Agent Supp A Multi-C Brokerage Ge LIFE-LTC-DISABI
port Group Company eneral Agency ILITY-ANNUITIES
WHO IS • ONE OF THE LARGEST BROK THE USA • 4 OFFICES- 4 PRINCIPAL PAR • SAM KAUFMAN, JAY SCHEIN MARK MILBROD • OFFICES IN NYC, LONG ISLA NEW JERSEY • IN BUSINESS SINCE 1973 • MEMBER OF LIFEMARK PAR MANY - THE POWER OF ONE
S ASG ? KERAGE LIFE AGENCIES IN RTNERS – 24 EMPLOYEES NER, GARY BLEETSTEIN, AND, WESTCHESTER AND RTNERS- THE STRENGTH OF E
ASG PRODUCTS • ACCESS TO THE TOP CARRIE INDUSTRY • INDIVIDUAL LIFE INSURANCE • LONG TERM CARE INSURANC • DISABILITY INCOME INCLUD PRODUCTS FROM LLOYDS OF • INDIVIDUAL FIXED AND IMM
AND CARRIERS ERS IN THE INSURANCE E CE DING SPECIALTY DI F LONDON MEDIATE ANNUITIES
Agent Support G
Group Carrier List
ASG SPECIA • EXPERT IN HOUSE ADVANCED S • ACCESS TO ATTORNEYS AND CP • QUARTERLY SALES MEETINGS • ACCESS TO EXPERT INSURANCE • ACCESS TO INSURANCE REGULA • ONLINE CONTRACTING • CARRIER SPONSORED INCENTIV GIFTS • STATE OF THE ART ADMINISTRA CASES • STATE OF THE ART SYSTEM FOR
AL SERVICES SALES & DESIGN DESK PAS E AND LEGAL ARTICLES ATION CHANGES VES INCLUDING TRAVEL AND ATIVE SYSTEM FOR YOUR R CONTRACTING
ASG COMP • COMPETITIVE COMPENSAT • COMMISSIONS PAID VIA EFT FROM CARRIER • OVERWRIDE PAID MONTHLY • SEPARATE AGENT COMMISS • NO SPLIT COMMISSIONS ON
PENSATION TION FOR ALL PRODUCTS T IN MOST CASES DIRECT Y SION STATEMENTS N BROKERAGE CASES
ASG NEW • IN HOUSE- MEDICAL DIRECTOR CARDIOLOGIST • 100 YEARS + OF UNDERWRITING • SUPERIOR CASE MANAGERS • CASES HANDLED FROM SUBMIS • ONLINE CASE STATUS • LARGEST CAPACITY IN THE IND • ACCESS TO LABS AND RX SCRIP • IMPAIRED RISK SPECIALISTS FO
BUSINESS R- BOARD CERTIFIED G EXPERIENCE SSION TO COMMISSION DUSTRY PT CHECKS OR 40 YEARS
ASG GLOBAL • EXPERTISE IN FOREIGN WEALT • ACCESS TO FOREIGN AND DOM • FOREIGN NATIONAL UNDERWR • SPECIAL RISK UNDERWRITING • LARGE FOREIGN NATIONAL CA • COMPLIANCE APPROVED PROG • DUE DILIGENCE COMPLETED P • CUTTING EDGE CARRIER PROG
L EXPERTISE TH AND BUSINESS PLANNING MESTIC PRODUCTS RITING EXPERTISE G APACITY GRAMS PROGRAMS GRAMS
ASG TECHNOLO • NEW STATE OF THE ART INTERA • ONE-CLICK ASG MOBILE APP FO DEVICES • GLOBAL LINK MICRO SITE FOR F • ONLINE STATUS VIA SMART OFFI • LIFE ILLUSTRATIONS VIA EBIX W • ACCESS TO PROPRIETARY MEDIC • ACCESS TO REINSURANCE AND U • ELECTRONIC COMMISSION AND
OGY PLATFORM ACTIVE WEB SITE OR APPLE AND ANDROID FOREIGN NATIONAL BUSINESS ICE WINFLEX WEB CAL DATABASES UNDERWRITING MANUALS D POLICY DELIVERY
ASG / LEAD VUL PROCESSI
DERS GROUP ING PLATFORM
SELLING AGREEM REQUIR • Financial Advisor needs selling agr GB needs Selling • Agreement with The Leaders Group • ASG ( GB ) has selling agreement w carriers and Retail Broker Dealers • Once all selling agreements and lic Advisor may take application • For any 1035 or Replacements – Fin approval to take application
MENT – PRE SALES REMENT reements with Insurance Carrier and p with The Leaders Group and with most censing are in place, the Financial nancial Advisor needs Branch
ASG – VU AGREEEMEN Retail Broker Dealer The Leaders Group Retail Broker Dealer needs selling agreements ASG ( GB ) has selling agreements with The Le Financial Advisor must be NASD licensed in st PROCESSES CASE
UL SELLING NT PLATFORM VUL Carrier ASG s with Insurance Carrier eaders Group and most carriers tate of application – from there – ASG
