When it comes to designing a plan that creates safety for you and for the people you care most about, in today's world it can be challenging to know what approach will suit you best. That's why we actually teach you the various approaches for managing risk. From life insurance to protect your family, to annuities to protect you from outliving your resources, we'll help you learn the important details so you can confidently craft a protection plan that helps you secure what's most important to you.
Life Insurance
Any unexpected death is always a tragedy. But if the person who passed away was earning a large percentage of a family's income, it can leave the grieving family members in an even tougher situation. Life insurance can help offset the loss of income and spare those who are left behind from being forced to deal with tough economic decisions.
The most popular options for life insurance are term life, whole life, and universal life policies.
- Term life
insurance coverage lasts for a certain number of years and then ends. These types of policies have the lowest premiums but offer limited protection and the fewest number of options. Many term life insurance policies let you renew policies but at a higher premium.
- Whole life insurance requires you to pay the same amount in premiums for a certain number of years for a fixed amount of coverage. Once your policy is paid off, any death benefits are secured. This type of policy places part of your premiums in a tax-deferred saving plan which you can borrow against.
- Universal life insurance allows the most flexibility since it will enable you to increase or decrease the amount of your coverage. Whole life policies usually offer the option for a fixed death benefit or an increasing benefit based on the value of the policy at the time of passing.
The decision of which type of insurance policy you choose is entirely dependent on your personal financial and family situation. But it is important to note that most people will require more life insurance as their family grows and will need less life insurance as they age. That said, it is best to speak with a financial advisor to determine the best policy for you.
Although it can be difficult to think about preparing for the end of life, it is a significant financial decision everyone needs to think about. And we're here to help you navigate the maze of insurance options so you can design an insurance plan that's consistent with your objectives.
Creating long term care insurance means you recognize the importance of having a plan in place to cover the ever-rising cost of healthcare. The right long term care plan can ensure you're able to adequately cover extended care expenses, protect your other financial resources, and avoid becoming a burden to your family. While there is an on-going premium to purchasing long term care insurance, it's important to understand the cost of NOT having a long term insurance plan in place can potentially be a rapid erosion of your and your family's financial resources.
Long term care insurance typically falls into two categories: traditional and hybrid.
Traditional long term care insurance offers straight-forward long term care insurance. You can select plans that annually increase your protection to manage inflation, and also cover a specified period of time. But if you never use your policy, then the outcome is that you've paid thousands of dollars into your plan with nothing to show for it.
Hybrid policies are different. Considered more of a life insurance policy that includes an extra level of long term care protection, hybrid policies guarantee a benefit - no matter what. So maybe your outcome is premature death prior to needing the long term care protection, or maybe you're able to utilize your hybrid policy to pay for your time at an extend care nursing facility. Either way, you or your beneficiaries are guaranteed a benefit.
Taking the time now to look at your options and choose something that’s right for you can make a big difference in how your policy benefits you and your family later down the line. We are an available resource to talk with you and learn you goals and needs. Then from there we can review your options thoroughly and determine what's going to fit you best.
Annuities provide extra protection that's backed by an insurance company. They allow you to create guaranteed income, a guarantee of principal, or a combination of both. Some financial commentators and journalists adopt an anti-annuity viewpoint. It's our feeling they fail to understand the power guarantees can have on protecting you and your goals for retirement. In particular, they may not grasp how effective a fixed indexed annuity (FIA) can be when appropriately incorporated into a retirement plan. Many retirees we've met with over the years feel a FIA plays an important role by helping them remove the risk of loss, while also creating more profit potential than what's available in cash, CDs, and most rated bonds. That said, a fixed indexed annuity is just one tool that can help you design a more stable plan. Which is why we view Fixed Indexed Annuities as a part of your overall investment strategy. So for clients who desire the predictability and safety of a FIA, we can show them how to prudently add this level of protection into a retirement plan. Then for clients who are more comfortable with risk and may have different needs, we might focus more on traditional stock-based investments.
At the end of the day, we're product agnostic. And we are always going to focus on clarifying your goals and needs first to evaluate what's most appropriate for you. Then from there, after we have a better understanding of your situation, we'll be able to help you determine if an annuity is smart to consider.