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Early in my career, I had a pair of clients who had entrusted over $500,000 of their investable assets into fixed annuities. These clients were extremely well off and had even more hard assets and farm ground in which they had invested.

No matter how hard I tried to explain the need for long-term care insurance, they just did not want to cut a check for over $4,000 a year. Affordability was not a problem for them; it was the thought of cutting a check for that sum each year that troubled them.

Finally, I went to my manager/mentor at the time and asked if he could help me with this situation. I was relatively new to the business, but I cared tremendously for my clients and knew they were perfect candidates for LTC insurance. After explaining the details to my manager, he agreed to join me for an appointment at the clients’ home.

What happened next was almost as epic as it was simple.

After a small talk, my manager began, “Now, you have X number of dollars invested in annuities with us. If I could show you how to take less than 1 percent of that each year to protect your entire estate from a nursing home, would you be interested?”

My clients were thrilled with the idea. Although, it was the exact same advice I had given them on three prior occasions, where the money was coming from was no longer a threat to them. They ended up taking less than 1 percent from their annuities each year to pay for LTC insurance, and they felt better about it because it wasn’t coming directly out of their checking account.

We now have many different alternatives and strategies for LTC coverage. I would love to hear your thoughts on this case, as well as the specific ideas and LTC strategies that are working for you and your clients today.