...And the youngest of them turn 61 this year.
As the financial landscape continues to evolve, so too must the approach of today's financial advisor. Gone are the days when retirement planning stopped at age 85. With more clients living into their 90s and beyond, comprehensive planning must now stretch across longer time horizons. The means anticipating new risks, uncovering new opportunities, and using tools like life settlements to help clients maximize their long-term financial security.
Advancements in healthcare, improved lifestyles, and greater awareness of wellness have all contributed to a significant rise in life expectancy. According to a recent article, many clients - especially those in higher-income brackets - have a very real chance of living into their 90s or even longer. This longevity shift can strain retirement income projections and long-term care strategies if not properly considered.
Advisors can no longer plan to age 85. Retirement strategies must now account for 30 to 40-year retirements, demanding smarter planning, more flexible assets, and more nuanced conversations with clients.
Living longer is a gift - but it comes with a price tag. Increased healthcare costs, long-term care, inflation, and the risk of outliving assets are very real concerns for retirees. Clients fear becoming a financial burden to their families or having to sacrifice quality of life late in retirement.
It's crucial for advisors to start the longevity conversation early. Educating clients about the financial realities of extended lifespans can help them make more informed, proactive decisions. It's also a natural segue into evaluating underutilized assets that could support their long-term needs, such as life insurance policies.
An often overlooked but powerful tool in the longevity toolkit is a life settlement - the sale of an unwanted or unneeded life insurance policy for a lump sum that exceeds the cash surrender value (and is less than the death benefit). For clients in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s, this can be a strategic move that unlocks hidden value in a policy that no longer fits their goals.
Consider a client who took out a large policy to protect a growing family or business, but now finds those needs have changed. Instead of lapsing the policy or surrendering it for minimal value, a life settlement can provide immediate funds that support long-term care needs, retirement lifestyle, or estate planning goals.
Clients are often unaware of the option (or are duped by direct-to-consumer advertising), and their advisors are in the best position to educate them. When integrated into a comprehensive plan, life settlements can:
Advisors who ignore the longevity risk are not just missing a piece of the puzzle, they are missing a core component of modern financial planning. By acknowledging longer lifespans and incorporating strategies like life settlements, advisors can offer peace of mind and financial confidence that lasts a lifetime - and beyond.
As the industry continues to shift, advisors will stand out not just for managing assets, but for managing expectations and delivering solutions that evolve as life gets longer.
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm that protects the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, manage assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
In a nutshell, your client can have some serious health issues that disqualify them for new insurance, but still have a relatively long life and therefore not qualify for a life settlement. It's because insurance carriers are underwriting different risk factors at policy issue compared to institutional buyers who purchase existing life insurance policies.
Life insurance carriers are concerned about mortality risk - the risk of the insured passing too soon. Their underwriting places emphasis on health and lifestyle debits to determine life expectancy. They look at the worst-case scenario.
Insitutional life settlement buyers are concerned about longevity risk - the risk of the insured living too long. Their underwriting looks at the debits, but also health and lifestyle credits. They focus on the best-case scenario.
There are 2 main factors institutional buyers consider when determining whether the purchase of an existing life insurance policy is a good investment:
It's all about the math. In some cases, high premiums can kill a life settlement deal for an insured with health issues that would lead to a decline for new insurance. For example, if the policy has an 8%-10% premium ratio (annual premium/face value), then the life expectancy of the insured would have to be shorter for it to be attractive to buyers. Conversely, a policy with a low premium ratio (1%-3%) allows for a longer life expectancy and is still considered a good investment for buyers.
The best way to ensure your client gets the most for their unneeded/unwanted life insurance policies in a life settlement is to execute an auction that forces buyer competition. Buyers are looking for the best rate of return for the investors they represent. Just like with real estate, when buyers compete, the client (and the advisor) win!
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed independent seller’s representative. We sit on the same side of the table as the planning professional and their client, ensuring the policy owner’s best interests are protected. Because we don’t purchase the policies, our sole responsibility is to the client. Through our auction platform, we create competition between buyers to ensure policy owners are getting the best offer.
