Give new meaning to life
When selling universal life insurance, employee education is key.
By Helen Rodriguez-Burton
When you’ve been in the em- ployee benefits business as long as I have, it’s easy to
forget how complicated insurance can
appear to the average consumer. So
I often tell my clients a story involving my husband that illustrates why
the need for benefits education in the
workplace is so important.
When my husband was 23, he purchased two $100,000 universal life insurance policies. He had no idea what
kind of policies they were or the many
advantages of universal life insurance
until I explained them to him when I
joined Colonial Life. Twenty-five years
later, the policies have an accumulated
cash value and the premiums remain
the same. It’s great to know he made a
wise decision, despite the lack of edu-
“Employees appreciate having
someone help them understand all the
terminology and choices, as well as
give them the confidence they need to
make good decisions for their families.”
cation he received from his agent.
Unfortunately, what happened to
my husband happens all the time. And
there’s no point placing blame. The
bottom line is, today’s employees need
help understanding their benefits. Their
benefits packages have become more
complex due to constant changes and
updates, with more decision-making
responsibility shifted their way over
the years. Employers agree their work-
ers need help. According to a recent
Colonial Life survey of HR profession-
als, virtually all employers ( 99.6%)
think their employees need guidance
to make sound benefits decisions. Yet
only a quarter of employers (23%) be-
lieve their company’s benefits educa-
