Indexed universal life insurance fills the niche between being too risky and "too fixed."

With the stock market's continued ups and downs, and interest rates still sitting at near historical lows, there are many clients who are likely left wondering how they may be able to supplement their retirement income sources.

The good news is that there may be a product that fills the niche between being too risky and "too fixed." This middle ground is indexed universal life insurance.

In addition to offering death benefit protection, a potential advantage of owning indexed universal life (IUL) insurance is that the policy may be used for receiving a tax free retirement income. While the policy's cash account is being built up, these plans can also provide several advantages over other types of permanent life insurance options.

A long-term planning option

While IUL provides many of the same protections as do other permanent life insurance policies, these policies can also include more flexibility, as well as some additional advantages.

Some of the benefits that can found by choosing IUL include the following:

• Tax-free death benefit. Certainly, one of the biggest benefits of life insurance is that the death benefit proceeds are free from federal income taxation to survivors. This can allow beneficiaries to use the full face amount for paying off debts, replacing the decedent's income, or any other need that they see fit. Also, because life insurance proceeds pass directly to a named beneficiary, these funds aren't held up in costly, and time-consuming, probate proceedings.
• Tax-deferred growth of cash value. Permanent life insurance policies also allow the funds inside of the cash or investment component to grow on a tax-deferred basis. This means that funds have the opportunity to grow on an exponential basis, versus if the gain were taxed each year.
• Additional growth potential. With IUL, policy holders can obtain additional growth potential in their cash account. This is because the funds are benchmarked off of an underlying index (or in some cases, more than one index). In doing so, interest is credited to the account based upon the market performance, but without the downside risk of loss of principal.
• Protection of principal. Many IUL policies will protect policy holders' principal from underlying market losses. Due to an annual "reset" feature, cash value gains can be "locked in" each policy year, and they can never be lost due to future market losses. This essentially means that policy owners can participate in market growth, but they cannot lose principal in the event of a market downturn — almost like the best of both worlds.

• No minimum age requirements to participate. Though most types of qualified retirement plans require that participants be a certain age to participate, there are typically no minimum age requirements for purchasing IUL. This can allow individuals to start saving early. There are also no minimum age requirements for cash value withdrawals, so these plans can also offer flexibility when it comes to taking funds out of the plan as well.
• No mandatory RMD (required minimum distribution) requirements. Likewise, there is no requirement to start withdrawing funds from an IUL policy once a policy owner reaches age 70 1/2 as there is with qualified retirement plans. This means that the funds that are inside of an IUL policy may remain in the account, continuing to accumulate on a tax-deferred basis

Want to learn more? Just ask!

The Truth About Fixed Indexed Annuities

What do Walmart, Wells Fargo, major wirehouses and Tony Robbins all have in common?  They’re all part of a growing stampede to sell Fixed Indexed Annuities.  2014 will end up as the year where Fixed Indexed Annuity sales were up over 36% from the previous year, a new record high for FIA sales.

Financial commentators of all stripes tend to harp on high profile cases where consumers were sold annuities ill-suited to their needs.  These commentators also claim annuities are too complicated, expensive and have inflexible terms, making them unattractive to changing needs. Many advisors believe annuities offer clients little more than 3 to 4% interest. We believe the public is not getting a balanced picture and the time has come to set the record straight and give consumers the truth about fixed indexed annuities.

It’s crucial to disseminate

Three Ways to Increase Your Level of Success

Table Bay Financial has the great pleasure of working with and consulting with successful advisors throughout the country. The truth is, we all want the same thing…we want a greater level of success.

Everyone’s definition of success may be slightly different… some advisors with whom we work want a higher level of personal income, some are focused on building a more efficient business, and some just want more free time to enjoy the successes they've worked hard to achieve.

SEASONS GREETINGS

As 2014 comes to a close, ‘tis the season to gather together. For many people, the holidays tend to represent a time of year that is filled with faith, family, friends and reflection. When you’re sitting down around festive tables and celebrating over the next several weeks, remember to take a moment or two to consider the financial security of you and your loved ones. Are you taking full advantage of the Tax Code? Is your retirement distribution plan in order? Will your heirs be taken care of when you are gone? Have you incorporated Multi-Generational planning

into your overall plan? Are your documents and beneficiary designation forms up to date? We are here to help you with all of your tax and retirement planning needs.

Happy Holidays From My Family to Yours!

Five Marketing Problems Advisors Face Today

I’ve been in this business a very long time and I can tell you first hand that, today, advisors face more challenges than they ever have before. Here are five of the top challenges advisors face in today’s constantly changing financial world.

Multi-Generational IRAs… What Are Those?

The term Multi-Generational IRA (MGIRA) is not an official term, but is used in the retirement planning industry to refer to the ability of

beneficiaries to stretch IRA distributions over their individual life

expectancies. For your beneficiaries to continue enjoying the benefit of

tax-deferred growth on IRA assets they inherit from you, they must be

allowed to “stretch” distributions over their individual life expectancies.

This option is available only if the IRA plan document or custodial agreement allows it and specific steps are taken. 

After an IRA owner’s death, his or her designated beneficiaries can use the separate account rule and continue to receive annual distributions

from the inherited IRA based on their individual life expectancies. The

individual beneficiaries will pay income tax only on the required minimum

distributions as they are received each year. Under an MGIRA strategy,

only RMDs (required minimum distributions) are withdrawn each year.

Who will get the money in your IRA if something happens to you? How can you be sure? You might be surprised to learn that Uncle Sam, in his tax man guise, could take 35% to 80% of your IRA assets, depending on the state you live in.

Unless you make sure your retirement plan is set up correctly, the U.S. government may be the primary beneficiary of your IRA when you die. The good news is, it doesn't have to be that way. An MGIRA strategy is designed for those who want to ensure that any money left in their IRA at death will go to their heirs and not the tax man. An MGIRA strategy can greatly benefit you and your family and the best part is it costs nothing to set up.

FIA Fact or Fiction?

An FIA is a Fixed Indexed Annuity. Many people shudder when they hear the word “annuity” but the reality is that many people are confused as to what an FIA is and what it actually does. An FIA is a tax deferred opportunity to enjoy all of the upsides of the market without the risks associated with market volatility.