401(k)

What is A 401(k)?

A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. It allows employees to invest part of their paychecks before taxes are taken out. Taxes are paid when they withdraw the money from the account. Many employers offer matching programs as part of their employee benefits package.

401(k) plans started replacing pension funds in the 1980s when the cost to run them rose. Most 401(k)s have a spread of mutual funds made up of stocks, bonds and money market investments. Employees choose how their money is invested.

The tough part is... employers don't usually allow their employees the training to understand all the ins and outs of their 401(k).

What we offer that is different....

What if you could get the flexibility of adjustable life insurance premiums and face value and an opportunity to increase cash value—would you go for it? What if you could get this without the inherent downside risk of investing in the equities market? All of this is possible with an indexed universal life (IUL) insurance policy. These policies aren’t for everyone, so read on to find out if this combination of flexibility and investment growth is a good fit for you.

How Does Indexed Universal Life (IUL) Insurance Work?

When a premium is paid, a portion pays for annual renewable term insurance based on the life of the insured. Any fees are paid, and the rest is added to the cash value. The total amount of cash value is credited with interest based on increases in an equity index (but it is not directly invested in the stock market). Some policies allow the policyholder to select multiple indexes. IULs usually offer a guaranteed minimum fixed interest rate and a choice of indexes.2 Policyholders can decide the percentage allocated to the fixed and indexed accounts.

The value of the selected index is recorded at the beginning of the month and compared with the value at the end of the month. If the index increases during the month, the interest is added to the cash value. The index gains are credited back to the policy either on a monthly or an annual basis. For example, if the index gained 6% from the beginning of June to the end of June, the 6% is multiplied by the cash value. The resulting interest is added to the cash value. Some policies calculate the index gains as the sum of the changes for the period, while other policies take an average of the daily gains for a month. If the index goes down instead of up, no interest is credited to the cash account. 

The gains from the index are credited to the policy based on a percentage rate, referred to as the “participation rate.” The rate is set by the insurance company and can be anywhere from 25% to more than 100%. For example, if the gain is 6%, the participation rate is 50%, and the current cash value total is $10,000, $300 is added to the cash value (6% x 50% x $10,000 = $300).

IUL policies typically credit the index interest to cash accumulations either once a year or once every five years.

So call one of your Pink Agents today and talk to them about your options for this type of account! We are shaking up the norm around here, come learn what the rich already know. 

Think Pink

What Is Indexed Universal Life (IUL) Insurance?

Universal life (UL) insurance comes in a lot of different flavors, from fixed-rate models to variable ones, where you select various equity accounts to invest in. Indexed universal life (IUL) insurance allows the owner to allocate cash value amounts to either a fixed account or an equity index account. Policies offer a variety of well-known indexes, such as the Nasdaq-100 or the S&P 500.1 IUL insurance policies are more volatile than fixed ULs, but they are less risky than variable UL insurance policies, because no money is actually invested in equity positions.

IUL insurance policies offer tax-deferred cash accumulation for retirement while maintaining a death benefit. People who need permanent life insurance protection but wish to take advantage of possible cash accumulation via an equity index might use IULs as key person insurance for business owners, premium financing plans, or estate-planning vehicles. IULs are considered advanced life insurance products in that they can be difficult to adequately explain and understand.