Advisor Strategy: 7 Ways to Sell Life Insurance to Gen Z and Stop the Legacy Pitch | AiF Advisor

Advisor Guide: Young clients see the value of life insurance, but they require different messaging focused on lifetime benefits and financial foundation.

Gen Z Canadians are showing attitudes toward life insurance similar to those of previous generations, typically purchasing it around major life milestones. However, advisors working with these young adults—many now in their 20s—report that the messaging required to resonate with them is distinctly different from traditional approaches.

🚨 The Obsolete Sales Pitch

Alysha Tse, a CFP and wealth advisor with Richardson Wealth in Vancouver, notes that while young clients often inquire about life insurance tied to major events (buying a first home, having a first child, or a family death), the “old assumptions we used to make about when someone should consider life insurance don’t necessarily apply.”

Due to the high cost of living, Millennial and Gen Z Canadians are often delaying or forgoing having children and buying homes altogether.

Zainab Williams, a CFP and founder of Elleverity Wealth Management in Milton, Ont., found that the traditional selling points that older generations connected with—about preventing a worst-case scenario, legacy planning, and protecting generational wealth—do not resonate with younger clients.

Williams points out that Gen Z grew up in an environment of high uncertainty and financial stress. “The message that ‘if you do not act this is the negative repercussion’ doesn’t work, because they’re already financially stressed,” she said.

7 New Strategies for Selling Life Insurance to Gen Z

Advisors must shift the conversation from “protection for the next generation” to “empowerment and foundation for this generation”:

1. Highlight Lifetime Value, Not Just Death Benefit: Tse shifts the focus away from milestones, highlighting the benefit of purchasing young while premiums are lowest, and emphasizing that certain policies have cash values that can be utilized during their lifetime.

2. Frame it as a Financial Foundation Tool: Williams discusses how whole life policies can help clients build their foundation, for example, by leveraging the cash value as collateral for future loans.

3. Provide Practical and Value-Driven Advice: Tse stresses that advice that “matches their current realities and aligns with their values” is what resonates most effectively.

4. Offer Holistic Planning Over Product Sales: Younger clients crave education and holistic financial planning rather than a product-sale approach. They want to understand, “how exactly does this strategy fit into my overall financial well-being?”

5. Use Emotional Messaging (The “Love Letter”): Williams reframes the policy as a “love letter to the people you care about.” If parents co-signed a loan, the policy helps them if the client is no longer there.

6. Lead with Empathy and Avoid Talking Down: Jason Reynold Goveas, a senior insurance advisor with PolicyAdvisor, stressed the importance of speaking with empathy. He recalled senior advisors who “talked down” to younger clients. “What they want is to be heard… and you’re trying to find a solution that works for them,” he said.

7. Address the Finfluencer Effect: Gen Z clients often conduct extensive research using unconventional sources like TikTok and YouTube shorts, where information may be inaccurate. Williams developed an AI-powered “analyzer” tool to help clients evaluate the accuracy, biases, and risks promoted by financial influencers. Advisors must be cognizant of how they address misinformation without appearing judgmental.

Conclusion: The Advisor’s Evolved Role

Williams concludes that advisors must recognize Gen Z’s access to information and their inclination to research everything before seeking professional advice. The advisor’s role is evolving into an empathetic educator and information verifier who integrates life insurance into a client’s holistic financial framework in a respectful, non-judgmental manner.