The month of January is Financial Wellness Month. It is a great way to start the year by examining how you plan on spending your money. It’s also a great time to reevaluate your long-term goals and strategies to help you reach them, like saving for retirement.
For life insurance agents , the month of January is an excellent time to discuss goals and financial concerns with your clients. Financial Wellness Month is the perfect platform to offer insurance solutions as means of saving for retirement.
Here we’ll discuss some great topics to bring up with your clients this January on how to be financially savvy and save for retirement. From term life to annuities, there are plenty of life insurance options that can help your clients meet their retirement goals.
When it comes to financial wellness and saving for retirement, life insurance might not be the first thing that pops into your client’s mind. Still, life insurance policies are great vehicles to save for retirement. Life insurance coverage can help your clients protect major expenses like their mortgage so that they can focus on building income for after their working years are behind them.
Since life insurance can also be a savings vehicle, it’s an ideal solution for building retirement savings for your clients. Beyond that, coverage will ensure they’re not having to spend unnecessarily if the worst happens. By leveraging an insurance policy, your clients have financial support while they’re making an income and the financial stability of investing their money in their retirement years.
One of the best options for saving for retirement is a cash value insurance policy . This type of whole life insurance lasts as long as your client is alive. Unlike other policies, cash value insurance takes a portion of your premiums and invests them in a savings account where they grow tax-free.
With a cash value policy, your clients will be able to withdraw money from their policy in a few different ways. Separate from the death benefit of the policy, your clients can make a partial withdrawal from the cash value if some unexpected financial burden should pop up. They might also decide to take out a loan against the cash value of their policy. Since the interest rates for the policy are often better than what they’d find through a bank, your clients are saving money by using the cash value instead. Last, your clients can surrender the policy altogether and receive a lump sum payment attached to the value of the cash value. It should be noted that all three options will affect the death benefit of the policy, but they are all valuable options if your client is facing financial burdens that would otherwise affect their retirement plans.
Most important of all, once the cash value has reached a certain amount your clients can begin to use it towards payments for the coverage itself. Effectively, the cash value of your client’s policy will start paying itself. This is key for any retirement plan as your client can continue to afford their life insurance coverage well after they’ve stopped receiving an income. Beyond that, your clients can use the cash value of their policy at any point during their retirement years.
Of the types of life insurance coverage, term life is an affordable solution towards saving for retirement. With term life coverage, your clients will have a guaranteed death benefit during the term they choose to cover. They might decide to use that payout to cover mortgage payments, college payments for their children or just to replace their income if they or their partner were to die unexpectedly. Term life is the perfect protection for clients who are actively saving for retirement and cannot afford any unexpected financial burdens.
Beyond that, term life insurance is of the least expensive types of life insurance, meaning your clients will be saving money on their policy that can instead be put towards retirement. Best of all, there are riders you can discuss with your clients to make sure they are getting the most out of their investment.
The return of premium rider is a great thing to discuss with your clients this January. With a return of premium rider included on their policy, they may see a full refund of their premiums if they outlive the enforced policy. While these riders may make the coverage more expensive, your clients may be able to use the accumulated, tax-deferred payments for their retirement.
Annuities are a great example of life insurance designed to provide you with an income for retirement. By opting into an annuity, your clients will be accumulating wealth with either one lump sum or scheduled payments. These payments act as investment funds that will guarantee an income stream for them when they start retirement.
All payments towards an annuity are exempt from taxation, so your clients will get the most out of their savings by purchasing an annuity early in life. Your clients will have the option of purchasing an immediate or deferred annuity. Immediate annuities, as their namesake implies, create a structured cash flow for the client in exchange for one lump-sum payment. A deferred annuity is a better option for younger clients who are focused on long-term savings for retirement. Both are great options for anyone looking to restructure their savings for retirement and get the most out of their income.
Beyond that, your client will also have the option of securing a fixed or variable annuity. With fixed annuities, policyholders are provided with regular payments during retirement regardless of how their investments are doing. On the other hand, variable annuities pay out depending on the success of the policy holder’s investments. If the funding is doing well, the payments grow with their investments.
Annuities, while a more costly option than some term life policies, are an ideal solution for clients who are hoping to create a stable source of income in their retirement years.
Another form of life insurance that can help your clients prepare for retirement is long-term disability . This type of disability insurance is meant to protect the policy holder’s income if they experience a disability that leaves them unable to work. For anyone who is focused on building wealth for retirement, long-term disability insurance is an additional safety net designed to protect your clients from dipping into their savings if they’re unable to work.
An additional highlight for your clients could be finding a guaranteed renewable disability policy. If the coverage is guaranteed renewable, your clients will have peace of mind knowing that their premiums won’t increase and that they can requalify without an issue.
Long-term disability will protect your clients from having to spend income saved for retirement when the unexpected happens. It’s a great insurance solution to discuss this January.
As a life insurance agent, your clients depend on you to help them make important financial choices. This January, be sure to guide them towards the best insurance solutions that will help them plan for retirement and achieve financial wellness. Whether it be an annuity or a term life policy, there are plenty of options to give your clients the financial advantage they need.
As a Symmetry agent, you will have access to high-quality life insurance, disability income insurance, critical illness insurance, and annuity products from more than 30 well-known insurance companies. This gives you the flexibility and reach you need to tailor plans to meet clients' individual coverage needs.
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