Case Studies

The husband is a mid-30s successful professional with a six-figure salary. The wife is a stay-at-home mother of three very young children.

THE PROBLEM:

Family needed life insurance coverage to help remain in their home and continue the same standard of living if either parent passed.

OUR SOLUTION:

We obtained coverage on the husband that would:

• Pay off their mortgage
• Fund their kids’ education (including graduate school)
• Pay health insurance premiums now paid by his employer
• Replace his monthly income

We obtained coverage on the wife intending to:

• Pay off their mortgage.
• Fund their kids’ education (including graduate school)
• Include enough income to replace her childcare and home management talents

With a growing family and many expenses, substantial term policies on the husband and wife made sense.

Over time, we plan to review their finances and convert the coverage to a permanent plan. They like the tax-efficient retirement idea for the future very much. We will also look at college planning.

This couple has referred us to other young professionals with families.

Couple in their mid-50s: husband is a small business owner and wife is an executive.

THE PROBLEM:

• This couple was saving the maximum in their respective company 401-K plans.
• They had a substantial mortgage on a beautiful home.
• Their term policies were going to expire soon.

OUR SOLUTION:

We reviewed their 401-K deposits and suggested that they continue to match the employer’s contribution and put the net after-tax difference into new life insurance policies that will generate cash value for a tax-free supplemental retirement benefit.

Net result:

• Tax diversification and retirement income diversification
• Life insurance policies that will be in force beyond retirement

We continue to monitor the 401-K savings and the life insurance cash-value accumulation. We’ve added long-term care coverage to their portfolio.

The couple was so pleased with our recommendations that they referred us to their daughter who recently married and had a baby.

70-year-old married couple with several existing life insurance policies.

THE PROBLEM:

• A retired gentleman with three life insurance policies: one would continue to be in-force to age 95; the other two would run out of cash value at age 74 because they were extremely underfunded and thus would lapse.
• The client and his wife did not need to replace his income in the event of his death.

OUR SOLUTION:

We audited the three policies by asking for in-force illustrations from the life insurance companies to see how the policies were performing.

We showed how we could parlay the existing policies into double the death benefit, by purchasing a “second-to-die policy.” This policy will pay the income taxes on their substantial IRA account.

A 55-year-old client brought her 81-year-old mother to meet us to help manage her money. The mother had sold her house and moved from another state to live closer to her daughter.

THE PROBLEM:

• Making sure the principal remained in the mother’s account for the children to inherit.
• Making sure there was enough income to pay for long-term care if needed.

OUR SOLUTION:

We organized multiple accounts into one and designed a very conservative asset allocationthat would generate income to provide care for the mother if needed. To generate income now, we arranged an immediate annuity with a refund feature so if she passes, the principal balanceis refunded to her beneficiaries.

We referred them to an attorney to draw up the mother’s trust and durable power of attorney for financial and health care.

We’ve taken care of the daughter and husband’s insurance and investments for years and it’s a pleasure working with them and her charming mother.

Successful small business owners with a substantial 401-K balance who are 55 and want to retire at age 66.

THE PROBLEM:

• This couple wasn’t sure how to turn their substantial 401-K retirement savings into a comfortable retirement and maintain consistent income.
• They were uncomfortable with the stock market’s volatility.

OUR SOLUTION:

We explained that during the accumulation phase, asset diversification is very important. During retirement, product diversification is more important.

We looked at their sources of income from Social Security and his large 401-K balance. We did a cash flow analysis of their retirement income sources and whether the income would decrease when he died. The couple did not have a guaranteed monthly check other than Social Security.

We showed them fixed-income annuities to diversify their retirement income streams. The income generated was guaranteed not to go down. Also, their check would continue if either of them died. They were very relieved by this solution.

They referred us to several of their friends who wanted stable retirement income.

Successful business owner with 15 employees; married with two children under 12.

THE PROBLEM:

• He had a term policy that was about to expire.

He needed more life insurance but wasn’t sure how much or what kind to buy.

• He wanted to save more money for retirement outside his company’s profit-sharing plan.
• Hates paying taxes, knows that most retirement income sources are taxable, and thinks tax rates will rise in the future.
• He wanted tax diversification.
• He wanted access to his money for future business expansion.
• Wanted some guarantees.

OUR SOLUTION:

We looked at his personal assets, liabilities, and income to see how much money would be needed for the family to live comfortably in their own home if he should die. We wrote a cash-value life insurance policy. His premium payments are applied with after-tax dollars in the policy and the cash value grows tax deferred. To protect his wife, he named her the beneficiary. We also purchased term-coverage to increase the death benefit level he needed.

The client had the death benefit his family needed, income tax-free accumulation and the potential for supplemental retirement income.

He referred us to several colleagues.

The 70-year-old founder and majority shareholder of a family-owned business has successfully run her business with her adult children.

THE PROBLEM:

The founder of this family business has a sizeable estate which consists primarily of stock in the family’s business. If she dies, her children will need to pay estate taxes, redeem her shares of stock, and pay off the business debt. Her properties are collateralized by the bank and if she dies the bank could ask for other assets as collateral. If her adult children don’t have enough collateral to satisfy the bank, the loans could be called and the business would suffer greatly.

OUR SOLUTION:

The mother purchased a life insurance policy on her life and placed it in an ILIT (irrevocable life insurance trust)2so that the coverage is outside of the estate and not subject to estate tax. When she passes, the heirs can use the proceeds to pay estate taxes and the company’s debt.

We also wrote executive policies on each key employee adult child. The proceeds from the policies would then indemnify the business if they pass. The funds could be used by surviving siblings to buy the deceased sibling’s stock from their heirs, replace their business expertise, and pay down the business debt.

We became the broker on their group health policy and have saved their company a significant annual sum. We set up a 401-K plan or the employees of their company as well.

They were so pleased with our recommendations that they referred us to other companies in their industry.

Single business owner in her 50’s.

THE PROBLEM:

This business owner needed our help with:

• her company’s health insurance
• her company’s retirement plan
• her personal retirement planning
• long-term care insurance

OUR SOLUTION:

We reviewed her company’s group health plan and showed how changing carriers and plans would realize significant savings each year.

We became the broker on her company’s retirement plan and held employee meetings to increase participation. As a result, she was able to contribute more money to her own account.

We reviewed her IRA and other retirement assets and designed an asset allocation that was better suited for her need for retirement income in 10 years.

With no spouse or children, she was concerned about long-term care expenses later in life. We showed her how a long-term care policy would let her pay for in-home care without touching her retirement nest egg.

She was so pleased with our recommendations that she referred us to her best friend and sister.

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