September 4, 2026

The 5-Minute Advisor – September 4, 2026

OUR PORTAL JUST GOT A LOT MORE USEFUL!

We’ve expanded and upgraded our quote tools so you can explore more solutions without having to hunt down a different tool for every type of business.

And if you’re an agent who doesn’t live and breathe life insurance every day, that’s exactly the point. You don’t have to know every product or every carrier.

You just need a good place to start and a good partner when you need help.

LIFE │ BANNER LIFE’S QUOTE-TO-APPLY…

A SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE FROM QUOTE TO APPLICATION

Banner Life’s new Quote-to-Apply tool gives your clients a personalized link where they build their own quote, adjust coverage amount and term to see premium in real time, then move straight into a two-factor digital application. No paperwork mailed back and forth. You’re notified when a client starts, and the case stays tied to you for commission if the application is approved.

Simply share your personal link. Your client will take it from there.

Email Peter to Get Set Up

PROTECTION IUL VS. COMPETITORS

Get the Competitive Edge

ANNUITIES SNAPSHOT

Thompson Agency — Rates Effective 9/1/26 — For Agent Use Only

Thompson Agency — Rates Effective 9/1/26 — For Agent Use Only

Highest Rate in Year 1 (Guarantee Years & Surrender Years Match)

Guarantee/ Surrender Yrs	AM Best Rating	Carrier Name	Product Name	1st Yr Rate
3-year	A+	Athene	MaxRate 3 ($100K+)	5.30%
4-year	A+	Integrity Life	MultiVantage 4 ($20K+)	5.05%
5-year	A+	Protective Life	Secure Saver 5 ($75K+)	5.60%
6-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 6 ($100K–$249,999)	9.60%
7-year	A+	Athene	MaxRate 7 ($100K+)	5.65%*
8-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 8 ($100K–$249,999)	5.15%
9-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 9 ($100K–$249,999)	5.15%
10-year	A	Lincoln Financial Group	MYGuarantee Plus 10 ($100K+)	5.50%

Highest Average Yield with Equal Surrender & Guarantee Period

Guarantee/ Surrender Yrs	AM Best Rating	Carrier Name	Product Name	Rate
3-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 3 ($5K–$99,999)	5.20%
3-year	A+	Athene	MaxRate 3 ($100K+)	5.30%
4-year	A	Corebridge Financial	AP VisionMYG 4 ($100K+)	4.90%
5-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 5 ($5K–$99,999)	5.45%
	A+	Cincinnati Life	MYGA 5 SPDA ($10K+)	5.50%
	A+	Protective Life	Secure Saver 5 ($75K+)	5.60%
	A	American National	Palladium MYG 5 ($250K+)	5.70%
6-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 6 ($5K–$99,999)	9.50/4.50 · Avg 5.32%
	A	American National	Palladium MYG 6 ($100K–$249,999)	9.60/4.60 · Avg 5.42%
	A	American National	Palladium MYG 6 ($250K+)	9.75/4.75 · Avg 5.57%
7-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 7 ($5K–$99,999)	5.20%
	A+	Mutual/United of Omaha	Ultra-Premier 7 ($25K+)	5.45%
	A+	Athene	MaxRate 7 ($100K+)	5.65%*
8-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 8 ($5K–$99,999)	5.05%
	A	American National	Palladium MYG 8 ($100K–$249,999)	5.15%
	A	American National	Palladium MYG 8 ($250K+)	5.30%
9-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 9 ($5K–$99,999)	5.05%
	A	American National	Palladium MYG 9 ($100K–$249,999)	5.15%
	A	American National	Palladium MYG 9 ($250K+)	5.30%
10-year	A	American National	Palladium MYG 10 ($5K–$99,999)	5.05%
10-year	A	Lincoln Financial Group	MYGuarantee Plus 10 ($100K+)	5.50%

Add’l details see Fixed Annuities Comparison Spreadsheet. Rates effective 9/1/26 and subject to change without notice. For Agent Use Only; Not to be Shared with Public.
*Athene MaxRate — see product rate sheet as some states differ in rate %.
American National (ANICO) offers higher interest rate for the Palladium MYG MAX (No Liquidity, except RMD’s). Be sure to check ANICO current rate sheet.

CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH

You don’t need a security team to be a target this October. You just need to be smaller than the business down the street that has one.

Verizon’s 2026 breach report put a number on that gap: small and midsize businesses accounted for roughly 96 percent of last year’s ransomware victims where size was known. The FBI’s latest crime report logged $20.877 billion in losses across 2025, up 26 percent year over year. And IBM found that one blind spot most companies haven’t even considered yet, employees using AI tools nobody approved, added $670,000 to the average breach when it showed up.

This week’s article is a fully updated Cybersecurity Awareness Month guide for 2026, built for small business owners and HR teams who don’t have an IT department writing their security policy. Inside, we cover:

Why small businesses, not big ones, absorbed 96 percent of last year’s ransomware hits
The $670,000 blind spot most ten-person offices don’t know they have
Four things actually worth doing this October if you have zero security budget
What HR should be doing differently than IT this month, and why it’s currently backwards
The employee benefit already sitting in most benefits packages that would have stopped last week’s breach cold

October is the one month a year when attention, budget, and employee patience line up at once. Miss it, and you’re waiting until next fall.

Read the full guide and put two things on your calendar before November