Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Tue, Aug 17, 2010 @ 01:08 PM
By Phillip J Powell
Insurance settlements are alternatives for policyholders that might otherwise let their policies lapse. Policyholders that are terminally ill and that need the living benefit of these polices do an insurance settlement. An insurance settlement is where a policyholder sells their insurable interest for that specific policy amount.
Insurance settlements are very popular options to letting policies lapse. Many insurance carriers are not too excited about settlements because they are forced to pay the entire death benefit. Many policyholders have lost a lot of their net worth, have mounting doctor’s bills and are struggling to make it day to day. Insurance settlements help a lot of policyholders improve their overall quality of life.
Life settlements have two overall types of settlements. Senior settlement is the original term used in the industry. A policyholder can be 75 years or older and can have a life expectancy up to 19 years. A viatical settlement is where a policyholder has two years or less to live. For more information please go to LIVEpdq.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by Alice Hood on Wed, Jun 30, 2010 @ 12:41 PM
By Ronald C. Kerstetter
With the recent economic meltdown I am frequently being approached by clients and prospective clients about what to do with the insurance they no longer feel the need for or don’t want to afford, insurance settlements
offer several opportunities to relieve this situation. Many of us are aware that insurance settlements can provide cash for a no longer needed policy. Insurance settlements can do much more. By using a properly structured life insurance settlement, a policy holder can also settle the policy for a smaller paid for policy without additional payments. Life settlements can also offer a policy holder the ability to use the funds from the settlement to purchase a Long Term Care policy or benefit. The new estate tax law changes in addition to the reduction in value of many estates due to the economic downturn have created opportunities to use life settlements in many creative ways. From the purchase of Long Term Care policies to using life settlements to exchange policies they are continuing to pay for with new smaller policies without any further payments, life settlements may be a solution for your needs.
Click our Livepdq link today to see if a life settlement might be right for you.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by Alice Hood on Tue, Jun 29, 2010 @ 01:10 PM
By John W Thompson
Often times consumers are unsure if insurance settlements
are the right thing for them to do. Anyone looking into entering into insurance settlements needs to find out if they need life insurance to protect their family from any taxes or bills at their death and if so how much life insurance do they need.
If they need life insurance the next thing that should be looked at is there a way to reduce the premium that they are paying for life insurance. Just because a person needs insurance does not mean that they should not review their options regarding insurance settlements.
They may qualify for a less expensive life insurance policy as insurance companies are continually changing their products and their rates. The client may also qualify for a type of insurance settlement that relieves them of paying premium on their existing policy but gives their beneficiaries a portion of the death benefit on their existing life insurance policy.
By using our Livepdq tool you anyone interested in seeing if insurance settlements are right for them can find out in just a few minutes.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by Alice Hood on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 09:48 PM
by Stephen P Turtur
Insurance settlements
are another way of obtaining current value from your life insurance portfolio. The added financial area of this ever growing market has changed the insurance business. Selling a life insurance policy for its net present value of the death benefit was not possible years ago and now that it is the asset value of insurances has changed. The concept is more than reality now as the demand for these policies is growing and the supply side of the formula is still far behind in my opinion. The age of 74 and up is especially attractive to the funders. Insurance settlements at this age bracket are outstanding and even at younger ages where a medical complication exists, I have found that a bidding environment starts to exist further creating value to the owner/insured. Life insurance policies are being bought every day and the large funders seem to have ever growing money for investment. Insurance settlements have created an investment market that has attracted conservative money for investment as the risk element has dropped due to the number of policies in the funder portfolios. If you are considering selling you policy it sure is nice to have this option.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by Alice Hood on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 09:41 PM
by
Stephen P Turtur
Insurance Settlements should always be researched before you simply surrender your life insurance policy. In so many cases I have seen individuals that have decided to surrender their life insurance policies due to the expense factor or the need simply evaporating. The senior market is a very productive area of the settlement business as many offers have been the deciding factor in determining the decision to keep or terminate insurance payments. There are also instances where a great offer to buy an existing contract accomplishes enough liquidity to actually increase new life coverage with reduced premium. Insurance settlements can also provide this outcome so it is really an area that should be looked at by an experienced agent/advisor as you may be leaving money on the table. The decision not to sell your life insurance should not be based on a feeling, but more so on the actual economics of the options that you do actually have when understanding the settlement business. I would advise those insureds that are 74 and up to research these ideas as you may be pleasantly surprised. Insurance settlements seem to have the sound of finality to insurance options but I have found they open the financial planning options concerning life insurance.
To get started please click on
livepdq
Posted by Alice Hood on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 09:35 PM
by
Stephen P Turtur
Insurance settlements
are a very good way to obtain value for a life insurance policy that you may no longer feel you need. The option to surrender a policy for its value in many cases is not nearly as high as the settlement value, especially when considering an insured that is 70 plus years old. Insurance settlements have soared as the market for these assets is in a demand cycle due to perhaps alternate investment strategies verses the stock market. Large funds prefer life insurance policies that are written on older aged individuals as the life expectancy reports that are required for analysis, are shorter in duration. There are many cases in which a younger aged individual- under 70 , can obtain tremendous offers if a medical complication has shortened life expectancy from a statistical standpoint. This is usually where surprising offers are made for the purchase of these life insurance policies. Insurance settlements are not easy to obtain so I advise that you hire an agent/advisor to handle this type of transaction. Estimates are not possible without policy information illustrated in correct form and life expectancy reports that require proper form from medical information of the insured.
