17

happens that is going to protect

4:20

their family, right. But it's a

4:20

10 year term, a 20 year term, a

4:24

30 year term. When that term

4:24

expires, they've not met with a

4:29

person like Colton to help them

4:29

put plans in place, there's a

4:33

good chance it's going to term

4:33

and it's the price will

4:39

significantly go up right. So

4:39

you can go from paying $1,300 a

4:45

year on a term to having a price

4:45

of over 30,000 or $12,000 a

4:50

year. So a policy can get to the

4:50

point where it's unaffordable.

4:57

Or maybe someone sold one of

4:57

them Old universal life policies

5:02

and it's not performing as

5:02

projected. So there's a lot of

5:06

reasons that it makes perfect

5:06

sense to consider selling their

5:11

policy.

5:12

And for our,

5:12

for our listeners out there who

5:15

are pretty versed with life

5:15

insurance, is there a difference

5:18

between a life settlement and a

5:18

viatical? viatical? Yeah,

5:23

yes, there is big

5:23

differences, and so many, but

5:27

the basic fundamental difference

5:27

by articles came on the scene

5:32

when individuals were diagnosed

5:32

with a terminal illness, and so

5:38

viaticals are specifically for a

5:38

uninsured policy owner, that

5:44

have been given a certain amount

5:44

of time. And so the viatical

5:49

started in that space. And the

5:49

other thing that is, you know,

5:56

I'm concerned with on some of

5:56

them, there's a, there's a, it

6:00

will fit a need for certain

6:00

people. But the point on those

6:03

is that a lot of them can be

6:03

owned by an individual investor.

6:08

And that's the concern for many

6:08

people, whereas a life

6:11

settlement, it's owned by

6:11

institutional organization, so

6:16

it's not going to be an

6:16

individual that is going to have

6:20

an interest in, in your death

6:20

benefit.

6:24

Okay, and so

6:24

with with the life and because I

6:27

know you're going to get it,

6:27

it's so funny hearing you talk

6:29

about not funny, but Yeah, cuz I

6:29

know how much you're so pro life

6:33

insurance. So but it makes

6:33

sense. I think so many people

6:35

get caught up with the mindset

6:35

of, hey, look, my kids are out

6:38

of school, they're 30, 40, 50

6:38

years old, I My house is paid

6:42

off. I don't necessarily need my

6:42

life insurance right now.

6:46

Especially if you're in a bind

6:46

if something comes up and you

6:48

need that you're strapped for

6:48

cash, right? So I totally

6:50

understand. And like you said,

6:50

needs do change throughout your

6:53

life. So So tell me kind of how

6:53

does this work for a senior who

6:56

is like, you know, what, I don't

6:56

need life insurance anymore. But

6:59

I need money for you know, long

6:59

term care, whatever it may be,

7:02

how does that work?

7:03

Absolutely. In

7:03

fact, you touched on something,

7:06

and we'll come back to the top

7:06

uses of the proceeds, right? But

7:10

basically, it's really pretty

7:10

simple. The policy will be

7:14

appraised. If a person and I

7:14

work with financial advisors,

7:18

CPAs attorneys, anytime they've

7:18

got clients that need liquidity,

7:23

then I recommend that they call

7:23

me so that they can get that

7:27

policy appraised. You the the

7:27

appraisal will will cover basics

7:34

about the policy right? Is it a

7:34

term? Is it a whole life? Is it

7:39

a universal life? So there's

7:39

some fundamental information

7:42

that's gathered. Now let's just

7:42

say after it goes through the

7:45

appraisal period, that it

7:45

qualifies for a cash offer?

7:50

Well, the policy owner gets to

7:50

make a decision. If they accept

7:55

that cash offer. If they accept

7:55

it, then there's going to be

7:59

documents that need to be

7:59

signed, similar to closing on

8:03

your home when you sell your

8:03

home. So there are going to be a

8:06

legal documents, everything is

8:06

recorded. All of that is very,

8:11

very aboveboard. And so once

8:11

they've decided that they will

8:16

accept the cash offer, they go

8:16

through what's kind of

8:18

considered like a closing. And

8:18

once everything is signed by the

8:25

insured by beneficiaries, by the

8:25

way, a lot of people don't know

8:29

this with life settlement, you

8:29

don't have to sell your entire

8:33

policy, you can have a $2

8:33

million policy coltan and decide

8:38

to keep a half a million of it

8:38

for your spouse, or for your

8:42

adult child or charity. And then

8:42

you sell the other 1.5 million,

8:48

a case study a couple of months

8:48

ago, where an individual had a

8:53

$2 million policy, they

8:53

literally kept the half a

8:57

million for their air, and they

8:57

sold the other and they walked

9:00

away with a check for $150,000.

