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Jameson Mulshenock is a Divisional Sales Manager at Lincoln Financial, a firm that has been helping millions of people plan, protect, and retire for over a century.
This episode explores how Lincoln Financial is addressing the financial planning challenges of an aging, affluent population by introducing innovative benefits that provide lifetime income and secure wealth transfer for future generations.
Also discussed:
- How the aging population is reshaping financial planning, with a focus on ensuring retirement income and dependents’ financial security.
- High net worth investors, who hold nearly half of U.S. investable assets, mainly focusing on wealth preservation, tax reduction, and asset transfer, as $84 trillion is set to change hands in the coming decades.
- Lincoln Financial introduced a new benefit that allows affluent clients to secure lifetime income while ensuring their beneficiaries receive either the greater of the investment amount or account value upon their passing.
- They highlight scenarios where this benefit can support clients, especially for couples with age differences, those interested in tax-efficient wealth transfer, and individuals fulfilling required minimum distributions.
Resources: Lincoln Financial
Related: A Strategy for Lifetime Income and Tax-Smart Wealth Transfer
This information is for general educational purposes and is not intended to provide investment advice nor are we soliciting any action based upon it, nor should it be construed as a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security.
Lincoln Financial affiliates, their affiliated distributors, and their respective employees, representatives, and/or insurance agents do not provide tax, accounting, or financial advice. Clients should consult their own independent professionals as to any tax, accounting, or financial information contained herein.
Annuities are long-term investment products that offer a lifetime income stream, access to leading investment managers, options for guaranteed growth and income (available for an additional charge), and death benefit protection. To decide if an annuity is right for you, consider that its value will fluctuate; it’s subject to investment risk and possible loss of principal; and there are costs associated. All guarantees, including those for optional features, are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuer.
Lincoln annuities are issued by The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, Fort Wayne, IN, and in New York are issued by Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, Syracuse, NY, and distributed by Lincoln Financial Distributors, Inc., a broker-dealer. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company does not solicit business in the state of New York, nor is it authorized to do so.
Lincoln Financial is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation and its affiliates. Affiliates are separately responsible for their own financial and contractual obligations.
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Doug Heikkinen: this is Advisorpedia's power, your advice podcast. And I'm Doug Heikkinen On today's podcast, we welcome Jameson Mulshenock. Jameson is the divisional sales manager at Lincoln Financial Distributors, a firm that has been helping millions plan, protect, and retire for over a century. . .
Welcome to the podcast. Jamison.
[00:00:30] Jameson Mulshenock: All right. Thank you very much.
[00:00:31] Doug Heikkinen: The Alliance for Lifetime Income has found that one out of every six people are now age 65 or older. And by 2030, one out of every five will be 65 or older. That's amazing. And it's a massive demographic shift. How has this changed the conversations you and your teams are having with financial professionals and clients?
[00:00:53] Jameson Mulshenock: That's a great question. You know, it's a huge demographic shift, and people in this peak 65 demographic, as the alliance calls it, have really some significant concerns. You know, we know from Lincoln's research that the majority of consumers approaching retirement are concerned about, you know, having enough income for retirement, outliving their money and making sure their dependents will be financially secure if they outlive their money.
So this is really in line with what we're hearing from financial planners as well. You know, we have a very large agency in Boston we work with, and they work with an aging population at a big name corporation. And these individuals have a choice. To take the pension income or take the lump sum, you know, it's a conundrum a lot of people face at the end of their career But when reviewing the lump sum options with clients These same concerns come up every single time.
Will I have enough money, uh, and income in retirement? Uh, will I have enough money later in retirement due to inflation? Uh, I'm worried about outliving my money. And I also want to make sure that there's something there left to the kids as well. You know, in addition to the U. S. population aging, we also see that high net worth investors are aging as well.
So Cerulli data shows that this investor segment controls nearly half. Of the investible assets in the us. So 60% of the affluent and high net worth assets are held by those age 60 and older. Now,
[00:02:25] Doug Heikkinen: Okay, so now we know that half of the U. S. investable assets are controlled by the higher net worth segment. What are some trends that you've seen in working with advisors in this investor segment?
[00:02:36] Jameson Mulshenock: that's a great question. 2024 Cerulli data tells us that preserving wealth, mitigating taxes and wealth transfer on the top investment objectives for those high net worth investors. And we see that playing out in day-to-Day conversations that we have with financial professionals as well. You know, these investors, you know, they spent their lives accumulating wealth.
