Wealth Talks

Did you know that nearly 3 out of every 10 people provide care for chronically ill, disabled or aged members of their family? 😨 It's true, and more than 1 out of 10 of these family caregivers provide 40 or more hours of care per week!

Whether you're directly providing this care or financing the care for your family - this can really affect your finances FAST. But your retirement and legacy shouldn't have to suffer for this important priority IF the family plans ahead.

Don't wait until it's too late. Explore the options and get perspective for your family plan.

There's a good case for Adult Children to Insure their Parents, but this isn't always possible. Even if parents don't want to leave a legacy, the best solution includes a way to restore the financial burden resting upon family care-givers (or care-financiers).

Resources:

The Case for Insuring Parents and Loved Ones - Article on InsuranceNewsNet.com

Get a Life Insurance Quote

Wealth Workshop in Bellingham, Washington July 27th

Wealth Cruise October 2019 - See Event Details

Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸 It's a great time to consider how you exercise your Financial FREEDOM.

Financial planning used to be simple. Today there are infinite possibilities - some good - some bad.

You want sustainable Passive Income in your Golden Years? Now is the best time to optimize your money - create stability and better options for the future.

This is not as hard as you might think. Traditional tools with solid guarantees are still the best way to build your foundation.

Also a follow up to last week's show… people say "you won't need a Life Insurance Death Benefit" in the future - discover why this is probably not true. Of course a life insurance death benefit can be income tax free, but that's not all. Listen and discover another role where a permanent death benefit can become a unique planning tool for your future and passive income.

Resources:

How Much Will You Need for Retirement - Podcast

Retirement Remastered - Smart Strategy for Passive Income in Your Golden Years - Article

Wealth Cruise October 2019 - Info Link

Coming soon - a video bringing unique perspective to how you want to manage your finances. Subscribe here for updates

A L Williams popularized the concept of "Buy Term and Invest the Difference" in the 1970's. When market returns are looking good this concept seems to make a come-back even though it's flawed with big assumptions.

They say you won't need a death benefit when term insurance gets expensive. They say your investments will do better than whole life insurance. Maybe, and maybe not.

You want guarantees? Then you want to build a strong financial foundation with guarantees before you invest. Investing isn't bad, but don't throw away guarantees for speculative possibilities.

Resources:

Buy Term and Invest the Difference? - Video Example with ROR

How to Build a Secure Financial Foundation - Video with Ben McFie and a Donut Stack

Catch this Special Interview with Alex. Alex contacted our office for some policy reviews after his agent told him "let policy loans pay your premiums." This started in the 90's. 20+ years later results are plaintive.

These were (and still are) good policies, but the funding strategy backfired. Policy loans can enable you to take great financial opportunities without giving up guaranteed growth + dividends on your money, and like any good strategy this can be taken too far.

Good rule of thumb for Policy Loans = Make sure you're always making or saving more money than the interest when you take a policy loan.

Can you use a policy loan to pay a premium if you're in a cash flow crunch? Of course, just don't make this your long-term habit. DO make sure you're always aware of the interest on any and all policy loans that you take.

Plan to review your strategy regularly - about 1x year is a good idea. Contact Life Benefits for a complimentary policy review.

Most public facing insurance companies today are organized as stock-held companies. 🏢 Many mutual carriers have reorganized as mutual holding companies.

What does this mean for you? Example: You get a whole life policy from a mutual carrier. BUT then the contract says your policy was issued by a stock company! You still participate/receive dividends + have voting rights as a mutual policy holder, so what just happened?

No cause for alarm. If you chose a mutual holding company, this is normal. Here's how a typical mutual holding structure works and what you should know as a policy holder with a company organized in this manner.

Topic #2: What is the 7-pay test?

One of you recently asked a question about the 7-pay test. Today you get the answer + hear why some people intentionally want policies that are Modified Endowment Contracts. And yes, this does make sense sometimes.

Resource:

Here's the link to order Winning Your Financial GAME - Book and Study Guide

Some gurus say you can "make money" by taking a vacation financed by a policy loan, but is this really true? 🤨

Taking a vacation is an obvious expense - there is a cost - at some point you have to make the money to pay for your vacation.

