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Month: November 2021

How to Tell a Long-Term Care Story: 8 Practical Tips for Advisors

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Adult daughter and her aging mother sharing a warm moment while discussing long-term care planning

Most clients don’t believe they’ll be among the roughly 70% of people who need long-term care. Stories help them picture it. But telling a story well is a skill, and a few simple guidelines make the difference.

Key takeaways

  • Personal and firsthand stories carry the most emotional weight.
  • Match the story to the client: relevant, short, and positive.
  • The goal is to help clients picture themselves receiving good care, paid for by a plan.

The best LTC stories end well — because someone had a plan.

8 storytelling tips

  1. Use your own experience. A parent or grandparent’s care adds personal and emotional weight.
  2. Borrow others’ stories. Friends’ and clients’ experiences (with permission and details changed) show real challenges and how they were solved.
  3. Share feelings, not just facts. How did the situation feel for the people involved?
  4. Stay relevant. Don’t tell a client without children a story about the burden on adult kids.
  5. Be authentic. People can tell when a story is exaggerated.
  6. Keep it positive. Educate, don’t frighten.
  7. Keep it short. Focus on the few details that matter.
  8. Invite discussion. Ask questions so clients share their own stories.

The goal

Help clients picture themselves needing care, being well cared for, and having the cost covered. For why stories work better than statistics, see storytelling in LTC sales; for a sample story, see how Joe stayed home.

Frequently asked questions

How do I tell a good long-term care story?

Keep it personal, relevant to the client, short, and positive, and focus on how people felt and how a plan helped.

Should I use scary stories to sell long-term care?

No. Stories that end well because of planning are more effective and more respectful.

How can I get clients to share their own care stories?

Ask whether they know someone who needed care and how it affected their family.

50+ Years in Business60+ Top-Rated Carriers★★★★★ Rated by Advisors

Reviewed by Tim Fuller on 2026-09-25

Tim Fuller, President of SRS Inc.

Tim Fuller

President, SRS Inc.

Tim leads SRS Inc., a full-service IMO (Independent Marketing Organization) and BGA (Brokerage General Agency), connecting independent financial professionals with life, annuity, disability income, and long-term care solutions from 60+ carrier partners.

Connect on LinkedIn →

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Business Overhead Expense Coverage for Physicians and Dentists: The Salary Replacement Rider

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Professional working confidently at her desk, representing disability income protection

Business overhead expense (BOE) coverage keeps a practice running while the owner recovers from a disability. For physicians and dentists, standard BOE has a gap: it usually won’t pay for the one expense that matters most, a replacement doctor.

Key takeaways

  • BOE coverage reimburses regular monthly business expenses, typically for 12 to 24 months, while the owner is disabled.
  • Most BOE policies exclude salaries of employees in the same profession as the insured, such as other doctors or dentists.
  • A salary replacement benefit rider pays the salary of a professional replacement, on top of the overhead benefit.

Standard BOE won’t pay the doctor who fills in for your client. The salary replacement rider will.

How BOE coverage works

BOE insurance reimburses a business’s regular monthly overhead, such as rent, utilities, staff salaries, and equipment payments, if the owner becomes totally or partially disabled. Most plans pay for 12 to 24 months after a short elimination period, giving the owner time to recover. More in why small businesses need BOE coverage.

Why medical and dental practices need it most

Practices carry disproportionately high overhead: expensive equipment loans, professional staff, and facility costs. If the doctor can’t work, revenue stops but those costs don’t.

The gap: replacement professionals

Most BOE policies exclude the salary of any employee in the same profession as the insured. For a practice, that means the salary of an associate or locum doctor or dentist hired to keep seeing patients isn’t covered.

The salary replacement benefit rider

This rider pays the monthly salary of the owner’s professional replacement, in addition to the overhead benefit. The practice keeps running and generating revenue under the replacement, while overhead and replacement costs are covered. Combined with a personal disability policy, the owner’s income is protected as well. Availability varies by carrier and state.

