Is Your Insurance Agent or Financial Adviser a “Professional”
Career designations most of us understand, MD, CPA, DO,JD, DDS, DMD, etc., identify vetted professionals having completed advanced educational courses of study, successfully passing demanding tests and examinations, qualified for state licenses to practice, are members of their professional associations and subscribe to a rigid code of ethics.
When your health is involved you need help from a qualified professional. When you run into a legal issue you need help from a qualified professional. When you have an industrial strength tooth ache you need help from a qualified professional.
Unfortunately, when issues involve financial planning or the purchase of life insurance, too many of us fail to recognize the importance of seeking out a qualified professional for advice. If the subject is financial planning, look for designations such as CFP, CFA, ChFC, behind your resource’s name. If the subject is life insurance, look for the designation CLU or ChFC, and someimes CPA, behind your resource’s name.*
Financial planning and ownership of life insurance are elements of an estate plan, and proper estate planning means having your attorney team up with insurance and financial planning professionals to ensure the best outcome.
Only one of the professionals mentioned here typically does not charge you a fee for his/her advice: The CLU. (When the CLU provides life insurance for you, the insurance company under consideration compensates him/her for bringing the business to them and servicing it…no sale, no service fee)
A CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) invests significant time and treasure in university level (via The American College in Bryn Mawr, PA.) study, covering law, trusts, actuarial science, economics, estate and income tax issues, to name a few, as they relate to Life Insurance, on his/her way to earning the CLU designation.
Is your life insurance agent a CLU or ChFC? If not, Why not? Buying life insurance is serious business with long term consequences. Seek out a professional when purchasing something as important as Life Insurance. It’s no brainer.
Carpe Diem
* MD Medical Doctor… CFP Certified Financial Planner
DO Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine… CFA Chartered Financial Analyst
CPA Certified Public Accountant… ChFC Chartered Financial Consultant
JD Juris Doctor (Attorney)… CLU Chartered Life Underwriter
DDS Doctor of Dental Surgery…
DMD Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry…