Resigned from Bankers Life

First post here, but have been reading posts for a while trying to fugure out which companies to represent. I was a "veteran" agent with Bankers Life (4+ years), and have just recently resigned. I left because I could no longer stomach what they were training their agents to do. I've been there through everything I have read about from others posts on this site. The switching of seniors from their perfectly fine Plan F supplements to Plan N with Colonial Penn to save a couple bucks, to enticing them to 1035 their paid up life policies into single premium ULs (which they do not offer).

I wouldn't do the desperate moves they are trying to do recently, so had my territory/client list opened up to all of my co-workers. Many of whom I "thought" were friends.

The VERY sad thing is what they are doing to the seniors in my state. The issue of 1035ing paid up policies into a UL with a 15yr no lapse guarantee product is wrong. The way it is presented to prospects is wrong, as they are told they will have a lifetime paid up policy with a little higher death benefit. 15 years from now, the clients that are still around will be complaining like hell. But, the clients sign the illustration, w/o being told exactly what it means and they're stuck.

Since being with BLC, I mainly focused on annuities, as I saw clients getting good returns when part rates/caps were high. For the last 1.5yrs or so, they have continued to lower participation/cap rates until they finally pulled the majority of their product line. All they have left, is annuities I wouldn't sell my worst enemy.

As for their Univeral Life product line, the best you can get is a 15yr NLG, thats it.

FE/Whole Life is higher priced than competitors for same product.

LTC is about double what Genworth or MoO is for same benefits. And both Genworht and MoO have better ratings and premium stability than BLC.

STC/Short Term Care- I know the carriers are limited in this product, BUT, Standard Life has an excellent Recovery Care II (Short Term Care) product that is better priced than BLC.

I have contracted with a GA who represents most of the top rated companies now, and have compared what I COULD have done to begin with. To sum up that feeling, "I feel bad/mislead". I thought I was doing the best I could, but really, I was only doing the best I could with what I had to offer.

My BSM currently has 3 active lawsuits pending (for $1M+), and my USM just got found guilty of not doing replacement forms.

When I jumped ship, there were only about 8 "productive" agents ($50k APC's+) in our office. In the last week, 3 other "productive" agents bailed as well. Guess we'll see if the others can see the sinking ship.

I won the "rookie of the year", "building the practice winner", and many other awards/trips, only to finally figure out I was on the wrong team. I feel so much better now that when I present an illustration to a client, I truely am doing the best I can do, as we run it through 30+ "A" rated companies.

I only posted this to advise of MY experience at the office I was with. I'm not saying ALL BLC offices are ran this way, but my office was.

BLC was a good start to my career in insurance, but other than that, I can't wait to compete in two years with them because it will be like showing up to my favorite fishing hole with a backpack full of dynamite. :twitchy: JK, I like to compete, but they aren't even in the field...

As a former BLC agent, maybe you (or someone else) can answer a question for me. My stepson is trying to sell my wife (his mother) a $200,000 to $250,000 equity indexed annuity. He says that because he has only been with the company four months he won't make the normal commission on it, but only about $250. Is there any way this could be true? If not, what would a typical commission for a BLC agent be on an EIA of this size?

Thanks!
 
As a former BLC agent, maybe you (or someone else) can answer a question for me. My stepson is trying to sell my wife (his mother) a $200,000 to $250,000 equity indexed annuity. He says that because he has only been with the company four months he won't make the normal commission on it, but only about $250. Is there any way this could be true? If not, what would a typical commission for a BLC agent be on an EIA of this size?

Thanks!

It has been 13 years for me and I thought the commission was around 3% which would be 6k to 7.5k. If this is true you son might be better off using this case as his exit from bankers as an independent he could probably get 6-8% commission and offer your wife a better product which could be 20k in commissions.
 
As a former BLC agent, maybe you (or someone else) can answer a question for me. My stepson is trying to sell my wife (his mother) a $200,000 to $250,000 equity indexed annuity. He says that because he has only been with the company four months he won't make the normal commission on it, but only about $250. Is there any way this could be true? If not, what would a typical commission for a BLC agent be on an EIA of this size?

Thanks!