PROCESSING TH • Financial Advisor meets with client a financial information. • Financial Advisor submits forms to A • ASG reviews forms, orders medicals submits to carrier. • Carrier underwrites case, approves p • ASG re-reviews policy, delivers to Fi client. • Financial Advisor delivers policy and • Financial Advisor completes Drop Ti • Retail Broker Dealer is paid by Carr Financial Advisor via Grid.
HE APPLICATION and takes application, forms and ASG for processing. s, physician statements and when ready policy and sends to ASG for delivery. inancial Advisor for delivery to the d collects any forms and premiums. icket Form at his/her Broker Dealer rier and pays pre-set commission to
ASG – VUL ASG UNDERW PROCESS ALL CARRIER UNDERWRITES, AP ISSUES AND PAYS RETAIL AND BROKER DEALER FA PAID BY RETAIL BR DEALER
PROCESSING WRITES AND L VUL CASES PPROVES AND THE D WHOLESALE LEADERS Y GROUP ROKER RETAIL BD PAID BY CARRIER
AGENT SUPP VALUE PRO Agent Support Group is a leading m brokerage agency group in the New serve as a general agent for many o competitive insurance companies, o products to suit many life insuranc have the capacity to offer over $300 on an individual without the need f
PORT GROUP OPOSITION multi-company life insurance w York Metropolitan area. We of America's strongest and most offering a broad spectrum of ce requirements. Our companies 0,000,000 of combined insurance for reinsurance.
We assist independent advisors, car and institutions in structuring esta insurance plans. Our products incl LTC and DI. Utilizing our resourc competitive advanced split-dollar p qualified pensions, premium financ strategies. Yet, \"plain vanilla\" life insurance i life to universal life and the new ge products; from individual coverage Group thinks we can do it better th experience, the creativity, and the f and secures major coverage. When Group, you will enjoy the confiden are backed by a powerful and relia
reer life agents, financial planners ate, business, and personal lude Life Insurance, Annuities, ces, you can offer highly plans, deferred compensation, cing and other corporate is not ignored. From term to whole eneration of IUL and guaranteed e to second-to-die, Agent Support han anyone. We have the flexibility that solves problems n you team up with Agent Support nce that comes from knowing you able team.
Through advanced underwriting years of combined experience, we result is more sales closed and gre Support Group is a LifeMark Par a financial services distribution ne group of independent brokerage a States. LifeMark Partners combin independence with the resources a organization. Agent Support Group is the oldes Insurance General Agency in the offices, over 22 Full Time Employ and managed by 4 Principals with insurance experience.
and a full time staff with over 150 e offer unmatched expertise. The eater income for you. Agent rtner agency. LifeMark Partners is etwork comprised of an elite agencies throughout the United nes the benefits of entrepreneurial and clout of a national st full service brokerage Life NY Metropolitan area with 4 yees, and Independently owned h over 140 years of combined life
• Areas of Expertise include finan foreign nationals, advanced case technology, seasoned long term 35 years, access to special produ business and programs. ASG is Medical Director who is a board reviewing and summarizing you • Compensation is based on sever with the broker, type of busines ratio, assisted vs. non assisted sa • ASG offers a very fair and comp all advisors.
