A life settlement is an insurance policy sold by the owner - typically the insured or a trust - for an amount greater than the surrender value of the policy but lower than the face amount of the policy. The purchaser of the life settlement becomes the new owner and beneficiary of the life insurance policy and is responsible for making future premium payments and collecting the death benefits of the insured.

The new year brings new opportunities to server your clients - including seniors to whom you have sold life insurance in the past but whose coverage needs have decreased because circumstances have changed.

Recent estimates show that each year owners of more than $100 billion of life insurance policies either will have an active interest in selling or no interest in owning their policies. Most of these owners are not aware of their liquidity options beyond their policies' cash surrender value.

Maple Life Financial announces the release of its 2006 Life Settlement Industry Outlook report. Designed as a resource tool for senior market financial service advisors, the report provides an inside look at where the industry is heading, including discussions on the top issues, insight from twenty-eight industry professionals with backgrounds in accounting, finance, insurance, law, marketing, and technology.

One effect of the lingering tough economy is the threat it poses to many people’s financial and retirement plans. For people 65 and older, this threat is further complicated by the longevity effect, which indicates that people today are expected to live longer lives as compared to prior generations.

As a result, many advisors who work with older clients are recommending a frequent review of a client’s financial situation. Increasingly, these advisors discover a need to help find creative opportunities, such as life settlements for senior clients who find themselves with less certain financial stability than they had planned.

Many Americans are understandably concerned about their personal financial future in a challenging and often uncertain economy that the U.S. has experienced in recent months. Now more than ever, financial advisors and life insurance agents should periodically review the needs of their senior clients to whom they have sold life insurance. Often, senior clients find themselves with life insurance they now view as unnecessary or they see as a financial burden because of the continuing premium.

A new Minnetonka firm has secured $400 million in financing through a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with plans to buy life insurance policies from wealthy seniors.

Paul Moe, chair and CEO of Living Benefits Financial Services, is aiming to buy $1 billion to $1.5 billion in policies in two years, which should establish Living Benefits as a market leader in an emerging industry that buys life insurance policies for more than their cash value.