John Anderson, Life Insurance Broker
John Anderson
Safe Harbor Retirement
Life Insurance Broker Licensed in NC, AL, GA and SC
20+ Years of Experience
Contact Details
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Location
Cary, NC
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Website
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About Me
With a lifelong background in service—from flying helicopters in the U.S. Army to a 25-year career as a commercial airline pilot—I’ve always believed in doing what’s right and helping others. After retiring from aviation, I returned to the insurance world to focus on retirement income, life and medicare where I guide clients with honesty, clarity, and a no-pressure approach. Our mission is simple: put clients first and always do what’s best for them. He reside with his wife in Cary NC.
Q&A with John Anderson
What happens if you stop paying whole life insurance premiums?
Answer: If you miss a payment, it's not the end of the world — most policies give you a 30-day grace period, and if you've built up cash value, the insurance company can often just pull the premium from that automatically so your coverage doesn't lapse.
If you decide to stop paying for good, you've got a few options: you can shrink the policy down to a smaller amount that's fully paid off forever called "reduced paid up" (no more premiums, ever), trade the cash value for term coverage that covers your original amount for a set number of years. If you no longer need any insurance, just surrender the policy and walk away with whatever cash value has built up.
What is the difference between a life insurance agent and a financial advisor?
Answer: As a licensed insurance agent, my job is building a retirement income plan — making sure money lasts and doesn't run out. I use tools like fixed indexed annuities and MYGAs to guarantee income and protect principal from market downturns, especially right before or after retirement.
That's different from a traditional advisor managing stocks and bonds, but it's not less — most retirees aren't just asking "how do I grow my money," they're asking "how do I make sure I never run out of it." That's exactly what an insurance license is built for.
Do I need a will if I already have life insurance?
Answer: It’s a great question, because life insurance and a will actually serve two very different purposes.
Life insurance is designed to provide money to the person or people you name as beneficiaries. Generally, when the policy has a properly designated beneficiary, the death benefit passes directly to that beneficiary and typically does not have to go through probate.
A will, on the other hand, deals with what happens to the things you own when you die—such as your home, other real estate, vehicles, personal property, and other assets that may not have a designated beneficiary or another form of ownership that determines who receives them.
So, having life insurance doesn’t necessarily eliminate the need for a will. Think of it this way: life insurance helps provide money to your loved ones; a will helps tell the courts and your family what should happen to the rest of your estate.
And if someone dies without a will (intestate), state law generally determines who inherits their probate assets—not necessarily who they would have chosen themselves.
This if course is not leagal advise. You may want to consult an attorney on this matter.
Is the life insurance I get through work enough to protect my family?
Answer: Having life insurance through work is a great benefit, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it a replacement for personally owned life insurance.
The biggest difference is that your work coverage is connected to your job. If you change jobs, retire, or your employer changes the benefit, your coverage could change or go away.
I can tell you that I have had several people that changed jobs only to find out their new employer only had a $50K group policy vs their old employer with a $1mil policy.
Personally owned life insurance gives you coverage that you control regardless of where you work. So I look at employer coverage as a valuable piece of the overall plan—not necessarily the entire plan. Personally, I find most people are underinsured. You should consider a mortgage, income replacement, children, college costs, debts, and the loss of future earnings in your planning.
You should look in to getting a policy while younger and healthy. The number of people that get sick later in life then realize they really do need more insurance and now unable to qualify. It's hard to look at your spouse and children when you find out you cannot get the coverage you really need.
How do life insurance agents get paid, and does using one cost me more?
Answer: When you purchase a life insurance policy, an agent is paid by the insurance company. All of the money that you would put into a life insurance policy goes directly to the cost of your policy.
What is the free look period in life insurance?
Answer: The reason insurance companies give you a free look is so you can see the actual life insurance in a contract (policy). They give you 30 days, state dependent, to review the policy to see if that's exactly what you wanted. Over the years, I have seen many mistakes made when the actual policy showed up, either because the agent filled out the application improperly or an oversight by the insurance company.