Brandon Roberts

Brandon launched the Insurance Pro Blog in July of 2011 as a project to de-mystify the life insurance industry. A specialist in the design and application of life insurance cash accumulation features, Brandon is one of the foremost authorities on the subject of coordinating life insurance cash values in a financial plan.

Bond Inflows Highlight Annuity Strengths and Speak to Inept Investors

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With the economic landscape changing dramatically and a “new normal” taking shape in the fixed-interest marketplace, bonds are testing a long-held–but poorly vetted–theory about safety. Ask anyone with a minor interest/proficiency in personal finance about safe assets, and you’ll likely hear something about bonds. They are the asset the investment industry offers up as a …

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Wealth Building Opportunity

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While most financial advice is heavily focused on maximizing return while minimizing fees (and this perhaps is one of the reasons so many people fail long term in their financial plan) I'm going to take time today to introduce a concept that is by no means new, but one of those golden little nuggets that could dramatically change the way you look at financial matters through the lens of your personal self worth.

Because SOPA and PIPA went down a ball of flames I'll post the following picture to illustrate what today's post will be all about.  Not, of course, before acknowledging that it's not my original work and noting that you can purchase it directly from despair.com (I haven't started selling ad space; I'm not getting paid for this, FYI)

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How the Fees Destroy Indexed Universal Life Insurance

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How the Fees Destroy Indexed Universal Life Insurance

We’ve long argued that many of the scare tactics used to dissuade people from universal life insurance products are very heavy-handed. The “evidence” exists mostly as anecdotes concerning “I know someone who knows someone who” once owned one of those products and bad things happened. For the most part, bad things involve a requirement to contribute additional …

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De-Risk Your Portfolio with Whole Life Insurance

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De-Risk Your Portfolio with Whole Life Insurance

We had a really good run with the stock market over the past 10+ years.  It seemed like the market was on a non-stop race to higher and higher levels.  In fact, many hobbyist investors made unimaginable fortunes by launching blogs and doling out investment advice that largely parroted the long-standing ethos of the now …

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Why Does Universal Life Insurance Have Such Low Guarantees

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Why Does Universal Life Insurance Have Such Low Guarantees

When looking at universal life insurance–especially in the context of its ability to accumulate cash value–and comparing it to other life insurance products like whole life insurance, people often note that it appears to have much lower guarantees.  In fact, here’s an excerpt from an indexed universal life insurance proposal that highlights said low guarantee:Now, …

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Why Life Insurance Works so well for Retirement Income

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Why Life Insurance Works so well for Retirement Income

Life Insurance used to generate retirement income is a slightly more advanced subject within the world of life insurance and financial planning. The stock jockeys hate it, and the life insurance agents love it. No surprise there. But is there something that life insurance brings to the table that is truly special? Or are you …

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Universal Life Insurance Expense Breakdown

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Universal Life Insurance Expense Breakdown

Universal life insurance is characterized by its flexibility and transparency of expenses.  Unlike whole life insurance, where expenses operate under the cloak of proprietary information, we can easily call up the expense breakdown of universal life insurance policies and see exactly where the money goes. For universal life insurance policies, expenses fall into four main …

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