Most people with higher net worth’s are aggressively private about their finances. They’d like to be presented with choices, and then decide. Sales is definitely a fine art where you’ve got to push, but not push too hard. It’s a tough jobb for sure!

Best, Sam
.-= Financial Samurai´s last blog ..How To Get Your Super Motivated Boyfriend to Marry You =-.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by clarifinancial: A bit technical but well explained. RT @EvolutionWealth Life Insurance Breakpoints http://bit.ly/c2Y3CB...

Well first off I never claimed to be a salesman. I’m confused to why you would think asking question is the ‘runaround’. Aaron does a great job of making my point. There are a ton of other factors that come into play when you talk about purchasing life insurance. I would argue that someone with that high net worth and liabilities needs life insurance more than most people. You don’t want questions about specifics then in your example you bring up cash flow. Isn’t that a question attempting to be more specific?
To me life insurance is not a standalone decision. It can have a huge impact on someone’s financial situation and decisions regarding it should NOT be made regardless of specific and full financial situation.
If someone came in being as vague as you and refused to talk about it, I would happily let them go somewhere else.

With this kind of income/assets/liabilities, I would expect the salesperson not to keep asking me a question with a question. Instead, I’d like the salesperson to respect my privacy and present scenario analysis from which I can choose from.

i.e.

1) With $5 million in liability, you may consider at least a $5 million policy, but let’s talk about the cash flow involved in funding that debt and the ability to sell off your assets to fund that debt.

Aaron, provides some good for thought below.

The last thing I want is a runaround by the salesperson.

Best,

Sam
.-= Financial Samurai´s last blog ..The Best Super Bowl Commercials for 2010 =-.

It’s also very likely that the individual wouldn’t want to own their own policy as it would cause an adverse tax situation if they die in any year besides 2010 (as the law currently stands and assuming no state death tax). So not only would the amount of life insurance be discussed, but the proper ownership would be an important part of the plan to keep the value from eroding at death (ironically, that’s the time it is worth the most). But this sort of stuff doesn’t apply to most people.