Inforce Illustration

Get an unbiased review of your existing life insurance policy from an insurance fiduciary.

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Why Blue Herring?

What is an inforce illustration?

An inforce illustration is a projection of your life insurance policy’s future performance based on the policy’s current earnings, actual cost, and expense charge or fees. While you can get an inforce illustration from your insurance company or a traditional broker, this process is subject to bias, with advice designed to keep you invested in your existing policy — even if it’s not performing as promised, or will end up costing you more than you expected.

At Blue Herring, we offer truly independent reviews to ensure that your policy passes one test: Is it the best policy for you?

What does a Blue Herring inforce illustration include?

We consider the following factors to determine whether your life insurance policy is the best for you.

  • Price
  • Insurance amount
  • Financial rating of carrier
  • Length of term
  • Rating class
  • Occupation class (disability)
  • Exclusions (disability)
  • Cash value return (permanent life insurance)
  • Ownership/beneficiary arrangement

Frequently asked questions.

Answers to questions about inforce illustration.

Who should consider an inforce illustration?

If you purchased life insurance through a traditional broker, your current policy may not perform as predicted over the long run. This could lead to an unexpected policy lapse unless you increase your premiums. It’s important to get regular inforce illustrations to avoid unpleasant surprises — every 1-5 years, depending on your age and the size of the policy. The earlier you start, the better, because you’ll have more options for changing or replacing your policy if necessary. If you hold any of the following types of life insurance, it’s a good idea to get an inforce illustration to help you understand whether you need to make changes to your policy:
  • Whole life insurance
  • Universal life insurance
  • Indexed life insurance
  • Trust-owned insurance

How do you get an inforce illustration?

You can request an inforce illustration from your insurance carrier, or from the broker who sold you the policy. However, this process is inherently biased, resulting in recommendations to stay invested in your current policy, whether or not it’s truly right for you. At Blue Herring, we apply our fiduciary best-interests standard to make unbiased recommendations and uncover opportunities to save you money and ensure your life insurance policy performs for the long term.

How to read and understand an inforce illustration

Unlike an insurance company, Blue Herring provides expert guidance in interpreting your inforce illustration, so you don’t have to figure it out on your own. We’ll walk you through how to read and understand your policy’s:
  • Cash value
  • Benefits
  • Earning rates
  • Mortality costs and expense charges
  • Guaranteed values
  • Maximum costs
  • Current and future premiums
If your illustration indicates that your policy may decrease in cash value, our expert advisors will tell you all your options for ensuring adequate coverage and avoiding early termination — including opportunities your insurance company and traditional broker don’t want you to know about.

Does an inforce illustration cost money?

No. Your insurance carrier is required to provide inforce illustrations as requested, at no cost to you. However, you may be required to pay for the expert advice required to understand the data. Or, your insurance broker may make recommendations based on the inforce illustration that will result in unnecessary premium increases. At Blue Herring, we never charge for our inforce illustration services, and our unbiased recommendations are designed to ensure that you get the coverage you need, at the lowest possible price.

How to get started

Blue Herring is revolutionizing the inforce illustration process, with truly unbiased recommendations that could save you money.

Step 1

Letter of Permission

Sign a letter giving a Blue Herring agent permission to request an inforce illustration on your behalf.

Step 2

Insurance Carrier

We submit the letter to your insurance carrier and receive the inforce illustration data.

Step 3

Analyze the Illustration

We analyze the inforce illustration in order to stress-test your existing policy and determine its future performance.

Step 4

Unbiased Reccomendations

You get 100% unbiased recommendations to ensure your policy will provide the coverage you need, at the best possible price.

Benefits of an independent inforce illustration

Confidence

No more guesswork — you’ll know for sure whether your insurance policy is the best for you.

Performance

An independent inforce illustration will uncover opportunities to save money and avoid unexpected costs.

Honesty

The Blue Herring model is based on radical transparency, and we’ll give you information your insurance carrier won’t.

See Our Process

Why Blue Herring?

We expect more from the life and disability insurance industry. So should you. Our fiduciary- and attorney-preferred independent underwriting model gives businesses the transparency and leverage they need to get the right policies for their key person insurance plans, at significantly lower prices.

