Does Your Current Policy Need a Make-Over?

We here at America's Tax Solutions like to make sure our clients and their clients are always prepared. Many Americans buy various types of insurance policies, put the paperwork in a drawer and never look at it again. Unfortunately, many of those people could be stuck with old policies they bought 10, 20 or even 30 years ago and they haven’t had them reviewed. Why is this important? Over the past several decades they may have experienced life changes and their planning needs have likely changed as well.

Did they consider things like tax diversification and tax-free retirement? Can these policies be used to help fund a college education for their kids or grandkids, protection against a long-term care disaster, and so on? If they were say 25 to 35 years old when they first selected their policies, probably not. There also may be better policies available today that didn’t exist back when they first met with their agent.

7 Points You Should Consider When Reviewing Old Policies:

1. You feel a higher rate of return may be realized with a new policy.

2. You feel that the current insurer may become insolvent and a more stable insurer can be obtained through a policy exchange or diversification of insurance carriers will increase safety and/or return.

3. You have exercised a loan provision against a policy, the interest paid on the policy is non-deductible, costs are increasing and you need to continue coverage.

4. You would like to change from an individual to a group product.

5. You can achieve a higher death benefit with a new product.

6. You would like to change an ordinary life policy into a single premium policy to eliminate the premium payment burden, obtain a higher rate of return on the underlying cash value and obtain a higher death benefit.

7. You have an ordinary life contract and you would like to exchange it for a universal, variable, or interest sensitive policy. Premium rates on the new policy are lower due to such factors as improved mortality tables, a non-smoking discount, a volume discount for several policies aggregated into one or other factors.

If you haven’t reviewed all of your active policies, it’s important to dust them off and take a look to make sure they still provide you with what you want. If you are unsure where to begin, don’t hesitate to reach out immediately to your retirement distribution expert, tax professional or agent. Remember, a basic policy review should always be a FREE service from your trusted advisors!