老人賣保單換現金 壽險業大失血 Jan 01, 2007《紐時周報全文精譯》 The Life Insurance Industry Turns Pale as Elderly Cash In 田思怡譯 80歲的曼哈坦金融顧問馬文．馬哥利斯正在尋找願意賭他何時死掉的投資 人。 Marvin Margolis, an 80-year-old Manhattan financial consultant, is looking for investors willing to bet on when he will die. 兩年前，馬哥利斯買了巨額壽險保單，現在他考慮賣給一群投資人，這筆 交易應可讓他獲得200萬美元，供他享受餘生。相對的，這些投資人在他歸天時 可以得到保單上的700萬美元保險給付，他們希望那一天快點來臨，他們就可以 停止付他的保險費。 Two years ago, Mr. Margolis bought a large life insurance policy. Now, he’s considering selling it to a group of investors, a deal that should give him as much as $2 million to enjoy in his final years. In return, the investors will get the policy’s $7 million payout when he dies — which they hope will be soon, so they can stop paying his premiums. 馬哥利斯說：「這是把我的身體當成資產的大好機會，我用某種方式從我 的年齡獲得好處，並不為過。」 “SchneThis is a wonderful opportunity to use my body as an asset,” Mr. Margolis said. “I deserve to be able to benefit in some way from my age." 有錢老人所持有壽險保單的交易，已悄悄地成為一項大生意。避險基金、像 是瑞士信貸和德意志銀行這樣的金融機構，以及像是華倫．巴菲特這樣的投資人 ，正以數十億美元買下老人的壽險保單。其他投資人則付錢給老人，請他們申辦 壽險，借錢給他們買保單，再把保單轉售給投機客。 Trading in life insurance policies held by wealthy seniors has quietly become a big business. Hedge funds, financial institutions like Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, and investors like Warren E. Buffett are spending billions to buy life insurance policies from the elderly. Other investors are paying seniors to apply for life insurance, lending them money to buy the policies, and then reselling them to speculators. 這個剛萌芽的市場，正代表著投資人想從已屆退休年齡的美國廣大富人世 代身上賺錢的一種方式。 This nascent market illustrates one way that investors are hoping to make money from a large and wealthy generation of Americans as they reach retirement age. 但保險業高級主管說，像馬哥利斯這樣的交易也許會癱瘓他們的產業，使 一般老人買保險更困難。保險公司憂心忡忡，因為他們指望許多客戶在死前取 銷他們的保單。如果有太多保單需要給付，保險業的獲利將大幅減少。的確， 保險業分析師說，他們預期，保險公司需要為更多給付預做準備，會墊高壽險 的成本。 But insurance executives say transactions like Mr. Margolis’s may cripple their industry and make it harder for the average senior to buy life insurance. Insurers are worried because they count on many customers canceling their policies before they die. If far more policies result in payouts, the insurance business becomes much less profitable. Indeed, industry analysts say they expect the cost of life insurance to rise as companies prepare to pay out more claims. 賓州大學華頓學院教授大衛．康明斯說：「如果給付增加，承保壽險的成 本實際上也跟著上升，肯定會使保單價格提高。」 “If payouts increase, the cost of insuring people is effectively going up, and that will definitely increase the price of policies,” said J. David Cummins, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 話雖如此，卻有許多人在銀行存款快花光時，變得要靠出售保單來取得急 需的錢，以支應醫療照護費和生活費。 While that may be the case, many people have come to rely on selling their policies to provide urgently needed money for medical care and living expenses when their bank accounts run dry. 不過，保險業高級主管說，這個新崛起的市場可能具有毀滅性。大都會國 際人壽公司執行長勞勃．韓利克森說：「保壽險是個人保護家人的一種方法， 如果某人因一個陌生人的死亡而獲利，是把壽險的目的本末倒置。任何事只要 打亂了構成這個產業基礎的經濟程序，都會使得壽險的成本衝破上限。」 However, insurance executives say that the market that has emerged could be ruinous. “Life insurance is a way for individuals to protect their families,” said C. Robert Henrikson, the chief executive of MetLife. “If someone profits from a stranger’s death, it stands the whole purpose of life insurance on its head. Anything that disrupts the economic processes underlying this industry will drive the cost of life insurance through the ceiling.” 美國最大壽險業者美國國際集團（A.I.G.）今年稍早為了阻撓這些交易， 把一些70歲以上投保的萬能壽險保單保費提高。A.I.G.一名發言人說：「我們 不要這種生意，我們要採取行動，阻止這樣的投保人上門。」 The biggest insurer in the United States, American International Group, earlier this year increased prices on some universal life policies for buyers more than 70 years old in an effort to thwart spin-life deals. “We don’t want this business, and we’re taking steps to discourage those purchasers from coming through our doors,” an A.I.G. spokesman said. 然而許多賣掉保單的人卻說，這是他們避免不幸的唯一辦法。猶他州凱斯 維爾市的安德魯．史奈特說：「要不是賣了這張保單，我們的房子、存款和一 切全保不住。」七年前，他的妻子凱倫得知她罹患乳癌。她的花費比史奈德夫 婦的醫療保險高出50萬美元。他說，史奈德太太以大約25萬美元賣掉她的壽險 ，用這筆錢買藥和付帳單。她去年去世時，買下她保單的投資人獲得50萬美元 的死亡給付。 But many people who have sold their policies say it offered their only way to avoid calamity.“If I hadn’t been able to sell this policy we would have lost our house, all of our savings, everything,” said Andrew Schneider of Kaysville, Utah. Seven years ago his wife, Karen, learned she had breast cancer. Her expenses exceeded the Schneiders’ medical insurance by half a million dollars. Mrs. Schneider sold her life insurance policy for about $250,000 and used the money to buy medicine and pay bills, he said. The investors who bought her policy received a $500,000 death benefit when she died last year. 史奈德說：「賣掉那張保單讓她多活了幾年，要是這個市場不存在，我們 早已一貧如洗。」 “StatSelling that policy extended her life for years,” said Mr. Schneider. “If this market hadn’t existed, we would have become financially destitute" By CHARLES DUHIGG / NY TIMES 【2007-01-03/聯合報/C7版/教育】 -- 趙客縵胡纓 吳鉤霜雪明 銀鞍照白馬 颯沓如流星 十步殺一人 千里不留行 事了拂衣去 深藏身與名 閒過信陵飲 脫劍膝前橫 將炙啖朱亥 持觴勸侯贏 三盃吐然諾 五嶽倒為輕 眼花耳熱後 意氣素霓生 救趙揮金槌 邯鄲先震驚 千秋二壯士 烜赫大梁城 縱使俠骨香 不慚世上英 誰能書閤下 白首太玄經 李白 俠客行 --

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