Can a society take on the additional hardship of surviving dependents? Life insurance is one of the great redemptive solutions to our economic health as a nation and that’s precisely why the government has granted tax advantages to life insurance. It’s simply in the best interest of country. With individual freedom comes individual responsibility. Being a good steward of your family’s finances depends upon having the proper insurance policies in place in case the unexpected occurs. Life insurance for the breadwinner and business owner protects all their dependents and business partners. It insulates against financial loss. The economic leverage can be substantial and for most scenarios, life insurance proceeds are tax-free.  But cash value life insurance has additional tax-free features like tax-free income via collateralized policy loans as long as the policy is kept in force for the life of the policy insured. The cash value life insurance policy must be issued as a non-modified endowment contract. Tax-free distributions of loans, under these conditions, are not characterized as a form of income and are not includable in the provisional income test for Social Security benefits. There is a menu of crediting options to choose from, based on your risk tolerance.   Read more…

Life insurance can be the great equalizer in a world of inequality. Retired couples can statistically bank on the woman outliving her husband 87% of the time. The average female survivor lives to age 93. That means that half of American women will live longer than that! Recently, Susannah Jones lived to the age 116. She was born in 1899, giving her the distinction of being America’s last tri- centurion. But she’s not the oldest documented person in the Guinness Book of World Records. That honor is held by Jean Calment who died in 1997 at 122 years, 164 days. Women generally outlast their husbands and live longer, a lot longer. Living longer can generally be a good thing if you have wealth and your health. But many middle class widows have neither. When their husbands pass away, they generally lose their spousal benefit in lieu of their husband’s benefit. So if the husband’s Social Security monthly benefit is $2,500 and her benefit is $1,250, she’ll elect to have her husband’s larger benefit, but she loses hers in the election process. They were earning $45,000 a year in Social Security benefits, now she’s earning only $30,000 in benefits. For most   Read more…

Small business owners rarely have an overall plan that dictates the daily operations of their business and maps the achievement of the milestone goals they set along the way. But a business exit plan is just as important as its start up strategy. Who will own your business at retirement? Who will own your business if something happens to you? Do you have partners? Are they equal partners? Do you want your spouse to own your business, or do you want it to be divided up among your family? What are you doing to recruit, retain and reward your key employees? These are just a few of the important items that need to be addressed as a business owner. One common goal when you’re building a business is to one day sell it to partners, key employees or even a competitor. Often closely held family businesses desire to transfer the company to family members. The ultimate sale of your business at retirement is ideal, but life doesn’t always cooperate. Life insurance can fund business succession plans if things don’t go as planned. Life insurance can fund the transfer of ownership with discounted dollars for those family members or business partners   Read more…