9:00

And they can do what they want.

9:05

There are no strings attached to

9:05

the use. In fact, you had

9:10

touched on that about long term

9:10

care. The top reasons for

9:15

seniors needing liquidity, or

9:15

long term care costs like in

9:20

home care. We all know the

9:20

majority of Americans would love

9:24

to age in place at home. But

9:24

sometimes they can't right. If

9:28

they start having memory issues.

9:28

They may have to go to a memory

9:33

community and I don't know what

9:33

region some of your listeners

9:38

are coming from but in our

9:38

region a memory care is 8000 to

9:42

$12,000 a month. In that amazing

9:42

so so that's long term care

9:49

needs medical cost and

9:49

treatment, sometimes there

9:53

alternative treatment that's not

9:53

covered by your insurance.

9:57

There's financial planning and

9:57

retirement Finding that people

10:01

use the funds for, for example,

10:01

a coach and I know you work with

10:05

clients in this space. But what

10:05

if they want to have a

10:09

guaranteed income going to maybe

10:09

a special needs child, they can

10:16

do that, especially if they know

10:16

their health is compromised,

10:19

they can put something in place

10:19

with a financial advisor that

10:23

can set that loved one with a

10:23

stream of income that they can't

10:26

outlive. So those are just some

10:26

things they might want to pay

10:29

off debt payoff taxes, they may

10:29

want to create liquidity for

10:33

large purchases, like buying

10:33

another business or buying a

10:36

business. We're finding seniors

10:36

are leaving the job market in

10:42

numbers that we can barely get

10:42

our head around. Because things

10:45

are changing in corporate

10:45

corporations. But seniors still

10:51

have life in them, they still

10:51

want to contribute to the

10:53

community. So they may buy a

10:53

business but realize you need

10:57

$100,000 to buy that business.

10:57

They may use the proceeds to

11:02

travel, they may decide that

11:02

they want to put a grandchild in

11:06

college. So there's a lot of

11:06

reasons they use the funds. And

11:10

the most important thing I want

11:10

your audience to know is that

11:13

there are no strings attached.

11:13

Once they accept the cash offer

11:17

and a check is deposited in

11:17

their bank, they can do whatever

11:20

they want.

11:22

Yeah, and

11:22

Regina, you this really like

11:25

stoke the fire in in my brain

11:25

when you and I were talking

11:29

about this a couple of weeks

11:29

ago, because I was not familiar

11:32

with life settlements. And I

11:32

felt like having you on the

11:34

show, because we have so many

11:34

listeners who either are already

11:39

taking care of their senior

11:39

parents or they will be taking

11:42

care of a senior family member

11:42

and knowing that there are

11:46

options out there, no one's

11:46

forcing a hand and saying you

11:51

need to go sell your life

11:51

insurance policy so that you

11:53

have money. That's not it. It's

11:53

about getting that appraisal and

11:55

making the right decision for

11:55

you and your family. And maybe

11:59

being able to stay at home with

11:59

that caregiver is the right

12:03

decision. And I think that is so

12:03

important. Here's the thing that

12:06

I want you to tell us, my

12:06

mathematician friend, you have

12:10

some stats and some numbers

12:10

about life insurance policies.

12:14

Can you just throw those out

12:14

there at our audience? Oh,

12:16

when I gained

12:16

certification and advanced

12:21

studies, this is a statistic

12:21

$700 billion in life insurance

12:27

goes unclaimed or surrendered in

12:27

a year. Think about that for a

12:31

moment. $700 billion and 100

12:31

billion of that are seniors life

12:38

insurance going unclaimed. So

12:38

that's a pretty phenomenal

12:43

number to think about you get

12:43

your head around.

12:46

And let me let me ask you this since we do have limited time, because I'm very

12:47

curious, how do you qualify for

12:52

a life settlement? Because I

12:52

think that's such an important

12:54

thing to understand.

12:56

That is easy. I

12:56

mean, literally in one sentence.

13:01

The qualifications are for

13:01

insured over 65 living in the

13:07

United States are younger than

13:07

65. If but have healthier

13:14

implications. Something to think

13:14

about is the cash offer gets

13:23

higher, the closer or person's

13:23

age is to life expectancy Colton

13:28

Patricia. So again, the

13:28

qualifications is just simply

13:33

that simple and insured over 65

13:33

Are their younger withheld them

13:37

implications.

13:39

And so then that's in that I'm assuming that's how term policies have

13:41

and I'm saying this in air

13:43

quotes have a cash value when it

13:43

comes to left settlements. And

13:46

that's basically their, their

13:46

banking that the person is going

13:49

to pass away before the term. Is

13:49

that correct?

13:52

Yes. There's a

13:52

couple of things going on.

13:54

Specifically, if we're referring

13:54

to a term policy, remember, Tom

13:57

policies have no cash value,

13:57

right? Exactly. What generally

14:02

happens is the financial advisor

14:02

for that policy owner is going

14:08

to help them convert that term

14:08

into a permanent plan. Okay. And

14:14

then again, based on that

14:14

person's very specifics that

14:17

give it value, how old that

14:17

person is, how close are they to

14:21

life expectancy, expectancy,

14:21

that's going to dictate and

14:26

determine the cash offer. So I

14:26

was blown away, let me share

14:30

something with you. I had no

14:30

idea a person could sell a term

14:35

policy, had no idea at all. So

14:35

think about it if you're going

14:39

to either surrender that policy

14:39

because it's become

14:42

unaffordable, or you no longer

14:42

need it, or you can literally

14:45

walk away with

14:45

10,000 20,000 50,000. The other

14:49

thing on qualifications that I

14:49

didn't mention is you have to

14:54

have a policy face amount of

14:54

$100,000. That's the minimum or

14:59

you Beware over $12 million.

14:59

That just to give you an idea of

15:04

the qualifications, I want to

15:04

share something I know we're

15:07

coming to an end. But in my

15:07

opinion, for those that are 65

15:11

and older, they absolutely

15:11

should have their life insurance

15:16

policies appraised, especially

15:16

when there's a surrender or a

15:21

lapse being considered.

15:22

I think we you

15:22

covered so much ground here.

15:25

Regina, thank you so much for

15:25

coming on the show with us

15:29

today. What a really compelling

15:29

topic, right and something that

15:33

we should all be thinking about,

15:33

especially if we have seniors in

15:36

our lives that are potentially

15:36

strapped for cash, or they've

15:40

had a life chain right and

15:40

something else could do them

15:43

better.

15:43

So Regina, thank you so much for being on the show today. We really

15:45

appreciate Avenue.

15:47

You are very

15:47

welcome. I just applaud Trisha

15:50

you and Colton, for having this

15:50

very important topic and having

15:54

an open for discussion because

15:54

people are looking for options

15:59

and solutions and you guys are

15:59

making this information

16:01

available. I commend you,

16:04

for she is the sweetest.

16:07

Right I know

16:07

that's why we have her on the

16:09

show. Regina, thank you so much

16:09

for being with us today. For

16:13

those of you who would like to

16:13

reach out to Regina please check

16:16

the comments below. All of her

16:16

contact information will be

16:19

there as well as in this show

16:19

notes so that you can connect

16:22

with her by phone, email, or

16:22

even social media. And I invite

16:26

all of you to tune in next week

16:26

for another exciting episode of

16:29

bridge the gap. And next month,

16:29

we will again be focused on

16:34

health and wellness.

16:36

Thanks again for tuning into this week's podcast. Don't forget to

16:38

subscribe and share this podcast

16:41

with the most important people

16:41

in your life. Colton Cockerell

16:44

with Sharer McKinley Group, LLC

16:44

is located at 820 South

16:46

Friendswood Drive Suite 207

16:46

Friendswood, Texas 77546 phone

16:49

number to 281-992-5698.

16:49

Securities and investment

16:52

advisory services offered

16:52

through NEXT Financial Group,

16:54

Inc. member FINRA/SIPC Sharer McKinley Group is not an affiliate of NEXT Financial

16:56

Group, Inc.