Modern Life’s Founder and CEO, Michael Konialian, founded the company in 2021 with the mission of empowering life insurance advisors to serve clients better and faster with cutting-edge technology. In this article, he shares how Express Decision is redefining the life insurance buying experience to make it easier than ever for advisors to help clients get the coverage they need.

For too long, life insurance has been the most painful financial product to buy and sell. The traditional underwriting process is cumbersome—comparable to a mortgage, but with needles! Clients and their advisors have to run a gauntlet—filling in a dizzying array of forms, navigating a series of often invasive application requirements (like medical exams, lab tests, phone interviews), and long wait times. 

Advisors and clients alike have been left to navigate these hurdles with little transparency or support, with a typical client journey taking 3-6 months. 

At Modern Life, we believe it’s time for a change. That’s why we launched Express Decision, a way for advisors and their clients to go from quote to approved in minutes. It’s a transparent, fully digital experience—no needles, no exams for qualified clients—with instant decisions up to $2M of coverage and a streamlined experience up to $20 million. 

Since the founding of Modern Life, we knew that to make an impact in the space, it needed more than incremental improvements but to fundamentally transform how life insurance is bought and sold. 

A game-changer for advisors

Existing solutions on the market today (including instant-approval ones) often leave advisors and their clients short. Many are ‘simplified’ products that will carry higher premiums—often 25-30% more—and don’t give clients features that ‘insure their insurability’ like conversion options to permanent life products, making them less competitive especially for more affluent clients where premiums are higher. 

They’ll also often come with lower coverage amount limits and not handle 3rd party owners like businesses or trusts. 

Others present many frictions for advisors—for instance making their clients fill out a whole new application if they don’t qualify for an instant decision or want to increase their coverage. Advisors also lose any means to appeal decisions with underwriters and often have much less flexibility in carrier contracting. 

Express Decision was built with a different philosophy, we’ve created a singular experience to get clients the coverage they need, at a stellar experience, without sacrificing cost or quality.

Here’s what sets it apart:

• Instant approvals for eligible clients: No needles, no labs whenever possible. Just a fast, digital underwriting experience.
• A seamless process: From quote to coverage, everything happens within Modern Life’s platform. Advisors no longer have to juggle multiple systems or tools.
• Competitive rates with long-term value: This is a fully underwritten product, with the same pricing clients would get in the traditional process—without the wait.
• Flexible coverage up to $20 million: Many instant-approval solutions only offer low coverage amounts. Express Decision is built for a wide range of client needs, from young professionals to high-net-worth individuals.

More than a new feature—A vision for the future

Express Decision is the realization of the vision I’ve had since founding Modern Life in 2021. I knew that it would take reimagining the full existing client and advisor journey from first principles in order to deliver the experience that clients want. In order to do that, we undertook to make the major investments necessary to connect clients, advisors, and underwriters all on the Modern Life platform. Giving clients a phenomenal experience and advisors the confidence and consistency to manage and grow their practices. 

Express Decision is a testament to what is possible when technology, data, and focused innovation come together—and we’re just getting started.

Get started today

Express Decision is now live. If you’re an advisor looking to provide your clients with a faster, smarter way to secure life insurance, visit our page to learn more or request a demo.

Welcome to the future of life insurance.

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Michael Konialian,
Founder & CEO