At one point in this Sunday's Wall Street Week, the guests were asked, “Where are we 10 years from now? Are we going to be in a crisis?”

Guest John Schlifske assured that, in his view, there are a several carriers “making unrealistic assumptions around investment returns in their universal life products.”

He explained, “Unfortunately, the way the product works, somebody is going to be on the hook to make that up. They are assuming 7 or 8 percent rates of return, when 10-year Treasuries are at 2.07 or whatever. That’s just not feasible.”

Related Link: Northwestern Mutual's John Schlifske On Interest Rates & The U.S. Economy

Why It's Not Feasible

He continued, “If we do stay low for long, those policies are going to be under water.” However, he assured, Northwestern Mutual is “much more conservative than that,” stating, “we do sell those products, [but] we don’t make those kind of return assumptions.”

To this, Montag added, “Many individuals are not in touch with their advisors as much as they should be.” So, while advisors and companies might have adequate information, the policyholders don’t get access to it.

Agreeing with Montag, Schlifske supplemented that brokerage channels are often a problem.

Disclosure: Contributor Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.