  • We provide unbiased information on the current and future performance of your life insurance policy.
  • We tell you everything you need to make the best decision, and we’ll share industry secrets you should know before you decide to increase your premiums.
  • Our inforce illustration experts ensure your policy meets our stringent best-interests standards, and we will never recommend something you don’t need.
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Don’t take our word for it

Hear from the clients who’ve experienced the Blue Herring difference.

“Blue Herring is very responsive and willing to listen to my desires and goals. It’s good to have the sense that someone has my interests in mind, and I’m not just a number. Trust is key and it goes both ways. Well done Blue Herring.”
Bob S
“Blue Herring has been an invaluable resource in my professional life as throughout numerous pivots and growth moments. Zach in particular has shown up with an impeccable strategic mindset offering a steadfast partner in planning when the seas turned rough. I can’t imagine doing business without Blue Herring providing the unseen but critical infrastructure needed to thrive.”
Colin Boyd
“Zach has been patient and great to work with in helping us find the best options for my family and I.”
J J
“Alex was communicative and made sure all of my questions were answered. I would recommend reaching out to him if you were interested about the services he offers to see what he can do for you. I had a good experience and would recommend Helm Financial to others.”
Jamie
“Blue Herring has created a terrific "listen first, act accordingly" environment, and built a comfortable strategy around that, specific to my family’s needs.”
Jay Rushforth
“Zach has been excellent and continues to work hard to make sure my family and I are well positioned for our future and our goals. Zach has a knack for helping you understand what can at times seem very complicated. Overall I’ve been very happy with my time with Zach and Helm Financial.”
Jeffrey McLaren
“The process was smooth and seamless. Such a good idea to pre-qualify an applicant through MANY companies and then, once quotes come in, to then formally apply and do blood work/medical exam. Through this process, we found some excellent rates.”
Zac Kester
“Zach and the team at Blue Herring are the best I have worked with in their field (and raising the standard for financial services). Always a great experience!”
Maria Castellez
“Alex, Zach and the Team at Blue Herring have gone to great lengths to keep my family and I on the right track to a secure financial future. Admittedly, I’m not the best at keeping up with my own business. The follow through, updates and reminders have been incredibly helpful; to keep us on track and engaged. I’d 1000% recommend Helm Financial to anyone trying to increase their personalized connectivity with their financial portfolio.”
Michael Fawcett
“Zach is great! Very knowledgeable about his business and cares about the success of his clients. You can feel confident that he is looking out for your best interest with what ever he suggests. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”
Paul Stanley
“Zach and his team are true professionals: honest, prompt, and kind. It has been a joy being their client. It’s a great relief knowing that my best interests are in such great hands. I can’t recommend them highly enough.”
Scott Moreau
“Zach and the team help you plan for the future of your business whether you plan to stay in it or not. Very honest and trustworthy – have proven time and time again they have the client’s best interests on their minds.”
Shannon Foglia
“What a pleasure to work with Alex Grammatic of Blue Herring. He’s knowledgeable, honest and hard-working, and managed to get us the best insurance policy for the most reasonable cost. A win-win. My husband and I highly recommend doing business with Blue Herring.”
Sue Zelie
“Alex was knowledgable, presented choices, and discussed what various options meant for us. He was always available to answer questions and concerns via email or cell phone. We were confident that he would always follow through and check up on how things were going, and if we felt they were proceeding smoothly. He was professional and addressed our specific insurance needs. We would recommend Blue Herring and Alex Grammatic if your business has insurance needs.”
Victoria Sabo
“Zach and the team help you plan for the future of your business whether you plan to stay in it or not. Very honest and trustworthy – have proven time and time again they have the client’s best interests on their minds.”
Shannon Foglia
“The process was smooth and seamless. Such a good idea to pre-qualify an applicant through MANY companies and then, once quotes come in, to then formally apply and do blood work/medical exam. Through this process, we found some excellent rates.”
Zac Kester
“Zachary Taylor, of Helm Financial, provided my family with the security we needed to feel confident and prepared for the future. We highly recommend their services.”
Zachary Wise

Is your policy right for you?

Contact us to request an unbiased inforce illustration review.
Find Out