Frequently asked questions

What does business overhead expense insurance cover?

Regular monthly business expenses such as rent, utilities, staff salaries, and equipment loans while the owner is disabled.

Does BOE insurance pay for a replacement doctor?

Standard BOE usually doesn’t, but a salary replacement benefit rider can pay the replacement professional’s salary.

How long does BOE insurance pay?

Typically 12 to 24 months, after a short elimination period.

50+ Years in Business60+ Top-Rated Carriers★★★★★ Rated by Advisors

Reviewed by Tim Fuller on 2026-09-25

Tim Fuller, President of SRS Inc.

Tim Fuller

President, SRS Inc.

Tim leads SRS Inc., a full-service IMO (Independent Marketing Organization) and BGA (Brokerage General Agency), connecting independent financial professionals with life, annuity, disability income, and long-term care solutions from 60+ carrier partners.

Connect on LinkedIn →

We’re Here to Help

Have a question about what you just read, or a case you’re working on? Tell us a bit about what you need, and a member of the SRS team will follow up with you personally — no obligation, no hassle.

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Please let us know what's on your mind. Have a question for us? Ask away.

The Goodman Triangle: How Three Parties Can Make a Death Benefit Taxable

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Happy family of four laughing together on the couch, representing life insurance protection

The tax-free death benefit is the most valuable tax advantage of life insurance, but it can be lost when a policy is structured carelessly. One of the easiest mistakes to spot is having three different people as the insured, owner and beneficiary, sometimes called the Goodman triangle or the terrible triad.

Key takeaways

  • When the owner, insured and beneficiary are three different parties, the death benefit can be treated as a gift from the owner to the beneficiary.
  • In business cases, proceeds paid to an employee’s family from a company-owned policy may be treated as taxable compensation.
  • The fix is usually simple: make the owner and beneficiary the same party, or use an ILIT.

The red flag is easy to spot: three different parties as insured, owner and beneficiary.

Why three parties create a problem

Every policy has an insured, an owner and a beneficiary. When two parties fill those three roles, such as a spouse who owns a policy on the other spouse and names herself beneficiary, the death benefit generally passes income-tax-free with no gift. When three different parties fill the roles, the owner is treated as transferring the death benefit to the beneficiary at the insured’s death, and that can create a taxable gift or taxable income.

Family example 1: a spouse owns, a child receives

Dad is the insured, Mom is the owner and Mom names Daughter as beneficiary. When Dad dies, Mom is treated as making a gift of the entire death benefit to Daughter. Any amount above the annual exclusion ($19,000 per recipient in 2026) uses part of Mom’s lifetime exemption, and she must file a gift tax return. With a $15 million exemption she may owe no tax, but she has used exemption she may have wanted for other purposes and taken on a filing she did not expect. See our article on the $15 million exemption.

Family example 2: a child owns for siblings

Dad has a $10 million policy meant for his four children. To keep it out of his estate without setting up a trust, he makes his most responsible daughter the owner. She names all four children as equal beneficiaries. When Dad dies, she is treated as making three $2.5 million gifts to her siblings, a total of $7.5 million. That consumes half of her own lifetime exemption and requires a gift tax return. An ILIT designed for estate liquidity would have avoided the problem.

Business example: coverage shared with a family

A company buys a policy on a non-owner executive to serve as key person coverage and to provide a benefit to her spouse. When she dies, half the death benefit goes to her husband. The IRS may treat the amount paid to him as compensation to the executive, taxable on her final return. The company may be able to deduct it as compensation, which could leave room for an additional payment to help with the tax. Clearer designs, such as a separate personal policy or a split-dollar arrangement, avoid the issue.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Goodman triangle?

It refers to a life insurance arrangement where the owner, insured and beneficiary are three different parties. It is named after a 1946 tax case that held the death benefit is a gift from the owner to the beneficiary.

How do you fix a three-party policy?

Change the beneficiary to the owner, transfer ownership to the beneficiary or to an ILIT, or restructure before death. Transfers should be reviewed for transfer-for-value and three-year rules.