ncial and medical underwriting, e design, state of the art staff, owner run agency for over uct and markets, foreign national s proud to have an in - house d certified cardiologist to assist in ur large cases. ral factors which include history ss, business expertise, placement ales. petitive compensation package to
• Overall value proposition is to service, access to carriers and doing business and fair compe associates.
o deliver the absolute best possible d product, underwriting, ease of ensation to our business
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE GARY Mobile Apps BLEETSTEIN For Advisors has more than 30 years of experi- ence in the BGAmarketplace and When I first started in the life insurance today we have a combination of fax, pho- is a principal of Agent Support business, my manager handed me tocopy and printer all in one device! Group—a multi-office LifeMark a yellow rate book that listed whole life Once technology caught on, carriers Partner agency located in New and term premiums by age, one—maybe needed to upgrade to more sophisticated York and New Jersey. He is a past two—underwriting classifications, and cash policy service, marketing and accounting board member of NAILBA, and values for year 20 and age 65. processing methods which were supposed presently co-chair of AALU’s “This,” he said, “is your tool to success, to make our jobs not only easier but faster. brokerage task force, a member and it will give you all the information you And technology did make our lives easier of the Forum 400, and New York need.” After a few weeks of basic training, in some areas—but more difficult in others. City Life Underwriters. I would sit in a room with 25 other young Today clients expect faster and better Bleetstein can be reached at recruits and call prospects from lists that service—they do not want to wait for the Agent Support Group, 99 Park were provided by the company. Sounds mail, they want everything yesterday via Avenue, Suite 100, New York, a lot like Glengarry Glen Ross, doesn’t it! fax, email or overnight delivery. NY 10016. Telephone: 212-292- A few years later, in the late 1970s, my As an advisor and life insurance agent, 5765. Email: gary@asglife. first interaction with technology in the busi- the question you need to be asking your- com. ness was life illustrations from the home self is: How will new technology enhance my office—a process that took about three days business? after I completed and submitted a two-page Currently, many brokerage agencies information sheet with carbon paper. offer websites; down-loadable forms; term Looking back, I am amazed that I was quote engines; and access to case status, able to make a living! As the years pro- underwriting and product information. But gressed, so did technology. It quickly will sitting in your office with all these tools became increasingly important to clients, help your business? No! You still have to carriers and all of us out on the street selling get out for a face-to-face consultation with life insurance. your clients. Every segment of our lives has been Today there is the E-App, E-Delivery, affected by technology; we started with E-Signature, Check 21 processing and many eight-track players and progressed through other items that begin with an E. With these audio cassettes, CDs and DVDs to video applications come several questions: Will a streaming. We lived through the Lanier direct link to an internet-based application word processor and then computers really help build my business, or will it only arrived—remember the AS400 and the confuse my clients? Will delivery of a policy Commodore 64. When the first box phones via PDF cause me more or less work, and came out, we all felt like we were in an epi- how will my clients like it? Will I be able to sode of “Get Smart” or “James Bond.” Some submit a $20 million application over the in the industry are too young to remember internet when I am not even with my client? the days before photocopy machines, but The answer to all of these questions Reprinted from BROKER WORLD November 2013 www.brokerworldmag.com Used with permission from Insurance Publications Subscriptions $6/yr. 1-800-762-3387
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE should be: Yes, technology and a mobile app a communication device that has enough make this new technology work for me to can enhance your practice. information, but not too much. It needs to enhance my business? Here’s how: Let’s say that you have just be easy to use, easy to navigate, and easy for • Does my staff know enough about the finished a round of golf with some friends. a BGA providing the app to their advisors new technology, and can they adapt to it? At cocktail time, one of them asks you: to educate them in how to use it. • Will using a BGA mobile app help me “How much do you think $10 million of make more sales and communicate better term insurance would cost me with my Conclusion and Summary with my BGA and clients? health conditions?” With your iPhone and Yes, technology is moving faster than The steps to take in order to achieve mobile app you can quickly give him a all of us and we need to keep up with it as the goal of enhancing your practice with simple answer