business owners

What Are the Most Popular Life Insurance Based Nonqualified Plans?

The post-COVID resignation boom has brought employee retention issues to the forefront. With turnover rates on the increase business owners are keenly aware of how difficult it is to attract and retain key personnel. The competition for superior technical, managerial, and executive talent is so fierce today that business owners are constantly faced with finding […]

Key Person Coverage: A Simple Concept with Underwriting Challenges

The hardest part in working with business owners is getting them to set aside time to talk about their life insurance. However, once the business owner agrees to meet with the financial professional, the next most difficult challenge may be determining the face amount of coverage and then getting the insurance carrier to issue the […]

Key Employee Life Insurance Checklist

Read our print-friendly PDF version The purpose of key employee life insurance coverage is to help indemnify a business for the loss of a key employee’s skills and experience in the event of the death of that person. Death benefits or cash values may be used to help recruit and train a replacement, to pay […]

Multi-Generational Estate Planning for Uninsurable Individuals

THE SITUATION A financial professional called DBS seeking estate planning advice for a very wealthy widow. The client had previously used most of her estate tax exemption and was still in good health . . . that is for a person 87-years old. THE PROBLEM Carriers have a maximum issue age which for most carriers […]

Is it Possible to Fund a Buy-Sell Agreement with a Personally Owned Policy?

Situation: Nearly all buy-sell agreements that use life insurance as a funding vehicle do not have the business owner owning their own policy. In an entity purchase arrangement (where the business buys back/redeems a departing owner’s interest), the business is the owner and beneficiary. In a cross purchase arrangement (where the remaining owners purchase interest […]

Business Uses Of Life Insurance

There are six key ways in which life insurance may benefit your business Business Transfer: Businesses or business owners can execute a buy-sell agreement and fund it with life insurance. A buy-sell agreement is an arrangement for a business to continue in the event of the owner’s death, disability, retirement or early withdrawal from the […]

Count Down of President Biden’s Top 10 Tax Proposals

President Biden’s proposals, if enacted, will have a big impact on many planning strategies. Keep an eye on these proposals so that you’re prepared to work with your clients accordingly. Read full PDF

Standby Survivorship Trust an Alternative to an ILIT for Insureds Desiring Control

Situation: The uncertainty of the estate tax laws has created a dilemma for many taxpayers, estate planners, and insurance professionals. Should moderately high net worth couples take action today to shelter a significant amount from estate tax (under the $11.7 million exemption) by making a large gift; or should they hold off making a large […]

The Four Levels of Gifting

Level #1: Transfers Not Subject to Tax There are several transfers that fall outside federal gift taxation. You can make the following transfers without facing a gift tax: Anything given to a U.S. citizen spouse as long as the transfer qualifies under the marital deduction1 Donations to qualified charitable organizations made in a manner qualifying […]

Transfer Tax Basics for Noncitizens

Over the past few months, there has been a renewed interest in estate planning topics. The increased interest is likely due to the combination of the daily coverage of deaths due to COVID-19, historic high federal exemption amount, and low-interest rates. Recently, some of my calls involved the application of U.S. estate tax laws to […]