Your response was textbook agent: ignore any carrier risk (easier to sell whatever you please to the rubes) and pooh-pooh the simple product in favor of the vastly more complex (the better to sell the sizzle rather than the steak).
If by "textbook agent" you mean "textbook common sense" I could agree with you. Who in the world would pay ART rates when guaranteed term insurance is so cheap? You'd have to be an absolute fool to buy ART these days. Not only that, but term insurance is about the most simple insurance product around!
AIG was an A++ carrier before they crashed and the same could very well happen again with another company if you are talking about 20-30 years down the line. Any A, A+, or A++ rated company will do just fine and there are many to choose from. If you want to pay higher rates from an A++ company, feel free. That's why I represent 40+ companies, so I don't have to be captive and drink the company kool-aid. If only I had a nickel for every consumer that thought they knew more than the insurance agent about insurance and tried to do it on their own thinking they were saving themselves a bundle of money