Here's how to tell the Facts apart from Fluff. Yes, you can "Recover/Offset" money on your next vacation… and it also takes TIME.

Checkout How to Recover Thousands on Your Next Vacation - Article for further info with a numeric example.

When it comes to your Homeowner's insurance 🏠…

• How many times have your filed a claim in the last 7-10 years?
• Do you usually file small claims (say under $5,000) or take care of them out-of-pocket?
• What is your deductible?

Your answers to these 3 questions could help you save on your premiums in the future.

Resources:

Get Your LexisNexis Personal Report

To Claim or Not To Claim - Article

More About Umbrella Insurance (including Average cost) - Article

Some advisors tell you to Buy Term Life Insurance and Invest the Difference, but there is a better way (no secret). 🤔

Some advisors tell you to Buy Universal Life Insurance (UL, VUL, EIUL or IUL variants), but this is really a pre-packaged form of the same strategy 🎁 - Buy Term and Invest the Difference. There's still a better way!

We tell you to buy Whole Life Insurance with a strong PUA rider (Paid Up Additions) + maybe some convertible term insurance (separate policy)…AND you will hear WHY this is the best way to go. When all the pieces come together it just makes sense! You want to keep your options on the the table as fully and as long as possible, and you remember Warren Buffet's first 2 rules: #1 Don't Lose Money; #2 Don't Forget Rule #1.

Also on this show a quick review of how long you should think of keeping the PUA rider on a Whole Life Insurance policy for the best results.

Resources:

Do You Have a Friend Selling Indexed Universal Life Insurance? - Podcast

Nassim Taleb - Author, Investor & Philosopher

Should You Have a Term Rider? - Video

Did you know, that successfully avoiding risk can be more important to your wealth than finding great returns? ⚠️ But most people (including financial planners) think they can "manage risk" when they're simply hiding the risk instead. Don't let this bite you.🦈

Learn from a real-life story of Steve Wynn's Mirage Hotel & Casino + the fact that "In the last fifty years, the ten most extreme days in the financial markets represent half the returns. Ten days in fifty years!"

In 1911 the Supreme Court ruled Life Insurance was a Transferable Asset, and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the court opinion saying life insurance is one of the "…best recognized forms of investment and self-compelled saving."

Discover how you can manage risk through whole life insurance in a way that's impossible through the Stock Market alone.

Resources:

Supreme Court Ruling Grigsby v. Russell (1911) - On Life Insurance as Transferable Property

How to Read a Life Insurance Illustration - Video

The Black Swan - book by Nassim Taleb

You will hear all sorts of fluffy marketing terms when it comes to building wealth with life insurance. 🎧 Listen for tips on how to cut through to the real meaning and understand the keys to manage your money wisely.

A good litmus test that still holds true = "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Of course Truth does provide amazing results, AFTER the foundation has been laid. Good things take time to grow.

It's not so much about the money you SAVE - its about the Money you KEEP and there is a big difference! Not all advice is applicable for all levels of financial strategy - This is one lesson that will always help you stay on track at every level of your financial journey.

Resources:

How to Read a Life Insurance Illustration - Video

Life Benefits Website - Blog, Podcast, Videos

Are you having to pay more income tax for 2018 than you planned?🇺🇸 Jack Cohen CPA joins us for a quick interview to share what he's seeing as 2018 returns are processed.

You may not be getting as big a tax refund this year because of the way withholding is calculated under the new law...instead, you most likely keep more with every paycheck. The IRS will be releasing a new W-4 form later this year which could complicate withholding for employees.

Most Americans are indeed paying less federal income tax overall UNLESS you live in a high-income/property tax state like California, New York, New Jersey or Illinois.

Section 199A of the new law is great for business owners, but there are special situations CPAs are working through for the first time. Small changes can significantly affect your bottom line and calculations can be complex. Good idea to get a second opinion if your 2018 return doesn't seem quite right.

Contact Jack Cohen for a Free Review of your tax return - no strings attached: 702-255-2330

Resources:

2017 Law Cut Taxes for Most Americans - NY Times

Campbell Jones Cohen CPAs - Website