Life insurance is something you purchase, then hopefully don’t need to use until many years down the road. But that doesn’t mean you should stop paying attention to it. As you age, it’s important to monitor the policies you own.
Some policies may no longer be needed, while others may be needed now more than ever. It’s a matter of evaluating your personal situation as you move through life. Since insurance is meant to help protect us from major financial loss, it’s important to continually assess how our goals and needs change over time, and determine if our insurance coverage is aligned with them.1
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Many people may assume they no longer need life insurance during retirement. For some, this may be true. Once children are out on their own, retirees who feel they have saved enough to provide income for both spouse’s lifetimes are likely to drop their policies.2 However, before making this decision, it’s important to review your retirement and legacy goals. Some people decide to keep life insurance during retirement in order to provide a tax-free death benefit for their beneficiaries when they die. This can free up other assets for use in retirement without concerns about whether they will have money to leave to their children.
For large estates, policy owners may use life insurance proceeds to help pay state and federal inheritance taxes. Still others may want life insurance to provide the surviving spouse with additional funds for unexpected expenses.3
In some cases, it may be appropriate for retirees to purchase life insurance for the death benefit, as well as a complementary strategy for additional retirement income. Some permanent life insurance policies offer a cash value account that grows over time and can be used to supplement retirement income, typically through the use of policy loans. At the same time, the policy can provide tax-advantaged proceeds to help protect loved ones upon the owner’s death.4 Please note that policy loans and withdrawals will reduce the available cash value and death benefit.
Retirees who stop paying premiums for policies they determine they no longer need can use that excess money to help pay for the policies they may need during retirement, such as long-term care insurance.5 This is even true of policies we often take for granted, such as homeowners and auto insurance. If you downsize to a less expensive home, your homeowners premium will likely drop as well. If you downsize to one car or, eventually, no car at all, you can free up extra cash, which can help defray any new transportation costs.
Content prepared by Kara Stefan Communications.
1 Lisa Brown. Kiplinger. June 2017. “Rethink These 3 Financial Strategies Every Decade (or sooner!)” http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T023-C032-S014-rethink-these-3-financial-strategies-every-decade.html. Accessed Aug. 20, 2017.
2 Tim Grant. Times-Union. Aug. 12, 2017. “Rethink dropping life insurance.” http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Rethink-dropping-life-insurance-11813300.php. Accessed Aug. 20, 2017.
3 Cheryl Winokur Munk. The Wall Street Journal. July 5, 2017. “Should Retirees Have Life Insurance?” https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-retirees-have-life-insurance-1499261075?utm_campaign=Q32017%20Thought%20Leadership. Accessed Aug. 20, 2017.
4 Jacob Alphin. Forbes. May 11, 2017. “How To Use Life Insurance In Your Retirement Planning.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2017/05/11/how-to-use-life-insurance-in-your-retirement-planning/#85e67b469cff. Accessed Aug. 20, 2017.
5 Jennifer Fitzgerald. Betterment. March 3, 2016. “3 Important Types of Insurance to Have When Preparing for Retirement.” https://www.betterment.com/resources/retirement/planning-ahead/3-important-types-of-insurance-when-preparing-for-retirement/. Accessed Aug. 20, 2017.
Life insurance policies are contracts between you and an insurance company. Life insurance product guarantees rely on the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurer. If properly structured, proceeds from life insurance are generally income tax free.
We are an independent firm helping individuals create retirement strategies using a variety of insurance products to custom suit their needs and objectives.This material is intended to provide general information to help you understand basic retirement income strategies and should not be construed as financial advice.
The information contained in this material is believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed; it is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions. If you are unable to access any of the news articles and sources through the links provided in this text, please contact us to request a copy of the desired reference.
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