New Survey from Harbor Life Settlements Reveals Knowledge Gaps That May Be Costing Life Insurance Policyholders

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Harbor Life Settlements, a company dedicated to helping people unlock the value of their life insurance by making the life settlement process straightforward and transparent, today announced the key results of its 2020 Life Settlement & Retirement Survey. Harbor Life conducted a national survey of 1,702 U.S. adults to better understand people's knowledge of life insurance benefits and options, with the goal of uncovering insights that help individuals make better decisions around financial and retirement planning.

Overall, Harbor Life's study revealed that while 70% of U.S. adults have life insurance, there are sizable knowledge gaps among consumers that may be preventing them from understanding the full potential of their policies. Looking specifically at those who have life insurance:

• 43% of policyholders do not know they can sell their policy in a life settlement
• 57% of policyholders do not know what a viatical settlement is
• 11% do not know what type of life insurance they have

"These startling numbers show a large percentage of Americans are paying policy premiums each month, but are unaware of the full financial potential of their life insurance coverage, " said Lucas Siegel, Founder and CEO of Harbor Life Settlements. "At Harbor Life, we recognize the life insurance industry is complex, but we also believe it is vitally important people understand the wide range of financial benefits that come with having a life insurance policy. In fact, we know if Americans took full advantage of life settlements, that benefit alone could close nearly half of the current $130 billion deficit between federal retirement funding and long-term care expenses for seniors."

When it comes to Americans 55 and older, Harbor Life's survey shows one in five retired seniors do not feel they have enough money to cover their medical, living and retirement expenses comfortably. In fact, retired seniors are 900% more likely to be concerned about having enough money to cover their expenses when compared to retirees under the age of 55. Conversely, the largest consumer knowledge gap around life and viatical settlements resides with seniors. Sixty-three percent of seniors do not know what a life settlement is, compared to 53% of people 54 or younger, and 75% of seniors do not know what a viatical settlement is, relative to 66% of non-seniors.

"These findings are unfortunate considering seniors are the most likely group to be eligible for a life settlement. Also knowing 20% of retired seniors are struggling to comfortably cover their expenses, while more than two-thirds of them still carry an active life insurance policy, makes it imperative that we close the knowledge gaps discovered in our study," added Siegel. "We view these findings as an opportunity to work closely with both consumers and financial advisors to improve knowledge and awareness around life settlement options and other living benefits of life insurance."

For additional survey findings related to consumer motivations for having a life insurance policy, measurements of how life insurance needs evolve over one's life, what factors prevent Americans from buying life insurance policies, and more please click here.

About Harbor Life Settlements

Harbor Life Settlements is a life settlement company that is dedicated to helping seniors and the terminally or chronically ill sell their life insurance policies for maximum cash value so they can comfortably afford their long-term care, medical expenses, retirement, and more. To make the life settlement process easy and transparent, Harbor Life handles all underwriting, paperwork, and legal matters associated with the sale of a life insurance policy, and works with a large network of fully-licensed life settlement brokers and providers to guarantee the highest cash offer for every client. To learn more, please visit harborlifesettlements.com.

SOURCE Harbor Life Settlements