and make the sale! much as we possibly can, while at the same technology are: Communication between advisors, time continuing to write business, contain • Become educated in technology and BGAs, clients and carriers has become cost, retain relationships and maintain the terminology used in the new world. one of the most important aspects of our everything that goes with being an advocate • Read as much as you can about new business, and the introduction of the for life insurance clients. hardware, software and technology for smartphone and tablets has enabled us Here are my recommendations, and I your practice in general. to keep in touch anytime and anywhere. know that if you follow these practices you • Leverage your knowledge about tech- Enhancing this level of communication will be even more successful in your prac- nology with your staff and your clients. available to us today is access to a user- tice, enhance your relationships and build • Work with a BGA that is a leader in friendly mobile app specifically built for some new, vitally important relationships. technology—to not only enhance your time the purpose of education, communication, The questions to ask about technology management, but also to enhance your and providing important information are: bottom line and make more sales. to you, the advisor, in order to provide • Am I working with a BGA who can Working with a BGA who can provide enough information so that a sale can help me in the area of technology and use you with leading technology—which be made. of a mobile app? needs to include a mobile app—will be The most important feature of an advi- • Do I know enough about technology? a game changer for you and your entire sor-friendly life insurance app is that it is • Do I have the tools necessary to organization. Reprinted from BROKER WORLD November 2013 www.brokerworldmag.com Used with permission from Insurance Publications Subscriptions $6/yr. 1-800-762-3387
LIFE Foreign Nationals an Untapped High-Net-Worth Market H igh-net-worth immigrants most important question is how will advisors 40% of Time Warner Center’s be educated about this market. residents are students at may be a potential market that top colleges in New York. Let’s take a deeper look at the foreign THESE STUDENTS ARE you haven’t considered. Some national market and examine some of the NON-U.S. CITIZENS. drivers in this space, which include: information on what drives this The Time Warner Center as viewed from » Changing demographics. Central Park West. emerging market and details » The U.S. remains No. 1 in attractiveness » A solution for significant tax issues that you must consider in obtaining to foreign investors. foreign nationals must address. coverage for foreign nationals. » The globalization of many parts of the » The foreign nationals’ quest to leave world. their family a legacy. By Gary Bleetstein » Increased property and business owner- Here are a few important things to consider Do you know that the largest col- ship by foreign nationals in the U.S. when proposing life insurance as a solution for lege undergraduate dormitory in a foreign national’s financial protection needs: the U.S. is in New York City? The » Increased educational opportunities for address is 25 Columbus Circle, the Time foreign nationals in the U.S. » Whether the prospect is classified as a res- Warner Center. Over 40 percent of the ident alien or a non-resident alien. A resident building’s residents are students at Colum- alien is a non-U.S. citizen with a permanent bia University, New York University, Bar- home in the U.S. A resident alien is subject nard College, Hunter College and several to federal estate and gift taxes on worldwide top-tier medical schools in New York City. assets. A non-resident alien is a non-U.S. cit- What is more interesting is the fact that izen who resides outside the U.S. Only the these students are non-U.S. citizens who U.S. assets of a non-resident alien are subject are residing in luxury units that cost their to federal estate and gift taxes. parents several million dollars apiece. Furthermore, several national publica- tions have described American cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Dallas as “the New Beijing,” “the New Tehran,” “Mexico City North” and so forth. Do you see a theme emerging here? According to the Lusk Center at the Uni- versity of Southern California, the following metropolitan areas are the growth cities of the U.S. for new high-net-worth immi- grants: Miami, Denver, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta. And the list doesn’t stop there. Tuscaloosa, Ala., has a 3-million-square-foot Mercedes-Benz assembly plant, employing hundreds if not thousands of foreign nationals. As this trend continues, the question is not whether these foreign nationals need life insurance. The questions instead are who will be qualified to sell and service these policies, and where will they learn about this new and rewarding marketplace? Now that we have already established the size of the market as well as its growth poten- tial, exactly who are the potential prospects, how do we identify them and which carriers are selling products for these individuals? The 34 InsuranceNewsNet Magazine » September 2014
