The life settlement market isn’t what it used to be but it’s not dead. We have negotiated a couple of life settlement transactions lately, so I have been reviewing IRS Revenue Rulings pertaining to gain. It’s been almost three years since the IRS provided guidance so I thought this would be a good time for a refresher.
Before these Rulings, Read more…
I continue to be amazed at the willingness of consumers in the market to put significant life insurance transactions in force with no outside analysis and no evident level of sophistication. Here is a very simple example.
Recently I was involved in some planning where the annual premium was $150,000 a year on a full pay basis for the desired death benefit. At least 99 out of 100 situations I get brought into involve a level premium scenario because when one hits the button on the computer, this is what comes out and little further thought or analysis is brought to the table.
In this situation we have a 77 year old individual and we played around with the premium flow. Read more…
I regularly get asked about the “Insurance Triangle”, what it is and how it plays into things. This is a reference to the “Goodman Triangle” Goodman V. Commissioner, 156 F.2d 218
In this case Mrs. Goodman transferred five existing policies insuring her husband’s life to a Revocable life insurance trust. Beneficiaries of the trust were her three children and her sister-in-law. About a decade later her husband died and the trust became irrevocable.
Read more…
I was in Orlando at the Heckerling Conference when the January Issue of Trusts & Estates came out. Richard Harris came by to see me and made a comment on my piece in the magazine and let me know he had an article in the same issue that I might like to read. At my first opportunity I read it and then tracked him down and told him that I was upset by what he wrote. Why? Because I was in the process of writing essentially the same article and he beat me to it. Of course I had some fun with that but now I am relegated to commenting about his article which may actually be a bit easier than completing my own. Read more…
We are pleased to have an article by Bill Boersma included in this month’s “Trusts & Estates” issue.
“Managing Life insurance”, Ongoing Management is Vital to Ensure Policy Performance, is a relevant and thought-provoking piece you will want to read thoroughly.
If you are not a regular subscriber to “Trusts & Estates”, you may follow the link below to access the article in its entirety.
I am writing about this 2006 law today because, from my perspective and through personal experience, I do not see very many insurance and professional advisors talking with their clients about this issue. The potential downside in terms of unexpected Read more…
Variable life insurance is a form of cash value life insurance where the risk of investment is put squarely on the shoulders of the consumer as opposed to the insurance company. At least in the real old days of the insurance market, investment risk was entirely on the shoulders of the carrier but since we entered Read more…
It’s been widely understood that life insurance rates have been coming down since, well, forever. There was a point not too long ago where if an insured individual with a term insurance policy was willing to take an insurance physical and complete new paperwork every year, he could reduce his premium annually even though he was a year older and the new policy would last a year longer. In fact it was common for policy owners and agents who were on top of things to do Read more…
I was working with an advisor recently who is involved in a typical situation; given the current economic environment, he has a client who is struggling to, or at least questioning if he should, pay his Read more…
