Member Spotlight: Ian Gallagher, Financial Professional & Insurance Agent, Bankers Life & Casualty Company
Lake/Forest Lake Bluff Chamber: Tell us about Bankers Life and the products and services you offer?
Ian Gallagher: Bankers Life has been helping middle-income Americans prepare for and live in retirement since 1879, and I work out of our Buffalo Grove office serving Lake, Cook, McHenry, and DuPage counties. Most of what I do centers on Medicare — helping people understand Parts A and B, and then comparing Medicare Advantage, Part D prescription plans, and Medicare Supplement plans like G and N so they can choose what actually fits their doctors, prescriptions, and budget. Beyond Medicare, I help families with life insurance and final expense coverage, long-term care solutions, and annuities for people who want a predictable income stream in retirement. I'm also certified in Social Security planning through The American College, so I spend a lot of time helping people think through when and how to claim.
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LF/LB: Please tell us about yourself and what makes your personal business philosophy unique?
IG: I was born and raised in downtown Chicago and went to St. Ignatius College Prep, and I've called Lake Forest home for the past two years. I studied political science and Latin American history at the University of Illinois before coming into this business and spent time living and working in Argentina and Chile, including translation work for a nonprofit in Santiago — which is where I learned how much of this job is really just listening carefully and making sure someone actually understands what's being said to them. My philosophy is education first. I'd rather spend an hour at someone's kitchen table explaining how Medicare works and have them decide nothing that day than push a policy on them. I'm also a younger agent working with people at retirement age, which I think is an advantage: I have the patience to explain things in three different ways, and I plan to still be here for their annual review ten years from now.
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LF/LB: What is your vision or hope for the future of your business?
IG: I want to become the person people on the North Shore call when they have a Medicare or retirement question — not just when they're ready to buy something. That means running free educational seminars, working with local employers whose employees are approaching 65 and don't know how Medicare coordinates with their group plan, and partnering with senior centers and organizations across the area. Long term, I'd like a practice built almost entirely on referrals from people I've genuinely helped and from local professionals such as attorneys, CPAs, and care professionals who serve the same families. If I do the education part right, the business follows.
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LF/LB: How does Bankers Life support and give back to the community?
IG: Our signature effort is Bankers Life Forget Me Not Days, a national fundraising campaign for the Alzheimer's Association that our agents and associates run every June. It's in its 24th year now, and since 2003 Bankers Life and our parent company CNO Financial Group have helped raise more than $8.4 million for the Association — with 100% of Forget Me Not Days proceeds going to support its mission. That cause hits close to home for us, because so many of the families we serve are navigating a dementia diagnosis and the financial planning that comes with it. Beyond that, Bankers Life encourages agents to be visible where we live and work, which is a big part of why I joined the Chamber. Locally, I offer no-cost Medicare and Social Security education sessions to senior centers, park districts, and employers, whether anyone ever becomes a client, and I work alongside senior care providers in the area because families in transition usually need more than one kind of help.
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LF/LB: Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or Bankers Life & Casualty?
IG: I'm happy to sit down with anyone who has questions about Medicare, Social Security timing, or planning for long-term care — there's no cost and no obligation to a conversation. I was a bartender in college, and I also speak Spanish, so I'm glad to work with families who'd rather have that conversation in Spanish. I'm grateful to the Chamber for the welcome, and I look forward to meeting more of the Lake Forest and Lake Bluff business community!