Kansas City Life provides nearly a century of service

For almost a century, Kansas City Life has been providing insurance and service in Springfield.

According to general agent Mike Morris, the company opened an agency here in 1907. Morris has been with Kansas City Life since 1982. In 1990 he became the owner and general agent of the local agency, he said, and established the Morris Agency Inc.

Kansas City Life-Morris Agency, at 1440 E. Primrose, deals with "protection needs" such as life insurance, disability, and long-term care, Morris said.

"Basically the emphasis of our agency is needs-based financial planning. Along with life insurance, that involves annuities, mutual funds and stocks, and variable insurance products," he said.

With three staff employees, 13 full-time insurance representatives and 55 brokers, the agency serves more than 22,000 clients throughout southern Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma, Morris said.

Financial planning

"We do a tremendous amount of financial planning with both individuals and businesses," he said, "with a specialty in estate planning, business insurance and retirement planning."

The agency's broker dealer, Sunset Financial Services Inc., deals with mid- to long-term investments. These days, "the public is much more aware and therefore more demanding of our professional guidance," he said. "As professional advisers, they want us to deal with more than just life insurance."

Because of the growth in the market during the past few years that is, until recent months Morris said he has seen a lot of interest in investment and other types of variable products. But while the market was making tremendous gains, he added, "part of our job as advisers was to let people know that it wasn't normal and that it wouldn't last forever."

Because the agency deals in mid-range to long-term investments, he said, "we tell our clients, You're in this for the long run, and history has shown that the markets do well over a period of time.' So, in periods like this when the markets have gone down, they don't get worried."

Client relationships

According to Morris, the agency emphasizes building relationships and working with clients. "We try to develop that relationship with people," he said.

More options have become available to small employers who want to provide retirement plans for their employees, Morris said. "In the past, implementing retirement plans has been a challenge for small businesses with 25 employees or less, because the administrative costs have been prohibitive." Recently, though, simple individual retirement accounts and simple 401(k) plans have opened up new opportunities for small employers he said. "We do a lot of work with people, helping them determine what plan is going to be the best for their particular situation, and then implementing the plan."

Estate planning is another service the agency provides clients. With correct planning, under current laws, anybody with a net estate under $1.3 million will not have to pay estate tax, he said. Congress is considering a drastic change or even an end to estate taxes. "It's going to be interesting to see what happens," he said. "What I've always found is that if Congress takes tax revenue away from one place, they have to make up for it someplace else."

Regardless of what happens with estate-tax laws, Morris said, "people need to plan. Estate planning can be for anybody with any amount of assets."

Changing products

Life insurance is still an important service offered by the agency, Morris said. "The types of products have changed over the years, but there are still basically two types of life insurance." Term insurance is designed for temporary needs, he said, while permanent cash-value insurance is for long-term needs. Term insurance rates have decreased because of competition, he said. "Plus, people are living longer."

Kansas City Life-Morris Agency offers all the different types of life insurance, Morris said. "We try to fit the product to what people need and their risk potential," he said. "We don't try to put a focus on one or two products and fit that to everybody. It's important to have a wide portfolio of products available."