C.E. Dean, FICF – Life Settlement Industry Expert

C.E. Dean has decades of experience in the life settlement and life insurance industries. He began his career as a life insurance agent in the 1980s and later served as a Senior Vice President at Foresters Financial, where he trained and managed hundreds of agents and worked closely with policyholders and their families. Throughout his career, he witnessed how many seniors and individuals with serious health conditions were not informed that they had the legal right to sell their life insurance policy. Many let their policies lapse, throwing away tremendous hidden value.

In 2016, he introduced the direct model for life and viatical settlements at the annual Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) conference. This model was designed to streamline the settlement process by connecting policyholders directly with licensed buyers. It offered a more transparent, cost-effective way for consumers to explore their options and potentially receive higher payouts while maintaining compliance with industry regulations. The introduction of this model completely transformed the viatical and life settlement industry by streamlining the entire process.

Dean founded Viatical.org to provide educational resources for those considering a viatical or life settlement. After decades in the industry, he saw how life insurance companies often encouraged seniors to lapse or surrender their policies for far less than the policy’s fair market value. He also saw that many agents were prohibited from informing clients that they had the legal right to sell their policy. Viatical.org was created to change that.

The platform helps consumers evaluate whether they qualify and connects them directly with licensed direct buyers, ensuring they maintain full control over the decision to sell. There is never any obligation and policyholders never have to subtract any broker fees from the direct offer they receive.