Straight answers about life insurance, retirement income, business protection, and Medicare.

Coverage that fits — for you, your family, your retirement, and your business. I work with more than 20 insurance companies to find the right coverage for your situation.

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For individuals and families

Coverage you buy for yourself, explained without the jargon.

Life insurance

Covering a mortgage, replacing income, or handling final expenses. Term and permanent coverage, priced across multiple companies.

Retirement income

Annuities and income planning for people who want a portion of their money doing something predictable.

Medicare supplements

Turning 65, or unhappy with the plan you have. I compare across carriers and tell you where the differences actually matter.

Supplemental coverage

Accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illness coverage for the costs a health plan leaves behind.

For business owners

Fifteen years on the carrier and brokerage side of employee benefits, working for you instead.

Voluntary & worksite benefits

Employee-paid accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illness. Real coverage for your people at no cost to the business.

Owner & key-person coverage

Key-person life, buy-sell funding, and executive bonus arrangements that protect what you have built.

Compliance support

Help navigating the requirements that come with offering benefits, from someone who has spent a career inside them.

How I work

It starts with a call. You tell me your situation, I ask a few questions, and we figure out together what you are actually trying to protect.

I bring you real options. Actual quotes from actual companies, along with my recommendation and the reason behind it. Most people know what they want to do by the end of that conversation.

I handle the paperwork. When you are ready, I complete the application and send it to you for your approval and electronic signature. I then work with underwriters to get your policy issued. From there, I am your advisor for policy reviews, changes, or just to answer questions.

Experience

I started with families

I began my insurance career as a life insurance agent, sitting down with people and working out what they actually needed. Twenty-five years later that is still the part of this job I like best.

I learned it from the inside

Management roles at a major carrier's home office in New York, then two decades with national companies including Voya, Colonial Life, and Chubb. I know how these products are built and priced, which means I know when one is worth what it costs.

I work with owners and professionals

Much of my career has been spent on business insurance and employee benefits — key-person coverage, buy-sell funding, and the programs that keep good people on staff. For entrepreneurs and professionals, personal and business risk are usually the same conversation.

I am independent by choice

I am not captive to any one company. I work with more than 20, so what I recommend depends on your situation and nothing else.

Free policy review

Most people buy a life insurance policy once and never look at it again. Rates change, health changes, and families change — and the coverage that made sense fifteen years ago may not be what you need now, or you may be paying more than you have to.

Send me what you have, no matter where it came from, and I will tell you plainly whether it still fits. If it does, I will say so and that is the end of it. There is no cost and no obligation.

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Mark Helms, independent insurance advisor

About Mark Helms

I began my career as a life insurance agent, sitting down with families and working out what they actually needed. Twenty-five years later, that is still the part of this work I like best.

From there I moved into management at a major carrier's home office in New York, and later into employee and voluntary benefits. Over the next two decades I worked with some of the largest insurance companies in the country, building benefits programs for employers of every size.

What I do now brings all of that together. I help individuals and families with life insurance, retirement income, and Medicare, and I work with business owners on the coverage and planning decisions that come with running a company. I focus on entrepreneurs and professionals because their personal and business finances are usually intertwined, and advice built for one rarely accounts for the other.

Before any recommendation, I take the time to understand your concerns, your goals, your health, and your finances, so I have a complete picture of your personal situation. Sometimes the answer is that you are already well covered and nothing needs to change. I will tell you that plainly.

Tulsa, OK is my adopted hometown, and one I promote every chance I get. My family is here, and my time away from work goes to them, our dogs, golf, reading, and the outdoors.