They want to maintain it. They have large amounts of assets that they don't necessarily intend to use in their lifetime. And they're focused also on transferring this asset to their beneficiaries when they pass away. So we're gearing up for really an historic wealth transfer. And Cerulli estimates that 84 trillion in assets is set to change hands over the next 20 years.
And most of that's going to go to the younger generations. You know, additionally, these investors are required to take R. N. D. S. From their qualified accounts that require minimum distributions, and many of them don't need it, and they don't want it. and beyond these affluent investors segments, we hear a lot of investors wanting to make sure that their dependents are financially secure in the event.
That they were to unexpectedly pass away.
[00:03:49] Doug Heikkinen: Can you share what Lincoln is doing to meet the needs of this segment?
[00:03:52] Jameson Mulshenock: Yeah, of course. You know, it's a real exciting time to be at Lincoln financial group right now. Uh, just a few weeks ago, we launched a new innovative income and beneficiary combination benefit. in essence, it allows an investor to take protected lifetime income, as long as their account value has a balance when they pass away.
Their beneficiary will receive the full investment purchase amount or the account value, whichever is greater. So we're seeing the market react very favorably to this value proposition and it's early. We're in the initial weeks, uh, following the launch.
[00:04:26] Doug Heikkinen: That's interesting. So when you think about the affluent and high net worth investors, are there certain client scenarios where this new benefit would have a strong impact? Implementation.
[00:04:36] Jameson Mulshenock: Absolutely. Uh, the biggest needs that we are seeing today are number one, couples with an age difference, you know, sometimes a sizable age difference. Number two, situations where lifetime income is needed, but there's also an interest in passing along wealth in a tax efficient manner. And then number three, when required minimum distributions are required to avoid penalties, but not necessarily wanted by those individuals.
[00:05:07] Doug Heikkinen: It sounds like this new benefit can help some clients with a range of different situations. Can you get into some more specifics?
[00:05:16] Jameson Mulshenock: Sure. Yeah, I can start with couples with an age difference. You know, one spouse may want income sooner than the other, but would still like to provide asset protection for the other spouse. With this new benefit, the older spouse can get guaranteed growth until they're ready for income. And then when that time comes, they will have guaranteed income for life and still leave the full investment amount to their spouse when they pass away.
Then we can next look at and talk about a client looking to pass their wealth in a tax efficient way. So let's say that the money is invested in a non qualified account, right? They want to use some of the money for retirement and leave the rest of their beneficiary. You know, in addition to guaranteed growth and income for themselves and asset protection for their beneficiaries, we also offer options for the beneficiary to receive the inheritance with tax advantage payments.
And then finally, we hear this one almost every day. It's financial professionals with clients that have to take required minimum distributions. Now, these clients don't want or need the income because they'd rather preserve the asset for their beneficiaries. So with this new benefit, clients can satisfy RMD requirements and still leave their full investment amount to their beneficiary.
[00:06:31] Doug Heikkinen: How unique is this type of benefit in the market?
[00:06:35] Jameson Mulshenock: It's unique. You know, Lincoln is one of only two carriers with a death benefit feature like this in the annuity insurance space. This really represents a huge opportunity based on all the things we just spoke about. You know, our population is aging and is going to have a need to take meaningful income, meet RMD requirements, and develop a wealth strategy to pass on any remaining assets to their beneficiaries.
[00:06:59] Doug Heikkinen: With this much opportunity and need in the market, what would you suggest that financial professionals do today to take advantage of this within their businesses?
[00:07:08] Jameson Mulshenock: I would guess that most, if not all, financial professionals have clients that fit the descriptions of the client profiles we just discussed. You know, couples with a sizable age difference, clients interested in passing along wealth tax efficiently, and then probably the most common, when RMDs are required but they don't need or want the income.
I would suggest financial professionals take actions. And check their book of business for these specific client scenarios. Give those clients a call today and ask them if they'd be interested in a benefit that would provide protected lifetime income. And as long as their account value has at least $1 in it, when they pass away, their beneficiaries will receive the full investment purchase amount or the account value, whichever is greater.
If the answer is yes, which I have no doubt it will be contact their Lincoln financial representative to get a customized client illustration.
[00:08:00] Doug Heikkinen: That's super. Jamison, thanks so much for joining us.
[00:08:03] Jameson Mulshenock: No, thank you.
[00:08:05] Doug Heikkinen: To learn more about Lincoln Financial, please visit lincolnfinancial. com. Please follow us for timely updates on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook, all at Advisorpedia. For everybody at Advisorpedia, our producer, Julia Smollen, our engineer, Tory Miller, and the Power Your Advice podcast team, this is Doug Heikkinen.