Life insurance has many unique characteristics that may make it an appropriate solution for a variety of challenges, beyond those that arise at the death of the insured(s). In addition to death benefit protection, life insurance offers:

• Tax-deferred accumulation of policy cash values.
• Creditor protection (in some states).
• Tax-advantaged access to policy cash values.

Please keep in mind loans and partial withdrawals may decrease the death benefit and cash value and may be subject to policy limitations and income tax.

The flexible nature of many modern life insurance policies provides a powerful means to address a wide range of personal, business, and charitable situations.

Family Protection: Provides a source of cash for surviving family members to utilize for living expenses.

College Funding: Provides a funding source for college education of children or grandchildren.

Debt Protection: Generates cash to pay off an existing mortgage or other personal debt.

Wealth Creation: Provides funds to leave as an inheritance or to equalize inheritances among family members.

Estate Tax Liquidity: Creates liquidity to pay estate taxes rather than requiring liquidation of existing estate assets.

Gifting Leverage: Leverages the use of the annual gift tax exclusion, the lifetime exemption, and/or Generation Skipping Transfer Tax exemption.

Key Employee: Provides funds to aid in the search for a replacement in the event of death of a key employee.

Executive Recruitment and Retention: Used in a variety of nonqualified benefit programs to help attract and retain key employees.

Business Continuation: Provides funds to aid in the continuation of business in the event of death or disability of an owner.

Succession Planning: Provides liquidity to purchase the ownership interest of a deceased owner.

Debt Protection: Creates a pool of money that can be used to pay off borrowed money.

Wealth Replacement: Used with many charitable gifting programs to replace, for heirs, the value of estate assets that were gifted to charity.

Gift Creation: Used to create a significant donation to charity at death or during life.

Gift Leverage: Used to maximize the eventual charitable donation at the death of the insured.

Although often mistakenly viewed as a price only decision, the long-term nature of life insurance necessitates careful consideration in the selection of the insurance carrier, the product type, and the agent to represent you and interact with your heirs.

Income and asset protection are important components of a sound financial plan. Effective disability and long-term care planning, both pre- and post- retirement, is a critical part of a successful financial plan, ensuring stability, growth, and protection of income and assets for the long term.

It can be hard to face the fact that a disability can happen at any time and to anyone. A disability could be devastating to one’s income and accumulation goals. Disability insurance is an integral part of a secure financial plan especially for highly compensated employees, executives and business owners.

Income protection planning allows the insured to maintain their standard of living in the event that an injury or illness leaves them unable to work. Disability insurance is invaluable for any person in any occupation. Proper planning will ensure clients’ can continue their standard of living in the face of a temporary or permanent disability.

We offer a variety of disability income and business protection solutions to meet the needs of our clientele. We help you quantify the risk and assess your income protection needs in order to design effective solutions that benefit both the employer and the employees. There are many factors to consider, and we will help better prepare you by finding the right protection for you.

Long-term care is usually defined as a chronic condition for which an individual requires assistance with his or her usual activities of daily living (ADLs). ADLs are commonly defined as eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, maintaining continence, and transferring from bed to chair. When an individual needs physical assistance or verbal reminders to perform his or her ADLs, they are generally classified as needing long-term care, whether they need the assistance occasionally or full-time.

Diagnostic, therapeutic, preventive, and rehabilitative services all have their place in a comprehensive long-term care program. The primary focus of long-term care however, is on the personal care and support that will preserve an individual’s lifestyle, daily independence, and dignity.

It can be difficult to plan for long-term care needs because there are multiple factors influencing the decision making process, including:

• Ambivalence about long-term living arrangements as physical capabilities decline.
• Inability or unwillingness of family members to provide periodic or ongoing support when the time comes.
• Misinformation about long-term care options or services available through health programs, Medicare, etc.
• Difficulty in juggling financial and family priorities when planning for long-term care.

The financial implications of a disability, chronic disease, or other debilitating condition are often underestimated. Along with health care costs in general, these costs are expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. As most health insurance will not pay for the majority of costs associated with an extended period of illness or injury, long-term care insurance offers a solution with tax-free benefits that are aimed at protecting valuable assets that would otherwise be severely reduced or lost entirely.