As a former agent (left at beginning of this year) I can say the commission is 3% of the face value. The only way he wouldnt get the full commission is if he is splitting it with another agent(which often happens when you first start with BLC). However this sale would probably qualify him for a bonus at the end of the quarter.
The only other way I can see him not getting a $6000 commission is if he has a lot of chargebacks with the company
 
As a former BLC agent, maybe you (or someone else) can answer a question for me. My stepson is trying to sell my wife (his mother) a $200,000 to $250,000 equity indexed annuity. He says that because he has only been with the company four months he won't make the normal commission on it, but only about $250. Is there any way this could be true? If not, what would a typical commission for a BLC agent be on an EIA of this size? Thanks!
I take it that you may not trust the stepson much hence the question. A better question is not how much commission does he make but how competitive is this annuity and what is the cost and features.
 
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As a former agent (left at beginning of this year) I can say the commission is 3% of the face value. The only way he wouldnt get the full commission is if he is splitting it with another agent(which often happens when you first start with BLC). However this sale would probably qualify him for a bonus at the end of the quarter.
The only other way I can see him not getting a $6000 commission is if he has a lot of chargebacks with the company

In the case of a split, what would a typical split be? He would still earn more than $250, wouldn't he (prior to any chargebacks)?

Also, in this type of situation, where it is his mother and he worked the sale by himself, is there still the possibility he might have to split it?
 
In the case of a split, what would a typical split be? He would still earn more than $250, wouldn't he (prior to any chargebacks)?

Also, in this type of situation, where it is his mother and he worked the sale by himself, is there still the possibility he might have to split it?

50/50 split is typical. so his half would be about $3000, or 1.5%

If he works the sale entirely by himself, he would not have to kick any commission to another agent,.
 
Intake it that you may not trust the stepson much hence the question. A better question is not how much commission does he make but how competitive is this annuity and what is the cost and features.

That is true, but if her son is not being honest about his financial incentive, I'm not sure he can be trusted when it comes to adequately explaining to her the terms and conditions, and the suitability, of the annuity itself. Consider also: 1) My wife has brain cancer. 2) Neither I nor her older son (age 28) were involved in the discussion prior to the application being submitted (and only then because I found out about it when I saw the check copy in our checkbook). 3) The agent (her son) wrote out the check himself (she is unable to write). I don't know if he also signed it for her (he does NOT have power of attorney). 4) The amount he wrote the check for was $250,000, even though she told him she was only considering putting $200,000 into the annuity. 5) He listed himself and his brother as the only beneficiaries, though later she told me there were supposed to be additional beneficiaries (I think she said a total of four), and that she only intended for $50,000 to go to each son, not $125,000.

Do you see any ethical or other concerns here?
 
That is true, but if her son is not being honest about his financial incentive, I'm not sure he can be trusted when it comes to adequately explaining to her the terms and conditions, and the suitability, of the annuity itself. Consider also: 1) My wife has brain cancer. 2) Neither I nor her older son (age 28) were involved in the discussion prior to the application being submitted (and only then because I found out about it when I saw the check copy in our checkbook). 3) The agent (her son) wrote out the check himself (she is unable to write). I don't know if he also signed it for her (he does NOT have power of attorney). 4) The amount he wrote the check for was $250,000, even though she told him she was only considering putting $200,000 into the annuity. 5) He listed himself and his brother as the only beneficiaries, though later she told me there were supposed to be additional beneficiaries (I think she said a total of four), and that she only intended for $50,000 to go to each son, not $125,000.

Do you see any ethical or other concerns here?

Hell yes! I'd cancel it!
 
Hell yes! I'd cancel it!

I could be wrong, but if he were to cancel it after it were issued, I believe there would be something like a 9% penalty.

This is highly unethical. But before doing anything, i would carefully read the contract. I do not deal with annuities, so I do not know if there is a free look period, you may want to check with your state laws about that, and the contract itself.
 
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I could be wrong, but if he were to cancel it after it were issued, I believe there would be something like a 9% penalty.

This is highly unethical. But before doing anything, i would carefully read the contract. I do not deal with annuities, so I do not know if there is a free look period, you may want to check with your state laws about that, and the contract itself.

There is a free look period. Even beyond that most carriers would unwind this annuity pretty quickly if it is true the check was written and signed by someone without power of attorney. Additionally even if there is power of attorney most carriers want more documentation for that.
 

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