Gimme Shelter. Life Insurance?

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With the hike in capital gain and regular income tax rates, the search is on for relief from higher marginal tax liabilities. Because it’s not how much you make, it’s . . .well, you know. Traditionally, clients invested in managed accounts, including a blend of stocks and bonds allocated according to the client’s specific needs. This tried-and-true formula provided stable returns, allowing for adjustments as the client’s needs changed. In this brave new world, however, [...] Read more »

Doing Well by Doing Good

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Would you like to provide significant financial support to your favorite charity, but more income is needed to continue your charitable giving? Would you like to sell a highly appreciated asset, but want to avoid capital gains taxes? A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) with a wealth replacement strategy using life insurance may be the solution. A CRT may provide an additional retirement income stream from a highly appreciated asset, avoid immediate capital gains, and qualify [...] Read more »

Time to “Refinance” Your Life Insurance

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The cost of life insurance has dropped, so why not take some time to review your current life insurance policy? You may be able to swap to coverage that may have a longer duration or more appropriate death benefit—or even choose a feature you couldn’t afford before. Life insurance consumers are finding a market resembling the mortgage market 10 years ago, when interest rates began falling and many people ran to their lender—some more than [...] Read more »

Can a Business Survive a Key Person’s Death or Disability?

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What happens if your business loses a key executive crucial to the survival of the company? Consider key person insurance, which helps assure continuity of the business at the death or disability of any “irreplaceable” individual. Planning for the loss of a key person is especially important for small, closely held companies, where the owner’s death or disability could have a catastrophic impact. A commonly overlooked exposure is a company’s loan agreements. Should a major [...] Read more »

Life Insurance Carrier Ratings Can Impact Policy Performance

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Clients often ask, “How important are the financial ratings of the life insurance carrier I select”? My first response is that there has never been a time, since 1735, the entire history of the life insurance industry in the United States, when a death claim went unpaid. Though, there have been a number of carriers that became insolvent, every death claim during and after their insolvency was paid. So then why are ratings important? The [...] Read more »