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August 30. 2012 1:15AM
Scott Christensen, managing partner of Northern New England Financial, on the roof of the Brady Sullivan Plaza in Manchester, where its business is located on the 12th floor. The company is affiliated with Northwestern Mutual, which has been serving N.H. residents for 125 years. (Thomas Roy/Union Leader)
Insurance firm has helped NH residents prepare for unexpected for 125 years
Scott Christensen, managing partner of Northern New England Financial, on the roof of the Brady Sullivan Plaza in Manchester, where its business is located on the 12th floor. The company is affiliated with Northwestern Mutual, which has been serving N.H. residents for 125 years. (Thomas Roy/Union Leader)
When Dr. Jameson G. “Jamey” Thissell was killed in a motorcycle accident in Hooksett four years ago, Sarah Thissell suddenly became a widow with three children from 6 months to 7 years old.
The popular emergency room doctor at Concord Hospital and Horseshoe Pond Urgent Care in Concord was just 35 years old.
“He was very young, but he was one of those people that just filled a room, and you never forgot him if you met him,” she said.
“When he died it was five days before my 35th birthday,” Sarah Thissell said in a telephone interview. She turned 39 in May.
But because the couple had met with financial counselors and purchased life insurance, their personal tragedy did not turn into an economic calamity.
Thissell credits Northwestern Mutual agent Bob Blood in Concord with saving the young couple from cutting back on their life insurance in the weeks before her husband’s accidental death.
“We had gotten life insurance before we moved here through Prudential, and then, when we met Bob, we got another insurance policy through Northwestern,” she said.
“We actually, about a month before Jamie died, were talking to somebody else who suggested we might have too much life insurance for our age and health and we should probably get rid of some of it,” Thissell said. “We went in and met with Bob and decided to keep the amount of life insurance we had,” she said.
Having that life insurance in place when Dr. Thissell died meant being able to keep their home, keep a part-time job and keep her young family intact, she said.
“It was so important to not have that added stress,” she said.
Northwestern Mutual financial adviser Bob Blood noted the challenging times Thissell has endured over the last several years.
“We were fortunate to have had an opportunity to meet a couple of years prior to this accident and had done some planning,” said Blood, one of about 130 Northwestern Mutual reps in the northern New England region affiliated with Manchester-based Northern New England Financial. Northwestern Mutual is celebrating its 125th year operating in New Hampshire.
Northern New England Financial Managing Partner Scott G. Christensen said the company helps customers prepare an overall financial plan, not just insurance.“Our reps will do a plan around retirement planning, college education planning,” he said. “They’ll work oftentimes with somebody’s attorney to make sure an estate plan is done. That’s the end result, and then we bring it back to what products do we need to serve this plan.”
That means talking about subjects most people would rather avoid.
“What happens if mom dies or dad dies? Who pays the bills? A lot of times we have to have conversations with people around this stuff,” Christensen said. “It’s not human nature. We all know that we’re going to die, it’s inevitable, but it’s not going to happen to us.”
Christensen likens his reps to guardian angels: “We take on many clients in their 20s, and we want to grow old with them,” he said.
Northwestern Mutual’s flagship product is whole life insurance, which has guarantees and doesn’t go down in value. Nationwide, Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Financial Network had $1.2 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force in 2011, and 5.5 million policies owned by 3.3 million policyholders.
Meanwhile, Sarah Thissell has become an advocate for young families investing in insurance for their protection. She once spoke at a Northwestern Mutual planning day event.
“Jamie was wearing a helmet, he was not speeding, but a lot of people have made changes, stopped smoking or started wearing seat belts if they hadn’t because of his death,” Mrs. Thissell said. “I know that a lot of young people did go out and buy life insurance right after that because it just shocked them into realizing we’re not invincible. If it could happen to Jamie, it could happen to anybody. I’m hoping that good things have come from it out of a horrible situation.”
With part of the life insurance, Thissell bought a timeshare at Disney. “That’s one of the places my children love,” she said. “We used to go there with Jamie, and we’ve made so many memories.”
@Body Copy tagline diamond:.
On the Net: www.nmfn.com/northernnewenglandfinancial
The popular emergency room doctor at Concord Hospital and Horseshoe Pond Urgent Care in Concord was just 35 years old.
“He was very young, but he was one of those people that just filled a room, and you never forgot him if you met him,” she said.
“When he died it was five days before my 35th birthday,” Sarah Thissell said in a telephone interview. She turned 39 in May.
But because the couple had met with financial counselors and purchased life insurance, their personal tragedy did not turn into an economic calamity.
Thissell credits Northwestern Mutual agent Bob Blood in Concord with saving the young couple from cutting back on their life insurance in the weeks before her husband’s accidental death.
“We had gotten life insurance before we moved here through Prudential, and then, when we met Bob, we got another insurance policy through Northwestern,” she said.
“We actually, about a month before Jamie died, were talking to somebody else who suggested we might have too much life insurance for our age and health and we should probably get rid of some of it,” Thissell said. “We went in and met with Bob and decided to keep the amount of life insurance we had,” she said.
Having that life insurance in place when Dr. Thissell died meant being able to keep their home, keep a part-time job and keep her young family intact, she said.
“It was so important to not have that added stress,” she said.
Northwestern Mutual financial adviser Bob Blood noted the challenging times Thissell has endured over the last several years.
“We were fortunate to have had an opportunity to meet a couple of years prior to this accident and had done some planning,” said Blood, one of about 130 Northwestern Mutual reps in the northern New England region affiliated with Manchester-based Northern New England Financial. Northwestern Mutual is celebrating its 125th year operating in New Hampshire.
Northern New England Financial Managing Partner Scott G. Christensen said the company helps customers prepare an overall financial plan, not just insurance.“Our reps will do a plan around retirement planning, college education planning,” he said. “They’ll work oftentimes with somebody’s attorney to make sure an estate plan is done. That’s the end result, and then we bring it back to what products do we need to serve this plan.”
That means talking about subjects most people would rather avoid.
“What happens if mom dies or dad dies? Who pays the bills? A lot of times we have to have conversations with people around this stuff,” Christensen said. “It’s not human nature. We all know that we’re going to die, it’s inevitable, but it’s not going to happen to us.”
Christensen likens his reps to guardian angels: “We take on many clients in their 20s, and we want to grow old with them,” he said.
Northwestern Mutual’s flagship product is whole life insurance, which has guarantees and doesn’t go down in value. Nationwide, Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Financial Network had $1.2 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force in 2011, and 5.5 million policies owned by 3.3 million policyholders.
Meanwhile, Sarah Thissell has become an advocate for young families investing in insurance for their protection. She once spoke at a Northwestern Mutual planning day event.
“Jamie was wearing a helmet, he was not speeding, but a lot of people have made changes, stopped smoking or started wearing seat belts if they hadn’t because of his death,” Mrs. Thissell said. “I know that a lot of young people did go out and buy life insurance right after that because it just shocked them into realizing we’re not invincible. If it could happen to Jamie, it could happen to anybody. I’m hoping that good things have come from it out of a horrible situation.”
With part of the life insurance, Thissell bought a timeshare at Disney. “That’s one of the places my children love,” she said. “We used to go there with Jamie, and we’ve made so many memories.”
@Body Copy tagline diamond:.
On the Net: www.nmfn.com/northernnewenglandfinancial