LIFE FOREIGN NATIONALS AN UNTAPPED HIGH-NET-WORTH MARKET » Whether the prospect has a NEXUS card for frequent travelers CASE NO. 2: A couple from Hong Kong owns a high-end apart- to the U.S. ment in New York City. Their daughter lives there and is a grad- uate student at Columbia University. The couple also owns a » How often the prospect travels to the U.S. and for what reasons. business in the U.S. worth $15 million. Solution: A Delaware limited liability corporation bought a $25 million universal life policy on the » Whether the foreign national is married to a U.S. citizen. husband, who is 59 years old. The $60,000 Question CASE NO. 3: A 55-year-old citizen of Singapore and resident of Dubai has a $10 million account that he intends to pass to his chil- This may be one of the most crucial parts of the discussion with your dren at a later date. He wants to be sure the money is guaranteed prospect. Knowing the rules will make the difference in whether your somehow. The solution: a $15 million life insurance policy. His discussion results in a sale or turns into just another appointment. children will receive their inheritance, and, if needed, the cash val- ue of the policy may be accessed via withdrawals or loans. A non-resident alien who owns real property in the U.S. will be ex- posed to federal estate and gift taxes. If the property is owned directly Although there is tremendous opportunity in this market, there by a U.S. corporation, a U.S. partnership or a foreign partnership, the are still a few things that the advisor must understand. maximum amount one may shelter from federal tax is $60,000. Bot- tom line: The estate tax rate applicable to the value of the property in » The prospects are there, but you must find them. Certified excess of $60,000 is 40 percent, and that comes due nine months after public accountants, attorneys, real estate agents and business asso- the non-resident alien’s death. In other words, the lifetime estate tax ciates are all good centers of influence to help you find them. exemption for a non-resident alien is equal to approximately $13,000. » The solutions may sound simple, but they are really not. A Few Case Studies There are many “moving parts” to this market, including the prod- uct availability, the status of the prospect, the country where the CASE NO. 1: A 60-year-old Israeli citizen and resident of Tel Aviv prospect resides and the prospect’s marital status. owns several pieces of residential real estate in Florida worth $8 mil- lion. Solution: He purchased a $20 million guaranteed universal life contract at preferred nonsmoker rates with an A+ rated U.S. carrier. » Each carrier in this market has its own rules, underwriting reg- ulations and solicitation guidelines. For the most part, all solicita- tions, exams, and application and form signing must be done on U.S. soil and the client must have a NEXUS card identifying him as a pre- screened frequent traveler to the U.S. Insurable interest and financial justification also are very important elements in the life insurance sale. » Each carrier also views each individual country differently. Each carrier has its own set of rules and regulations as well as its own interpretation of the laws that govern the purchase of U.S. life insurance policies by citizens of other nations. As the foreign national market is emerging very quickly, it is import- ant that any advisor attempting to get into this market work with a bro- kerage general agency (BGA) that has extensive knowledge in the field of foreign nationals. In looking for a BGA to help you sell to this market, the questions you need to ask include whether the BGA has the ability to write a foreign national with several carriers, whether the BGA can obtain translated medical and prescription records, and whether the BGA has errors and omissions coverage for this line of business. Educating yourself about the opportunities available in serving new high-net-worth immigrants can help you serve a marketplace that you may not have considered previously. If you become familiar with the market, develop the right contacts, use best practices and, most of all, use a well-qualified BGA to help guide you through the process, you will be successful in serving foreign nationals. Gary Bleetstein is a partner and principal of Agent Sup- port Group located in New York and New Jersey. Gary may be contacted at [email protected]. 36 InsuranceNewsNet Magazine » September 2014
