What’s important to you?

You may already own life insurance or be aware of its primary use—providing money to your family or other beneficiaries when you are no longer here. You may even wonder if you still need life insurance at this time in your life. Yet, the value that life insurance can bring to a comprehensive, integrated estate plan goes far beyond providing cash liquidity through the payment of death benefits. Life insurance, when used strategically, can help you address your goals and take care of what’s most important to you.

Caring for your family

If you have loved ones you want to make sure are well taken care of, it’s important that you take every possible measure to maximize the real value of the wealth you have created. Perhaps you even wish to assure the welfare of generations of your family into the distant future. Life insurance, properly structured within various trust instruments, can help you achieve those important goals.

Or maybe you want to address a special family situation that presents particular challenges when planning for wealth transfer, such as a special needs individual who will require continual care or members of a blended family whom you want to treat individually but fairly.

Trusts remain one of the fundamental and most effective wealth structuring tools to help you address such situations. And, when appropriate, life insurance can be incorporated into a trust to help you reach your goals.

Passing on your business

When your business is your most valuable asset or represents a large portion of your estate, it may be important to you that your family members who are active in the business can successfully take over after you are gone. You may also want to ensure that you pass on an equitable inheritance among family members who will carry on the business and heirs who are not involved in the business. Life insurance can be used to help equalize your estate.

Wealth transfer with charitable giving

If philanthropy has been a way of life for you, you may want that legacy of giving to continue, even after your passing. Perhaps you have been devoted to supporting a particular charitable organization and want to make sure that they are able to continue their work.

Life insurance can be a potential solution to such concerns, assuring a guaranteed amount to the charity of your choice, while offering tax benefits to your estate and heirs. Life insurance can also provide a way for you to take care of the charities that matter to you without significantly reducing the amount your heirs receive, providing you with a way to potentially guarantee inheritances and replace wealth earmarked for philanthropy.