As I mentioned in my previous posts and emails. I am going to provide more content about life insurance as a tax-free planning tool. Think of it as a series of information where the concepts and strategies I provide will start at the basic level and will gradually build to more advanced concepts and strategies.
I want to help you understand the power of life insurance as a tool for your business, financial, or estate plan. I’m on a mission to make these complex strategies simple and easy to understand, so you can use them to your advantage. I’ve taken all my presentations, client cases, experiences, mentor’s feedback, academics, and more, and condensed them down.
My content is for anyone who’s a high-income earner, has a high net worth, owns a business, or is a professional advisor that works with clients in these areas. In a world where information is readily available, it can be hard to know what to trust. That’s why I want to be your trusted source for wealth strategy and planning. I’m here to provide you with reliable information and help you make informed decisions about your future.
And just as importantly, I want to make sure you know what my content is not. This is not a personalized recommendation for your personal, business, or estate plan. If you are a professional advisor it is not direct advice or recommendations for your client. Instead, I’m here to broaden your financial knowledge and introduce you to concepts that may be new to you. These concepts are not a “get-rich-quick” scheme or a revolutionary new idea. The life insurance strategies I’ll be sharing have been around for decades and are well-established. They’re not part of the Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman philosophy, but if you’re familiar with their “buy term and invest the rest” approach, my content will give you a different perspective.
I’m also not here to scare you away from the stock market or other popular financial tools. My goal is simply to expand your financial knowledge by sharing strategies that banks, Fortune 500 companies, and the wealthy have been using for over 50 years. So, whether you’re new to the financial world or a seasoned pro, I hope you’ll find value in the information I’ll be sharing. So, let’s dive in and start maximizing the power of life insurance together!
When you hear the words Life Insurance, what do you think of it?
If you are like most, you think life insurance pays my family and loved ones a death benefit if I die.
Basically, it’s protection against the risk of early death and helping their spouse, kids, or loved ones. This sort of protection is usually needed for a specific amount of time. This is called Term Insurance and is the most popular type of insurance.
There are two broad categories of life insurance: Term and Permanent. Both provide an income tax-free death benefit to be paid to the beneficiary when the insured dies.
Term Life Insurance is a type of temporary, short-term life insurance that pays a death benefit to your beneficiaries should you pass away while the policy is in effect. A death benefit is a sum of money that can provide a safety net to your family and loved ones in the form of some financial security upon your passing.
The most common Term Life Insurance policy duration is 10 years but is also bought with 20-year and 30-year terms. If the insured lives beyond the specified period in which the policy is active, the policy simply expires and the insured would need to convert or enroll in another life insurance policy. 99% of all term policies never pay out a claim. This is due to most people letting their policies lapse. These policies have one goal. You only “win” if you pass away during the accepted term. This sort of insurance is inexpensive and worth protecting your family in case you are the 1% that it pays out on.
Term Life Insurance is fairly straightforward to understand, so I am not going to be focusing on Term Life Insurance, instead, I will be focused on PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE.
Permanent Life Insurance is misunderstood by most and underutilized by many. While that is the case for most people, it is a foundation for the financial and estate plans for the wealthy. It is one of the best-kept secrets in the financial industry and the swiss army knife for financial and estate planning. I am going to share with you how you can take advantage of what every large bank, Fortune 500 company, and the wealthy person already knows. Permanent Life Insurance is one of the most valuable assets of an individual, business, or estate.
I have always wondered why using Permanent Life Insurance as a foundation for your financial, business, or estate plan was not discussed much. You don’t see lots of commercials about it. There is no class in college about it. It is hardly studied when passing your CFP (Certified Financial Planner), CPA, or BAR exams. Yet, it has been clear to me for a long time that it is a powerful tool.
Permanent Life Insurance can also provide “living benefits;” these living benefits can provide you tax-free cash reserves, retirement income, long-term care protection, and other financial resources to enjoy while you are still alive. There are many different types of products, and each insurance company has its own product line with various features and benefits.
There are four main types of Permanent Life Insurance products, with the biggest difference being how the TAX-FREE cash value grows. Yep, you heard that right! You can grow your wealth tax-free with Permanent Life Insurance.
The four types of Permanent Life Insurance products are:
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Whole Life
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Universal Life
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Variable Life
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Indexed Universal Life
By now you should have a general understanding of the basics of Life Insurance. As I mentioned, I am starting at the basic level and will gradually build to more advanced concepts and strategies. In my next post, I will be talking about how the different product types mentioned above and their “Riders” are the foundation of customizing policy design when doing advanced Life Insurance planning.
I encourage you to ask questions or add comments as I continue providing information. See you in the next post.
-Josh
Josh Sterling
CLU®, CLTC®, CCFS®
CLU®, CLTC®, CCFS®
Wealth Strategist
Josh Sterling is a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®). The CLU® is the oldest designation in the financial industry and focuses on life insurance, estate, and business owner planning. He is also a Certified Long Term Care Consultant (CLTC®), a Certified College Funding Specialist (ACCFS®), and a partner at Camas Advice. He is a past President of the Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council.
Josh has an in-depth understanding of the practical, legal, and ethical aspects of life insurance and how to provide the best solutions to a modern and diverse clientele facing a range of risks and financial situations.
As a holistic Wealth Strategist, Josh is an expert in solving the myriad of problems businesses, estates, high net worth, and high-income earning individuals face. Whether it be life insurance planning, retirement planning, tax reduction strategies, charitable planning, long-term care, estate planning, college funding, or transitioning out of a business Josh can provide honest and straightforward solutions tailored to your circumstances.
Josh regularly does public speaking on advanced life insurance case design and various other business owner and estate planning topics. Josh feels clients are best served by a well-rounded team of advisors and works with some of the best CPAs, Estate Planning Attorneys, and Financial Advisors around the country.
Josh was a collegiate soccer player and coach at Sonoma State University and won a National Championship in 2002. His wife Kristy is an elementary school teacher and former college soccer athlete as well. Their two boys, Carson and Parker, both follow in their parent’s footsteps playing competitive soccer which includes travel around the western states. The family loves sports, travel, the beach, and spending time in their backyard pool and outdoor kitchen with their two English labs Hula and Maui.