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE SAM J. Look Out – Your KAUFMAN, Clients Are Not Walking Down The CEO, began his career in the life Yellow Brick Road insurance industry in 1968 after graduating from The University of Astorm is brewing and it is about to versus those projected originally, being can- Miami, and in 1973 founded Agent hit—with great force and intensity— nibalized and hence the policy terminating Support Group (then Agent Support your policyholders that have older current sooner than expected without substantial Services), a life insurance brokerage assumption universal life policies. The additional funding. agency. He built ASG into one of the magnitude of the destruction will be greater first true multi-company agencies in than even that witnessed by Dorothy and Why is this happening? The actual inter- New York. His focus on providing Toto and will need more than a wave of the est rates and mortality assumptions have value-added service as well as insisting Good Witch of the North’s wand to save. been poorer than those used in creating the that ASG become a leader in technology COIs originally projected. Replacement allowed the company to grow to become Got your attention now? Do not ask where has resulted in a significant proportion of a powerhouse and one of the largest you will be able seek protection, as there healthy policyholders moving to guaranteed independent life operations in the will be no shelter to be found as this storm universal life, leaving a pool of insureds with Northeast. ravages policyholders caught without any adverse mortality. This same thing has been warning. Even those policyholders and happening with older dividend paying poli- The pioneer who gave brokers their advisors who tried to prevent this devas- cies as recognized by the bifurcation of the first computerized sales illustrations tating event will be caught in its path as it dividends allocated to older policyholders (Kaufman was one of the first in New attacts unsuspecting policyholders. versus new. However, in current assump- York to even own a computer) has tion universal life policies the result of the now pioneered the ASG mobile app, It’s the increases in the cost of insur- increase in the COIs is more devastating. allowing life agents the ability to do ance—those non-guaranteed COIs that are business anywhere and access the latest internally deducted from the account values Companies are notifying policyholders, information in the palm of their hands. to cover the net amount at risk and provide but often not their advisors. General Agents Kaufman has played an important role in the total desired death benefit. Although and advisors are notified via a general product development and marketing and most advisors and policyholders were led announcement, but not told of the specific has lectured before the New York chapter to believe that COIs would be stable and the polices affected and a general idea of what of NAIFA and the Society of Financial reason for their indeterminate structure was the effect will be going forward. This Service Professionals. He is a member to benefit the cost structure while reducing leaves us with no alternative but to review of NAILBA and has won numerous reserve costs for the insurer, that myth is internal records and request re-projections industry and carrier awards, including about to end. based upon the current scheduled premium lifetime achievement recognition. outlay and the outlay now required to keep Many companies are looking at the COIs the policy in force to maturity. The poli- ASG, a Lifemark Partner Agency, is in their older current assumption blocks of cyholder receiving the notification that the a leading multi-company life insurance business and determining that these costs cost of insurance has been increased has no brokerage agency with operations in should be increased. Given the fact that way of interpreting the increase relative to New York, New Jersey and North most current assumption universal life poli- their policy. Carolina. They serve as a general agent cies are aged, the policyholders are older— for many of America’s strongest and with most being over age 65. The increase As a Brokerage General Agency we are most competitive insurance companies, in the COIs results in their cash value, now trying to be pro-active, but in many cases we offering a broad spectrum of products to being credited at minimum interest rates are working with companies that are no lon- suit many life, annuity, long term care and disability income needs. Kaufman can be reached at Agent Support Group, 99 Park Avenue, Suite 1910, New York, NY 10016. Telephone: 212-292-5760. Email: sam@asglife. com. Reprinted from BROKER WORLD January 2016 www.brokerworldmag.com Used with permission from Insurance Publications Subscriptions $6/yr. 1-800-762-3387
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE Climbing Kilimanjaro A Promise Nearly Broken By Jay Scheiner, JD, CLU two promises to her, I could go. The first promise was that I would do everything in my power to “not die” on Kilimanjaro. The second promise was to climb only as high as I could safely go—even if that meant descending down the mountain without reaching the summit. I made these promises freely, feeling confi- dent they would be easy to keep. In reality, I came very close to breaking both of them. After overcoming personal challenges, an insurance professional set out to fulfill his dream of climbing Africa’s tallest mountain. Little did he know that surviving the descent back down the mountain would prove to be his greatest challenge. Ernest Hemingway writes in the intro- Like the leopard, I, too, was searching duction to The Snows of Kilimanjaro: for something unknown on Kilimanjaro. “Kilimanjaro is a snow covered mountain When I announced to my wife and daugh- 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest ters that I was planning to climb Mount mountain in Africa. Its western summit is Kilimanjaro, they thought I was nuts. After called Masai, the House of God. Close to seeing a Kilimanjaro video, their position the western summit there is a dried and moderated to just, “Please don’t do it.” frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has Eventually my wife agreed that as long as I explained what the leopard was seeking at trained sufficiently, chose the trekking com- that altitude.” pany with the best safety record and made Reprinted from BROKER WORLD April 2012 www.brokerworldmag.com Used with permission from Insurance Publications Subscriptions $6/yr. 1-800-762-3387