PRACTICE TIP: Ask these three questions of your life settlement resource to ensure your client has independent representation in the life settlement transaction:
Learn more about the difference between sell-side and buy-side.
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm that protects the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, manage assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
Over the past two decades, a reliable secondary market for life insurance has emerged with an auction process that can uncover a policy’s fair market value (FMV), which can be vastly different from its current cash value. Life insurance is an asset your clients own. When was the last time it was appraised? Like your clients’ other ordinary property, it is important to value their life insurance property before they materially change it or terminate it.
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm that protects the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, manage assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
By Jamie L. Mendelsohn | EVP | Ashar Group
Article published in 2025 Wealth Management Market Outlook
By evaluating clients’ existing policies, advisors can uncover opportunities to convert underperforming or unneeded life insurance into liquid assets through the life settlement solution that can be reinvested to align with clients’ broader financial goals.
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm that protects the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, manage assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
Likely, you discuss real estate, trusts, businesses, retirement funds, and other equities with your clients at length. But what about their life insurance policy?
A life settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy to an institutional investor for more than the cash surrender value and less than the death benefit. The funds from a life settlement can be used for other planning needs - investments, new insurance on healthier insureds, retirement, charitable donations, and much more.
SUCCESS STORIES
We value thousands of policies each year. View more more life settlement success stories here.
Not every life insurance policy will qualify, but the ones that do can be sold for much more than their cash surrender value.
Try our Life Settlement Probability Calculator to determine if your client's policy could qualify.
Many financial professionals feel they don’t know enough about life insurance or life settlements to discuss this solution with their clients. We're here to help answer your questions about the market and guide you and your client through the process.
Complete the form below and a member of our Strategic Partnerships team will reach out to schedule a time for your life settlement market update with one of our experts.
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm that protects the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, manage assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
June, an 84-year-old widow, saw something in a television ad that piqued her interest. After husband Frank passed away two years ago from a long battle with heart disease, June found herself in an assisted living facility, burdened by mounting medical bills. While knitting a baby blanket for her new great-granddaughter one afternoon, a captivating commercial flickered across her TV screen, promising relief from her financial worries. It touted the option of selling her life insurance policy for cash through something called a life settlement. Intrigued, she set aside her knitting and jotted down the contact information.
Why did June consider a life settlement? As June pondered the possibility, she realized she no longer had a pressing need for the policy. Her children were grown and financially stable, yet she was still shelling out hefty premiums to maintain coverage. "Why not explore this further?" she thought. With a simple phone call to the number from the commercial, June received a cash offer of $75,000 in less than 48 hours. The offer was three times greater than the $25,000 cash surrender value of her policy.
The offer seemed almost too good to be true, stirring both excitement and unease within June. She felt pressured to make a quick decision and was unfamiliar with the company pushing the deal. Was she being targeted by another financial scam aimed at unsuspecting seniors?
Seeking clarity, June turned to her trusted advisor, Michael, who assured her it wasn't a scam but urged caution. He explained that many direct-to-consumer marketers aim to purchase policies at a steep discount, prioritizing their interests over the sellers'. Instead, Michael suggested consulting a life settlement broker with a fiduciary duty to secure the best deal for June.
Michael contacted Ashar Group, a reputable firm specializing in appraising life insurance assets and facilitating life settlements. With Michael's guidance and Ashar Group's expertise, June embarked on a journey to maximize the value of her policy. Together, they compiled compelling information to present through the policy auction, where multiple buyers would compete for the opportunity to purchase her policy. Just like in a real estate bidding war, this competitive environment drove up the value of June's policy.
Though the process took longer than the initial 48 hours, June felt no pressure to rush, and the outcome was beyond her wildest expectations. The auction yielded 14 separate bids, with the winning offer coming in at a staggering 19 times higher than the cash surrender value. What's more, the winning bid came from the very same buyer who had initially offered her only three times the cash surrender value. The key to this remarkable outcome? The competition created by the auction process, coupled with thorough underwriting, uncovered the true value of June's policy.