Does the Goodman triangle cause income tax?

In family situations the issue is usually gift tax. In employer situations, proceeds paid to an employee’s family can be treated as taxable compensation.

50+ Years in Business60+ Top-Rated Carriers★★★★★ Rated by Advisors

Reviewed by Tim Fuller on 2026-09-26

Tim Fuller, President of SRS Inc.

Tim Fuller

President, SRS Inc.

Tim leads SRS Inc., a full-service IMO (Independent Marketing Organization) and BGA (Brokerage General Agency), connecting independent financial professionals with life, annuity, disability income, and long-term care solutions from 60+ carrier partners.

Connect on LinkedIn →

We’re Here to Help

Have a question about what you just read, or a case you’re working on? Tell us a bit about what you need, and a member of the SRS team will follow up with you personally — no obligation, no hassle.

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Please let us know what's on your mind. Have a question for us? Ask away.

Why a Needs Analysis Helps You Close More Life Insurance Sales

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Happy family of four laughing together on the couch, representing life insurance protection

A needs analysis shows clients how life insurance fits their family’s situation instead of asking them to guess at a number. It is also one of the most reliable ways to improve your close rate and find other needs along the way.

Key takeaways

  • One industry study found about three in four shoppers who received a needs analysis bought life insurance, compared with fewer than half who did not.
  • A needs analysis identifies the right amount of coverage and removes doubt about being over- or under-insured.
  • Fact finders reveal other financial challenges, opening doors to disability, long-term care and business coverage.

Three-quarters of shoppers who received a needs analysis bought life insurance; without one, fewer than half did.

Why a needs analysis changes the outcome

When prospects see a coverage amount built from their own debts, income, goals and existing assets, the recommendation stops feeling like a sales pitch. It becomes their plan. That clarity is why prospects who complete a needs analysis are much more likely to buy than those who do not.

What a good needs analysis covers

  • Income replacement for the family’s expected needs
  • Debt, mortgage and final expenses
  • Education goals for children
  • Existing coverage and assets already available
  • Special situations such as blended families, domestic partnerships or a child with special needs
  • Business obligations, such as buy-sell or key person needs

For a quick cross-check, see our article on income multiples and coverage amounts.

A cross-selling tool for every advisor

If life insurance is not your core business, a fact finder is an easy, low-pressure way to introduce it to existing clients. If life insurance is your core business, ask yourself whether you are converting as many opportunities as you could. The same conversation often surfaces a need for income protection or long-term care planning.

Tools and support from SRS

We offer marketing pieces and fact finders for traditional families, domestic partnerships, special needs planning and the business market. Our team can also help you turn the analysis into a recommendation and run quotes across carriers. Contact us to request materials.

Frequently asked questions

What is a life insurance needs analysis?

It is a structured review of a client’s income, debts, goals and existing resources used to calculate how much coverage they actually need.

How long does a needs analysis take?

A basic analysis can be done in one meeting with a simple fact finder. Complex family or business situations may take more time and documentation.

Should a needs analysis be repeated?

Yes. Marriage, children, a new home, business changes or retirement all change the numbers, so reviewing every few years keeps coverage aligned.

50+ Years in Business60+ Top-Rated Carriers★★★★★ Rated by Advisors

Reviewed by Tim Fuller on 2026-09-26

Tim Fuller, President of SRS Inc.

Tim Fuller

President, SRS Inc.

Tim leads SRS Inc., a full-service IMO (Independent Marketing Organization) and BGA (Brokerage General Agency), connecting independent financial professionals with life, annuity, disability income, and long-term care solutions from 60+ carrier partners.

Connect on LinkedIn →

We’re Here to Help

Have a question about what you just read, or a case you’re working on? Tell us a bit about what you need, and a member of the SRS team will follow up with you personally — no obligation, no hassle.

Name(Required)
Email(Required)
Please let us know what's on your mind. Have a question for us? Ask away.