There is a real math and science to optimizing your dollars in retirement and no other product line combines economic leverage, tax advantages and guaranteed benefits like life insurance can. Take an example of a healthy married couple who has identified $100,000 that can be earmarked for their four grandchildren. They don’t want to risk the monies in the market so they are considering a five-year CD rate of 2.25%, or a five-year annuity rate of 3.00%. The CDs are taxable. The annuity is tax deferred, but ultimately taxable. But the same $100,000 in a survivorship guaranteed universal life insurance policy could generate around $500,000 tax-free. That’s leveraged, tax advantaged and guaranteed. Often seniors have favorite charities that they have been contributing to for an extended period of time and have a desire for those charities to continue into perpetuity. Gifting with life insurance can multiply the value of the gift many times over. But for many retirees, their monthly cash flow doesn’t permit them to contribute much every month, and they usually don’t have much money left at the end of their lives to give to charity. Their hearts are big, but their wallets are small. Here’s where life   Read more…

Cash flow is king in your golden years and debt can cannibalize your cash positions like no other expense. Debt reduction needs to begin no later than five years out from your retirement date. You’ll still have living expenses that will more than likely increase each year, so debt and mortgage payments need to be eliminated before you retire. That’s the first step in building a financial profile that makes good psychonomic sense. It’s critical to have a guaranteed source of income that doesn’t correlate to the market and is insured contractually to generate revenue for the rest of your life. And to cover the ever-increasing costs of goods and services in retirement, an inflation element needs to be added, especially in light of the little to no increase in Social Security benefits over the last six years. Lifetime income annuities can generate guaranteed income you can’t outlive. And in retirement you need reliable income because your Social Security benefits won’t be enough. You can also add an inflation rider to these annuities as well, to guarantee annual increases throughout retirement, unlike the unpredictability of Social Security benefit increases. That can create a degree of psychological solace in your later   Read more…

The cornerstone of retirement planning is eliminating debt and mortgage payments. Cash flow is king in your golden years and debt can cannibalize your cash positions like no other expense. Debt reduction needs to begin no later than five years out from your retirement date. You’ll still have living expenses that will more than likely increase each year, so debt and mortgage payments need to be eliminated before you retire. Social Security income is the footing of your retirement, a base on which to build a firm foundation. It’s guaranteed lifetime income you can’t outlive and the goal is to maximize your benefits by delaying Social Security income until age 70. Remember, the decision to delay Social Security is a “we” decision not a “he” decision. Most women will outlive their spouses, so waiting until age 70 to receive your benefits will benefit her in the long run. But Social Security income will not be enough. You need to create a secure, inflation adjusted lifetime income floor as your financial foundation to fund the expense gap that Social Security doesn’t fill. There are three basic options in guaranteed lifetime income: single premium immediate annuities, deferred income annuities and indexed annuities   Read more…