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE It is just before sunrise on August 13, 2011. We are making the final push to the top of the crater rim of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Although we are near the Equator, the weather is brutally cold, so cold that my water is frozen and I cannot feel my fingers. Thankfully, the night is almost over. The moon is full and millions of stars seem to be following us as we climb in single file behind our guide, Tobias. As the hours crawl by, the torch beam of my headlamp is focusing on the boots of Sarah, the climber just ahead of me. Looking up, I see the Rebmann Glacier, a silver overhanging piece of the ancient ice cap that crowns the square top of Kilimanjaro. High above is the rim of the great volcano itself—closer now—but still beyond reach. A chill creeps through each layer of clothes and begs every part of me to cry out. The temperature is minus 20 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit). Almost forgetting the reason for coming, I am tempted to end it and ask a guide to lead me back down the mountain. Then I remember what it took to get to Africa and thought back to a time, three years earlier, when illness was getting the better of me and I promised myself that upon recovery I would do something important, just for me. With the singular clarity of Hemingway’s leopard, I am reminded of the reason I had come and why I have to push on. In 2008 I was 49 and faced both prostate cancer and a heart condition. The cancer was diagnosed early and I decided to treat it aggressively with radical prostatectomy. Just after recovery from surgery, I developed a rapid and irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. As with the cancer, I chose the most invasive approach, but the one with the best chance of full recovery. In December I underwent a five hour surgical procedure to cauter- ize (burn) the sections of my heart causing the abnormal rhythm, thereby eliminating the atrial fibrillation. Thus, 2008 was a year that could have turned me into an old, sick man. Instead, I had overcome two potentially debilitating illnesses and could begin to dream again. I wanted and needed an adventure, something to test myself, something significant. It was hard for me to shake the underlying fear that I was not done with the illnesses, but merely between them. If another medical incident occurred, the door could close and my one chance would be lost. Searching for the dream, I looked into my past and saw things I could no longer realisti- cally accomplish for a variety of reasons. Before marrying my wife and starting our family, I took a long, solo voyage in a small sailboat and hoped in my lifetime to sail alone to Bermuda or beyond. Such a voyage now would be out of the question due to the unacceptable level of risk it involved. I also dreamed of bicycling 3,500 miles coast to coast, but this would be too time consuming; I could not be away from my insurance practice for more than a few weeks at a time. Reprinted from BROKER WORLD April 2012 www.brokerworldmag.com Used with permission from Insurance Publications Subscriptions $6/yr. 1-800-762-3387
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE The goal of climbing Kilimanjaro arose at my three-year post www.brokerworldmag.com surgery cancer check-up as my surgeon described his trek up Subscriptions $6/yr. 1-800-762-3387 Africa’s highest mountain. The seed was planted; I was hooked and there was no turning back. Half a year of intensive training followed, which included daily two-hour workouts, thousands of stairs climbed, long city miles walked and timed, hills run up and trainers obeyed. I hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail on weekends with Outdoor Bound and hired a nutritionist to help turn fat into muscle, dropping additional weight; all culminating in my trip to Africa to attempt to scale the great mountain. By the time I landed in Tanzania, I felt as though my entire life was leading up to this moment. These memories motivated me to keep pushing on. Back on the mountain, we continue to move in silence. Our climb- ing party includes Larry, an American living in Nigeria; Wendy, an airline pilot; and Sarah, an attorney. We had never met before the climb. Of the four of us, I am the only one without high altitude climbing experience and, not surprisingly, am having trouble at this extreme altitude. In five days we had climbed through a dense rainforest, over heathland and moorland, used our hands and feet to scramble up an 800 foot volcanic rock face called The Great Barranco Wall and through a high alpine desert. At