Life Insurance - The Insurance Pro Blog

Life Insurers Focus on Safety Not Risky Returns

It's no secret that interest rates are not in a place that life insurers favor. With interest rates so low, one might think that life insurers will move to more exotic investment ideas to recoup

3 Steps to Reduce Risk in Your Wealth Building Strategy

When things are going as expected or better than expected – it's human nature to relax a little bit and let the good times roll. I realize nobody likes hanging out with Debbie Downer or Negative

Comparing Permanent Life Insurance Policies: The Linton Yield Method

There are numerous ways to compare cash value life insurance policies. Some of them are pretty well recognized though of relatively little use like the Net Cost Surrender Index. Others are known within

Life Insurance for Parents

Life Insurance for Parents! It's a snazzy tagline used by a certain insurance industry periodical that I won't publicly shame for such a terrible grab at attention. The idea is straight forward and

Paid-Up Life Insurance

Paid-up life insurance is a term that confuses a lot of people. The idea seems straight forward, but what makes a life insurance policy paid-up? Also, how does paid-up life insurance differ from other

Endowment Life Insurance Policy: It Was a Sure Thing

We don't often talk about the endowment life insurance policy. This is largely due to the fact that they are no longer a thing in the United States. But just because you won't find them for sale doesn't

How Do Life Insurance Policy Loans Work?

Can you borrow against life insurance and how do life insurance policy loans actually work? For a lot of life insurance policies out there, the answer is yes. However, there are some types of life insurance

Whole Life Insurance Dividend Options

Whole life insurance dividend options are one of the ways a whole life policy provides the policyholder robust versatility. Understanding these different options is crucial for the proper use of a dividend-paying

Do You Pay Taxes on Life Insurance Payout?

There are so many questions about what taxes one must pay on life insurance proceeds. But one that we get a lot is, do you pay taxes on life insurance payout? The subject can be a bit intimidating for

TEFRA DEFRA TAMRA: How Taxes Effect Life Insurance

Life insurance enjoys some unique tax benefits, but it also faces limits imposed by legislation we know as TEFRA DEFRA and TAMRA. These pieces of legislation established specific guidelines as to what

Indexed Universal Life Insurance Pros and Cons

There are so many questions floating around the internet that center around indexed universal life insurance pros and cons. Indexed universal life insurance is the hottest thing going in the life insurance

BREAKING NEWS: Guardian Life 2018 Dividend

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America announced its plans to pay participating policyholders a total of $911 million in dividends in 2018. This will mark the largest total dividend payout

BREAKING NEWS: MassMutual 2018 Dividend

MassMutual announced its plans to pay participating policy holders a combined $1.6 billion in dividends. This total payout will be

BREAKING NEWS Northwestern Mutual 2018 Dividend Announced

Northwestern Mutual Life announced its plans to pay policyholders an combined $5.3 billion in 2018. This dividend payment will be represent a

Life Insurance a Potential Hedge Against Sequence of Returns Risk

Last week we discussed how sequence of returns affects wealth accumulation. It was the first time we discussed the notion of sequence of returns risk in the light of accumulation rather than spend down

BREAKING NEWS: Penn Mutual Life 2017 Dividend Announced

The Pennsylvania Mutual Life Insurance Company announced its plans to pay participating policy holders a total of $58 million in dividends for 2017. This represents an increase over last year of

2016 Whole Life Insurance Dividend Analysis

You can find the latest Whole Life Insurance Dividend Analysis Here Since 2013, we have published the only public analysis on variation in dividends for major participating whole life insurance

BREAKING NEWS: Guardian Life Announces 2017 Dividend

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of American has announced its plans to pay $847 million in dividends to its participating policy holders. This represents the highest gross dividend payout in the company's

BREAKING NEWS: MassMutual Life Announces 2017 Dividend

The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company announced its intentions to pay $1.6 billion in dividends to policyholders in 2017. This represents a decrease from 2016 of

BREAKING NEWS: Northwestern Mutual Announces 2017 Dividend

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company has announced its intentions to pay $5.2 billion in dividends to policyholders in 2017. This represents a decrease from the 2016 dividend payout of $400

Whole Life Insurance has a Strong Risk Adjusted Return – Historical Evidence

Three years ago this past Friday we published one of the most significant blog posts on this web site. This post, and a successor post we published last year remain some of the most popular content

2015 Operational Cash Flow Growth for Whole Life Focused Life Insurers

We’ve reported on operational cash flow among life insurers in the past and note that we hold this metric in high regard for a multitude of reasons. Our philosophy is that operational cash flow shows

Myth: Indexed Universal Life Insurance has Stock Market Exposure – Case Study

When we discuss indexed universal life insurance with new potential clients, they commonly mention that they already have stock market exposure, so they see no need to gain additional exposure to the

Whole Life Insurance Five Year Investment Income Trend

Investment income is a huge profit driver for life insurance companies. We've spent a lot of time analyzing and reporting on overall investment yield trends for life insurance companies, but that analysis

Five Reasons Whole Life Insurance is Better than a 529 Plan

The 529 Plan began to materialize in the mid 1990’s taking inspiration from prepaid tuition programs in the state of Michigan. Since the initial formation it has become the dominate recommendation

The Power of Whole Life Insurance in a Down Market

A few weeks ago a client of ours (we’ll call him Ted to protect his identity) reached out to us looking to take a policy loan from a whole life policy he owns. A unique and, arguable rare, opportunity

Risk Adjusted Return for Life Insurance Assets – Whole Life Insurance

I personally take risk adjusted rate of return very seriously. My focus on it largely comes from the notion of taking calculated risks to achieve various levels of return. For example, one might make a

Life Insurance as an Income Producing Asset with the Power of Leverage

We’ve talked a lot about using life insurance as an income producing asset. Many people stumble a bit when they first attempt to wrap their head around the notion of using “insurance” either

Sequence of Returns Risk and Indexed Universal Life Insurance

We’ve addressed the subject of sequence of returns risk in the past. We’ve even discussed it on the new Insurance Pro Blog Podcast. This subject has become a hot topic in more recent years as financial

Case Study: Whole Life Insurance vs. Bond Strategy

We receive phone calls and emails every week from people looking to “de-risk” their portfolio and possibly add life insurance as a complement to their other investment and savings strategies. A

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