Insights
Insights
Longevity planning, life settlements, and actuarial insights for financial advisors.
The SOA 2015 VBT: How to Read the Mortality Table Behind Life Insurance
What the SOA 2015 VBT mortality table is, how to read its rates, select vs. ultimate periods, smoker-distinct and relative risk tables, the MP-2021 improvement scale, and how insured mortality compares to SSA population tables.
Atrial Fibrillation, Life Expectancy, and Life Insurance: What AFib Really Means
What atrial fibrillation really means for life expectancy and life insurance underwriting — why context, not the AFib label, drives the impact on longevity.
Life Expectancy with Type 2 Diabetes: What Actually Moves the Number
Population figures for type 2 diabetes hide enormous individual variation. What actually moves life expectancy — glycemic control, duration, and complications.
How a Life Settlement Appraisal Works: Valuing a Policy Before You Sell
A life settlement appraisal estimates what a policy is worth to a buyer today. Learn the four value drivers, why life expectancy is central, and who qualifies.
The SOA Longevity Illustrator vs. a Health-Adjusted Estimate: What Each Tells You
The Society of Actuaries Longevity Illustrator is a credible free tool. See what it does well and where a health-adjusted estimate adds real resolution.
SSA Life Expectancy Tables by Age: What They Say and Why Your Number Is Different
How to read the SSA life expectancy table by age, the truth about life expectancy when Social Security started, and why your individual number is different.
Beyond the 4% Rule: The Life-Expectancy Problem in Dynamic Withdrawal Strategies
Advisors are replacing the rigid 4% rule with dynamic, actuarial withdrawal methods and guardrails. But the new approach divides spending by life expectancy, and population tables get that number wrong for your clients. Here is how to fix the denominator.
Best Life Insurance Carriers for Applicants with BMI Over 30
Build is one of the most-weighted non-medical factors in life insurance. How 18 carriers handle BMI over 30, with age-graded caps and Standard Plus reach.
Best Life Insurance Carriers When You Have a Family History of Early Heart Disease
Family history of early cardiac events can block preferred tiers. Here is how 18 carriers draw the age threshold and which ones credit long-lived parents.
Best Life Insurance Carriers for Treated Hypertension
Treated hypertension can swing preferred placement by 40 points across 18 life insurance carriers. How Hancock, Protective, Lincoln, and peers handle it.
How Carrier Selection Can Move Life Insurance Premiums by 40 Percent or More
A 46-point spread in class-placement probability across 18 carriers for the same applicant. Premium variation is comparable. Here is why shopping matters.
How Many Life Insurance Carriers Does Your Broker Actually Use?
Brokers say they work with all the top carriers. In practice, most shop 3-5 on any given case. Here is how the distribution channel actually works.
Preferred Plus vs Preferred Best vs Super Preferred: Why Carriers Label the Same Tier Differently
Every carrier names its top class something different. The labels are marketing. The underwriting criteria behind them are not identical. Here is how to compare.
What is a BGA (Brokerage General Agency) and Do You Need One?
BGAs are the wholesalers between carriers and independent brokers. Here is how the channel works, what BGAs actually do, and when they add real value.
How Life Expectancy Should Change Your Social Security Claiming Strategy
The optimal Social Security claiming age depends on how long you'll actually live, not how long the average person lives. See how health-adjusted life expectancy shifts the breakeven math and changes the right claiming strategy for different health profiles.
The Financial Advisor's Complete Guide to Health-Adjusted Longevity Planning
A comprehensive guide to integrating health-adjusted life expectancy into your financial advisory practice. Covers the workflow, planning horizons, condition impacts, client conversations, and how to apply longevity data to every major planning decision.
How to Use Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy in Your Financial Plans
Stop guessing at longevity in eMoney, MoneyGuide, and RightCapital. Use Lumis Life's actuarial-grade life expectancy estimates to set precise planning horizons, in 30 seconds.
Why SSA Life Tables Fail Your Clients (And What to Use Instead)
Social Security life tables treat every 65-year-old the same. Health-adjusted life expectancy can differ by 15+ years. See how population averages mislead retirement plans and what advisors should use instead.
Tax Implications of Life Settlements: What Your Clients Need to Know
Life settlement proceeds are taxed under a three-tier framework that most advisors and clients misunderstand. Learn how cost basis is calculated, how policy loans complicate the picture, when a 1035 exchange is the better path, and what common misconceptions to watch for.
5 Signs Your Client Should Consider a Life Settlement
Not every life insurance policy is a candidate for a life settlement, but advisors who miss the signs leave significant value on the table. Learn the five indicators that a policy may be worth more sold than kept, how to raise the conversation, and what a responsible screening process looks like.
Life Settlement vs. Keeping the Policy: A Framework for Advisors
When should a client sell a life insurance policy versus keeping it, reducing coverage, or doing a 1035 exchange? A structured decision framework for financial advisors covering health, policy economics, client needs, and fiduciary considerations.
A Financial Advisor's Guide to Life Insurance Policy Evaluation
A structured framework for evaluating whether a client's life insurance policy still serves its purpose. Covers premium efficiency, cash surrender value ratios, carrier strength, red flags for settlement, and a 5-step evaluation process with an anonymized case study.
How to Document Longevity Assumptions for Fiduciary Compliance
Documenting the longevity assumptions behind financial recommendations is increasingly a fiduciary obligation. Learn what regulators look for, why population tables create liability, and how to build a defensible documentation framework for every client engagement.
Monte Carlo Simulation in Longevity Planning: What Advisors Need to Know
Monte Carlo simulation transforms longevity planning from a single-number guess into a probability distribution. Learn what Monte Carlo actually does, why point estimates are dangerous, how confidence intervals change planning decisions, and what advisors should look for in longevity tools.
How Longevity Risk Affects Retirement Plans
Longevity risk is the most underestimated variable in retirement planning. Learn why population-average life expectancy misleads advisors, how individual health changes withdrawal math, and what actuarial tools can do about it.
What Is Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy?
Health-adjusted life expectancy goes beyond population averages to estimate how long an individual is likely to live based on their actual health profile. Learn how actuarial tables, condition modeling, and Monte Carlo simulation produce the longevity estimates that financial advisors need.