this point we are scaling the scree (a combination of shale and gravel) toward the icecap on the way to the summit. Twelve hours earlier, during our final meal before starting out on the all-night summit attempt, I admitted I would willingly lose a finger, a toe, or a few of each, in exchange for making it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. With that, I was on my way to breaking my second promise. We began this sixth day of hiking at midnight. Each of us hav- ing donned every layer of clothing in our arsenal. I had multiple layers on top and bottom including: hats, face mask—even three pairs of socks. Our guides were carrying the safety equipment, including large tanks of oxygen and masks for each climber. A rescue porter car- ries a portable altitude chamber called a Gamow bag and folding stretcher. In all, each guide is burdened with 75 pounds of gear. At this stage of the climb, I had merely to lug my own 52-year-old, 5’10”, 205-pound butt 4,000 feet up to the top of the mountain. To put the trek to the summit in perspective, journalist John Reader describes: “It is equivalent to clambering up the side of nine Empire State Buildings laid end to end at about sixteen degrees. Yet, at 4,710 meters (15,452 feet) there is little more than half the density of oxygen which occurs on Manhattan or at the foot of most stair- cases. So in effect, the aspiring climber attempts the equivalent of those feats with the equivalent of only one lung.” Throughout the preceding days, as we climbed to ever higher altitudes, our bodies worked to acclimatize to the decreasing amount of oxygen pressure. Failure to acclimatize could result in acute mountain sickness (AMS). The intensity and severity of AMS symptoms can vary, but can quickly become extremely serious and, although rare, prove fatal. Of those who attempt the climb each year, more than 1,000 are evacuated from the mountain and approximately 10 deaths are reported—mainly due to AMS. Reprinted from BROKER WORLD April 2012 Used with permission from Insurance Publications
BROKER WORLD MAGAZINE Despite these risks, Mount Kilimanjaro is sometimes called “everyman’s Everest,” because it is the most achievable of the Seven Summits (the highest mountains on each of the world’s seven continents). No technical climbing skills or mountaineering equipment such as ice axes and ropes are required. While thou- sands of people climb the peak successfully, the mountain is often underestimated. Fewer than half of those who begin the trek up Kilimanjaro reach the top of the mountain due to the debilitating headaches and nausea from altitude sickness, or physical maladies ranging from blisters to fever or an infection from water borne organisms. Sometimes failing to reach the summit is a simple lack of will on the climber’s part. As we climb through the night, we pass many hikers on their way down—some dragged down due to the effects of AMS. The sight and smells of the remnants of their illnesses line our path up the mountain. Looking up toward the top of the crater rim called Stella Point, I feel that I cannot go on any longer. The positive thoughts that helped me put one foot in front of the other for so many hours have vanished because breathing takes so much energy. Several hours and a thousand feet remain to climb. Having already asked my guides to stop for me several times, how can I ask again? And then there is the secret I am keeping from my guides and climbing partners. For the past three nights I have not slept at all. Alone at night in my tent, working to breathe and nursing a deep, persistent cough, I am fearful that if I fall asleep I will not wake up. My resting pulse rate on the upper mountain is more than 100; although my heartbeat is regular, I fear a return of the atrial fibrillation high on the mountain. If the guides learn the extent of my insomnia, they will surely make me descend the mountain, ending my climb. Sleeplessness is my demon; I spend the nights praying for morning to come. As the sun makes its slow rise over Mawenzi, Kilimanjaro’s eastern summit, the scree forces us to slip back and dig our poles into the earth, pulling up with every step in order to advance. A howling wind picks up and, with it, the top soil of the slope becomes airborne. I take out my goggles, but it’s too late. Gritty dust gets in both eyes, stinging and temporarily blinding me. I can’t give up, I must get to the top of this mountain, which is so close now. We reach the top of the volcano at 7:30 am—but this is not the true summit. Now we must hike from Stella Point around the crater rim to the summit—Uhuru (Freedom) Peak, which could take another hour. The going is painfully slow; but thankfully, with an elevation gain of 500 feet, not as steep. I can barely see due to the sand in my eyes. For a time, I follow Tobias, fixing my gaze on a red string hanging from his backpack to guide my way. Above the clouds the land- scape looks unworldly. Breathless, we trudge around the volcano, passing other climbers who successfully reached the summit and are now on their way down. Reprinted from BROKER WORLD April 2012 www.brokerworldmag.com Used with permission from Insurance Publications Subscriptions $6/yr. 1-800-762-3387
Search