The moral of the story is clear: Seniors should exercise caution when tempted by direct-to-consumer life settlement ads on TV and social media. Instead, entrust their interests to a nationally licensed life settlement broker like Ashar Group, ensuring they receive the best possible outcome.
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm that protects the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, manage assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
A common stress we hear from advisors is the anxiety adult children in their 30s to 50s experience when talking to their parents about aging, future caregiving needs, and health changes. A significant concern in these conversations is the financial independence—or potential dependence—of their parents.
Will your clients outlive their retirement funds?
With retirement evolving significantly in recent decades, longevity has become a critical element of financial planning. With people living longer, continued inflation, and rising healthcare costs, outliving one’s retirement plan is a real concern.
This is why addressing health, longevity, and long-term care must be an integral part of every retirement planning session with senior clients. Here are some ways to initiate these important conversations.
1. Personalize Life Expectancy: The Foundation of a Solid Retirement Plan
No two clients are alike, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work for longevity planning. Many advisors use age 95 as a standard life expectancy in retirement projections because it’s conservative. However, more advisors are using longevity calculators to craft plans specific to each client’s health, lifestyle, and family history. This ensures that the plan reflects a more realistic life expectancy and avoids underestimating retirement needs.
When discussing longevity, consider asking questions like:
PRACTICE TIP: When considering whether to keep or surrender a life insurance asset, rely on independent experts who can value a life insurance policy based on the premiums and projected life expectancy. This process can uncover information that provides direction to planning.
2. Long-Term Care Projections: Why Longevity Matters
People are living longer—and that’s great news! But longer life spans can strain a financial plan that wasn’t designed to support decades of post-retirement living. Clients could face cash flow shortages in their later years without proper projections.
Consider a scenario where a client lives to 70 but requires long-term care in their final years. That client may spend more during retirement than a healthier individual who lives to 90 but doesn't need expensive care.
With nursing home costs averaging more than $100,000 a year, even partial reliance on Medicare and Medicaid may not be enough to cover long-term care expenses. This makes it vital to discuss health history, family health patterns, and potential longevity with your clients. It’s also essential to have open conversations about how they plan to fund care during their later years.
A conversation starter could be:
PRACTICE TIP: You can help take pressure off the adult children by helping their aging parents repurpose their life insurance and eliminate future premium obligations to pay for caregiving needs.
3. Longevity-Related Solutions: Funding Retirement and Long-Term Care
As the longevity economy grows, an increasing portion of the population will reach advanced age, potentially placing financial strain on younger family members. It’s crucial to explore various solutions for financing long-term care and late-stage retirement needs.
One option to consider is life settlements. A life settlement allows a policy owner to sell their life insurance policy for a lump sum of cash, often much higher than the cash surrender value. This transaction provides liquidity and eliminates future premium payments, freeing up funds for retirement, investments, or care needs.
Discussing this option with your clients might sound like:
PRACTICE TIP: Partner with an independent life settlement resource who has a fiduciary duty to your client and facilitates a secure policy auction that drives competition, guaranteeing the best offer.
In Conclusion
Conversations around longevity, health, and long-term care are essential for building comprehensive and realistic financial plans for your clients. By discussing these topics, you can help ensure your clients are financially prepared for a longer retirement and the potential care costs that come with it. Taking the time to understand each client’s unique circumstances will not only lead to better planning but also build trust and peace of mind for the future.
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm that protects the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, manage assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
The aftermath of COVID-19, the rise of AI tools, and new regulations are transforming how consumers engage with life insurance. Many of the largest wealth management and investment firms now offer independent consultative platforms for financial advisors and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) to partner with firms that specialize in services outside their wheelhouse—like longevity analysis and valuation of life insurance assets. It can be a valuable tool for planning firms aiming to thrive by providing comprehensive solutions. Whether preventing financial disaster or optimizing asset allocation for high-net-worth families, the life settlement market can be crucial in comprehensive financial planning and business growth.