If you are ready to sell your policy please click on
livepdq
Posted by Alice Hood on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 09:34 PM
By Stephen A. Bailey
Insurance settlements - does your advisor know? Does your CPA or estate attorney, if you have one, know about insurance settlements? Life insurance policies scheduled for lapse or surrender, for whatever unaffordable or unsuitable reason there is, can be a valuable source of funds for a senior coming of age. There are approximately 75 million of us, coming rapidly to the age of 70. We are either a few years away or a few years into that decade, but the number is staggering and your advisor needs to know about that policy you have been paying for for a long time.
Whether you just took out a policy for a specific purpose, like estate taxes, not only should you be aware of insurance settlements, but your advisor needs to be educated too, so he is aware of the potential impact that lapsing or surrendering a valuable policy could have on your pocket book. Your beneficiaries are the first consideration and they would rather have the tax-free death benefit, then the settlement. However, sometimes there are severe changes in our lives and beneficiaries change or even become non-existent for whatever reasons.
Life goes on and you as the insured may have put a lot of money into that life insurance policy. Insurance settlements may be the most cost effective way to go. Very often you can have complete cost recovery for every nickle you put into your policy.
Click here Live Pdq to find out more.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by Alice Hood on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 07:11 PM
By Stephen R. Bathon, CLU, ChFC, AEP
Insurance settlements
can help overcome a major objection to the purchase of guaranteed, low cash value, life insurance contracts. Prospective buyers like the guarantees and low premiums of modern UL policies, but still ask, what happens if my situation changes and I find I need the cash value? With insurance settlements, you can have a living benefit as well as a low premium.
Instead of paying excess premiums to build cash value, the smart buyer can pay the lowest premium that will guarantee his contract for life. If for some reason his situation changes (the death of his beneficiary, for example) he can possibly sell the policy for more money than the cash would have provided. An insurance settlements, along with the invested saving on the lower premiums, will more than likely offset any cash value he would have accumulated in the policy.
For more information on insurance settlements please click the LIVE pdq
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by Alice Hood on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 06:51 PM
By Stephen R. Bathon, CLU, ChFC, AEP
People who are not in the life insurance or insurance settlements
business are often surprised to discover how much money is paid for life insurance. While consulting for a large wire house I had many opportunities to sell life contracts with annual premiums in excess of a million dollars.
Life insurance has long been a viable solution to the transfer tax problem associated with a large estate. Life insurance and money from insurance settlements in the trust allow an individual’s estate to pay their transfer taxes from a non-taxable fund. This fund, usually an irrevocable trust, has been used successfully for years by the rich to pay their federal estate taxes.
The real problem using a trust is not getting the money out tax free, but getting the money in tax free. Money paid to an irrevocable trust is a gift and therefore subject to a transfer (gift) tax similar to the estate tax. There are lifetime exemptions ($1,000,000) and annual exclusions ($13,000 per beneficiary) for gifting, but often they have been previously allocated for another part of the estate plan. Even if they are still available they might be insufficient to avoid taxation for all future premium payments.
When one uses life insurance in a trust, the gift tax is based on only the premium, which is generally a fraction of the life policy death benefit. For this reason, life premiums paid to a trust by the grantor are much easier to avoid taxation on than the actual death benefit which could be in the millions.
Insurance settlements might be a way for a trustee to increase a trust’s existing death benefit. By selling an older, less effective contract, the funds may be used to buy a larger policy. For more information on trusts, insurance and insurance settlements please click the LIVEpdq.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by Alice Hood on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 06:48 PM
By Stephen A. Bailey
Insurance settlements are needed for many Insureds, but are there enough buyers? You as an insured, who is over 70 years of age, newly retired maybe and need to cut down on expenses, have decided to sell your unwanted and unneeded and unaffordable life insurance policy. Is there still a market for that policy? Are there enough buyers for your policy in particular? Do you have to be in a situation where your health is really bad and the policy is really inexpensive, for someone to buy it?
I am not going to guarantee that your policy will be sold, even in a great economy. Is your policy a "fixer-upper" in a great neighborhood, or is it the house that someone put way too much money into, to make it better than any home in the neighborhood. In that case, it will be considered, but not on the priority list of homes considered to be a great deal. Life insurance policies are the same thing. If you bought it for cheap (like Preferred Plus) and later it went up in value, you are going to get more for it from insurance settlements, especially if you are not doing so well now yourself.
Your life insurance policy, fitting the profile of life insurance settlements, has a good chance of selling in the secondary market, but it may take longer than you would want. In the meantime, it pays to keep the premiums up and be able to withstand the test of time. Check out all the factors that determine value in life Insurance settlements by clicking here: LivePdq for more information.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.