“Don’t leave money on the table” is a popular idiom even in the world of life insurance. Leaving money on the table simply means the possible lack of profit that someone is leaving behind or not taking advantage of. This could happen because the business or individuals involved are unaware of how they are leaving money behind.

The following are a few hypothetical case studies where money was not left on the table for older adults who own a life insurance policy with a policy face amount of $100,000 or greater. Maybe you, your employees or your residents will be in a similar situation.

Did you know that 90% of most older adults who own a life Insurance policy are unaware that their policy is an asset that can be sold in the secondary marketplace? For many older adults, by the time they reach their 70s, a life insurance policy may have become unneeded, unwanted and, possibly, with increased premiums, unaffordable.

A healthy 79-year-old female owned a $7.5 million with minimal cash surrender value. Her situation had changed, and she no longer needed insurance coverage. After presenting this case to our vast pool of policy buyers, we were able to obtain a $2.4 million offer for her policy. In most instances on a GUL policy, we only need a policy illustration to age 105 and the client’s date of birth to secure offers.

A male, 70, with several significant health issues, he had two totaling slightly more than $2 million. Both term policies were convertible. The seller needed the funds for his adult child. We were able to negotiate a cash offer to the seller for more than $1.1 million. Because the seller was ill, he qualified for viatical status, which is another name for a life settlement for those with a serious illness and that usually provides higher percentage offers from buyers.

A 67-year-old with heart issues, but a rather long-life expectancy of 18 years, was retiring. There were two on his life that were being paid for by his employer. One was a key man policy and the other a fringe benefit.

Upon retirement, the policies were no longer needed or affordable, but he wanted to retain and convert $100,000 for his final expenses. Instead of letting the one of the policies simply lapse, we were able to sell that portion of the coverage for $19,000.

A 75-year-old woman owned two term policies totaling $750,000 in combined face amount that she was going to allow to lapse. Fortunately, her agent became aware of her plans before that happened. The policyholder had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in remission and her life expectancy was 10 years. By combining and converting the two policies, we were able to get her $187,000 in a life settlement.

Had those clients’ agents not been vigilant and informed, those cash windfalls could never have happened. Not only is it the policyholder who should be diligent about their policy options, but also the insurance agent and the senior adviser to know those details so their clients don’t miss the opportunity to sell their insurance policies, even a term policy with no cash value.

I always say, each life settlement case has its own DNA … no two are alike and the case studies just referenced are a few scenarios that received an offer and the policyowner was able to maximized the value of their life insurance policy. Moreover, I believe that the beauty of this financial option for older adults is that there is no out-of-pocket cost for them to find out the fair market value of their policy and to receive an offer for it. However you look at it, I believe that a life insurance settlement is a no-lose, win-win proposition.

Joyce Bidwell is a licensed life settlement specialist with Bidwell Life Settlements, which she founded. Her company website has more information about life settlements.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living marketplace column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.