Did We Cry Wolf Prematurely?

I try very hard to get out relevant life insurance information in a timely manner and would hope never to jump the gun and potentially mislead. In this case it appears that while I was a few days ahead of the event, the wolf was in fact on his way.

In a post last Wednesday I reported a rumor that AXA Equitable was re-evaluating its’ universal life products with an eye toward getting rid of their external no lapse guarantee. On Friday they released a bulletin to agents, axa-distributor, saying that they are discontinuing their no lapse rider (NLR).

This is not to say that all companies will follow suit, but for those who have permanent products or are anticipating the need for permanent products in their life insurance portfolio, I would highly recommend an err on the side of assuming that, at best, these products will be higher priced in the near future. Given the position of universal life with a no lapse guarantee as the best priced fully guaranteed permanent product available as of today, a move toward replacing whole life or traditional universal life with this extremely valuable product is worth a look.

Bottom line. Given the volatility of the current business financial market there is no mystery surrounding this move. No lapse riders mean the company has to carry high reserves. This isn’t a time when companies, given a choice, are going to tie up liquidity any more than they have too. Again, if you have permanent life insurance or think you will be needing, contact an independent agent today and make sure you lock in what may be the deal of the century.