Historically, uncertainty in financial markets increases life insurance lapse activity. Think about your parents and the large number of baby boomers who are retiring every day or already retired. What are they worried about?
According to the 2023 Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies Report, the most often cited retirement fears are declining health that requires long-term care (36%), Social Security will be reduced or cease to exist in the future (36%), outliving their savings and investments (35%), possible long-term care costs (30%), not being able to meet the financial needs of their family (30%), and cognitive decline, dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease (29%).
View the full article:
Schedule a 15-minute call to discuss how we help you integrate life settlements into your client conversations.
FAST TWITCH MUSCLES START TO ATROPHY BY THE AGE OF 30
By: Bill Clark | Senior Director
You can definitely engage in training exercises to slow the decline in fast twitch muscles, but there is a reason why most professional athletes retire in their 30s. My wife has been working out strenuously for more than forty years. She is 65 years old, and her VO2 max is in the upper 15% of women her age. Her physical strength allows her to be the active grandmother that everyone wishes they had for our ten grandchildren. To accomplish this, she has made it a habit to vary her exercise routines during the week. The other day, she went back to one of her old standbys, The Firm Aerobic Workout with Weights. She still uses her old Firm DVDs that were first created in 1986, but updated versions are readily available today: The Firm Workout & Exercise Videos | Gaia.
The Firm uses something called muscle confusion to make sure that all muscle groups are worked out over time. It all looks kind of hokey to me, but I must admit that I can’t even complete a session with her. Even my wife has begun to realize that she needs to modify her training regime if she wants to maintain balance and stability. One of the pieces of equipment they use in The Firm is a step-up box. You see a lot of step-up boxes being used in fitness clubs and CrossFit gyms. They are usually associated with men with big muscles using 100lb+ weights as they step onto a tall 24-inch box as they are preparing to be a Navy Seal or part of some Black Ops operation. At age 74, after breaking my back last year, I’m still struggling to do a proper step-up on a 10-inch step-up box with no weights, but I’m making progress. Oh, I could probably catapult myself up onto a 20-inch box, but I wouldn’t be using the right form to engage my fast twitch muscles, which I need for stability at my age.
These fast twitch muscles keep us from falling and breaking something as we age. They allow us to keep our balance if we slip on something or step off a curb without noticing the drop. They allow us to quickly apply the brakes to avoid a catastrophic fall. After the age of 70, if you fall and break your hip, it could be fatal or, at minimum, be a long, painful recovery period that reduces your quality of life. I’m reluctant to admit that I have had way too many falls on my mountain bike that have resulted in broken bones or serious soft tissue damage. I didn’t realize until now that many of those falls could have been avoided if I had spent more time developing my fast twitch muscles. My lack of stability provided by fast twitch muscles was readily apparent over the weekend when my 5-year-old grandson faked me out and blew past me for a touchdown during a backyard football game. You can bet that I’ve now made it a priority to fix that, and I will. I highly recommend this 30-second video, Defying Aging: Harnessing Eccentric Strength for a Life of Balance #shorts #peterattia (youtube.com), if you, your clients, or your parents are over the age of 60. The insights provided in this short video underscore the importance of seeking help to strengthen your fast twitch muscles. Also, if you are still in the prime of your working years, these insights could help ensure a longer and healthier life for you.
As I surfed the web last night, I found a good article in Men’s Health about developing fast twitch muscles: Your Guide to Fast-Twitch Muscle Training (menshealth.com). It reminded me that my wife laughed at me recently when I purchased yet another piece of fitness equipment, a jump rope. It turns out that it is a safe way to develop fast twitch muscles. The fact is, it will probably be hilarious when I first attempt to jump rope at my age. Wish me luck!
Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement firm representing the best interests of policy owners by creating a competitive policy auction to deliver the best value to the seller. Ashar Group does not sell life insurance, management assets, or purchase policies. We are an independent resource for fiduciary advisors and their clients specializing in life insurance valuation for planning purposes.
