Senior Market News & Updates | New Horizons Insurance Marketing Inc.

How Med Supp Agents Can Fill the Final Expense Need

Written by Kirk Sarff | Oct 24, 2017 3:49:00 PM

Life insurance can seem complicated. And sometimes it truly is.

My mission is to bring you little bits of helpful information to make life insurance sales simple.

Here’s the scenario: Your client is meeting with you to purchase a Medicare Supplement.

During the appointment, you’ll ask a simple question that can double your sales:

“Do you have your final expenses covered?”

Most individuals don’t realize the cost of funerals these days, so you get to take a moment to educate them that the average cost of a basic funeral is around $10,000.

From here, your biggest fear might be that they’ll say “yes.”

  • What now?
  • What’s the underwriting like?
  • What’s the price of this going to be?
  • Am I in over my head?

I’m going to make things easy. There are 3 types of life insurance that are perfect here if your client says “yes.” (Premium examples are included at the end of this article.)

  1. Basic final expense
  2. Participating whole life
  3. Single premium whole life

All three applications are simple:

  1. The application is almost identical to a Med Supp app.
  2. There are no exams for face amounts less than $20,000. (Most policies fall in this range.)
  3. The Med Supp-esque application and the phone interview take care of the underwriting.

This makes your life incredibly easy. You can keep doing what you’re doing – selling Med Supps like a champ – while expanding your briefcase to include this final expense option.

Let’s compare the three final expense options from a high-level view:


  Payment method Benefit amount Cash value
Basic Final Expense Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annually, or Annually Stays the same Builds up slowly
Participating Whole Life Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annually, or Annually Increases a little over time Builds up moderately
Single Premium Whole Life Lump sum upfront Increases the most over time Builds up quickly

To give you an idea of the costs your client might pay for each type of insurance, here are some examples for a male and a female.

Male, Issue Age 65, Non-Tobacco, 10k policy


  Payment method Initial Death Benefit Death benefit over time
Basic Final Expense $44.82/mo $10k Stays the same
Participating Whole Life $42.34/mo $10k Increases each year
Single Premium Whole Life $10k upfront $17,228 Increases each year

Female, Issue Age 65, Non-Tobacco, 10k policy


  Payment method Initial Death Benefit Death benefit over time
Basic Final Expense $37.32/mo $10k Stays the same
Participating Whole Life $35.42/mo $10k Increases each year
Single Premium Whole Life $10k upfront $18,919 Increases each year

Want some coaching to get started? Email Kirk Sarff, the head of the Life Department for more information.