Insurance Pro Blog Podcast

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The Insurance Pro Blog Podcast releases new episodes each week that support professional life insurance agents and financial planners who seek to better understand how cash value life insurance, in particular, might work for the benefit of their clients.

  1. 6D AGO

    Spend Cash Value First or Last?

    When you retire with multiple accounts, figuring out which money to spend first can feel overwhelming. You have qualified assets like IRAs and 401(k)s, Roth accounts, brokerage assets, and life insurance cash value. The order matters more than you might think. We walk you through the strategy of spending qualified assets first in most cases. This lets you take advantage of lower tax brackets while your qualified money is still relatively small. It also allows your life insurance to continue growing more efficiently over time. But the answer isn't always the same for everyone. If you have very little in qualified accounts and most of your money is in Roth or brokerage accounts, the strategy flips. We explain how to use life insurance first in those situations, then repay loans later by de-risking other assets. We also cover how to use life insurance as part of your necessary income floor alongside Social Security and pension income. You'll learn why taking only what you need from your policy early on gives you more flexibility later. The key is matching your withdrawal strategy to your specific mix of assets. Whether you own whole life or indexed universal life, these principles apply to both. We break down the scenarios so you can make informed decisions about your retirement income plan. ____________________________ Want to discuss your specific retirement income strategy? Contact us at InsuranceProBlog.com to explore how life insurance fits into your plan.

    25 min

  2. JAN 25

    Time Beats Timing in Whole Life

    You've probably wondered if there's a perfect moment to start a whole life insurance policy. Maybe you're waiting for dividend rates to climb, or you think the economic conditions aren't quite right. We tackle this question head-on in this episode. The reality is that trying to time a whole life policy purchase like you would a stock market investment doesn't work. Whole life policies don't experience the same volatility as other assets. Dividend rates adjust gradually over time, and everyone benefits from rate increases regardless of when they bought their policy. We explain why the compounding effect of time overwhelms any advantage you might gain from waiting for better conditions. A policy started today with 30 years to grow will almost certainly outperform one started five years from now, even if that future policy has slightly better terms. The math is straightforward, and we walk through specific examples to prove it. There's also a factor many people overlook: your health status could change. You may qualify for coverage today but face higher premiums or even denial if you wait. Unlike stocks or bonds, you can't simply decide to buy whole life whenever you want. We compare whole life to other asset classes and show why sequence of returns risk matters much less with cash value life insurance. The path is more predictable, and the range of possible outcomes is much narrower than with volatile investments. This makes whole life an excellent complement to your portfolio, not a replacement for growth investments. The bottom line? Time in the policy beats timing the purchase of the policy, especially when it comes to whole life insurance. Starting early gives you the most powerful advantage available. ___________________________________ Have questions about starting a whole life policy or want to discuss your specific situation? Reach out to us. We're here to help you understand whether whole life insurance makes sense for your financial plan.

    29 min

  3. JAN 18

    How Much Cash Value Life Insurance Do I Actually Need?

    You've probably wondered how much cash value life insurance you actually need. The truth is, there's no universal formula or magic percentage that works for everyone. This question oversimplifies what life insurance does and assumes there's a one-size-fits-all answer. We break down why "need" is the wrong word when it comes to cash value life insurance. In absolute terms, you don't need any cash value life insurance at all. But that doesn't mean it won't solve specific problems in your financial life. The amount of life insurance you should own—whether term or permanent—depends entirely on what you're trying to accomplish. Are you replacing income? Paying off a mortgage? Funding college? Providing retirement income? Each goal has different timelines and requirements. We walk through practical examples of how to think about death benefit needs and cash value accumulation. Instead of asking "how much do I need," you should be asking "what problem am I solving, and to what degree do I want life insurance to help?" That's how you arrive at the right answer for your situation. _______________________________ Ready to explore whether cash value life insurance makes sense for your specific goals? Visit theinsuranceproblog.com and click the contact button to start a conversation with us.

    31 min

  4. JAN 11

    Insurance Outlasts Your Financial Advisor

    Did you know that 40% of financial professionals plan to retire in the next 10 years? That means a lot of people face a real risk of outliving their advisor's career—or their advisor altogether. In this episode, we discuss why this transition creates unique challenges for retirees. When your advisor retires or passes away, you may find yourself searching for someone new at the very time cognitive decline makes financial decisions harder. We explore how life insurance and annuities can serve as a hedge against this risk. These products create stable, automated income streams that require far less ongoing management than traditional investment portfolios. You'll learn why the simplicity of insurance products matters as you age. Whether it's a guaranteed annuity payment or an automatic withdrawal from a life insurance policy, these income sources keep working even if your advisor doesn't. We also address a concern we hear frequently: what happens to a surviving spouse who never managed the investments? Many people come to us specifically because they want income their spouse can count on without learning portfolio management. This isn't about putting all your money into insurance products. It's about thinking through how you'll automate parts of your retirement income so you're protected no matter what happens. ______________________________________ Have questions about building stable retirement income? Reach out to us—we'd be happy to discuss how insurance products might fit into your plan.

    30 min

  5. JAN 4

    Life Insurance Hedges Business Cycles

    You know that uncomfortable moment when your safe assets aren't paying what they used to? That's when most investors make their biggest mistake—chasing yield right before a market downturn. We're going to show you how life insurance breaks that cycle. The business cycle has a nasty habit of pushing conservative investors into stocks at exactly the wrong time. Interest rates drop, your CDs and bonds pay less, and suddenly risker assets look appealing. Then the market drops and you're stuck watching losses pile up on money that was supposed to be safe. Life insurance products move much slower than the broader market. While your CDs react immediately to rate changes, whole life dividends barely budge. Index universal life insurance stays remarkably stable even during market chaos. This matters even more when you're taking distributions in retirement. The average investor takes 40 months to recover from a 20% market decline—nearly twice as long as the market itself. Having assets that aren't whipped around by economic cycles gives you the power to wait out downturns. We'll walk through how whole life and index universal life insurance acted as hedges during 2008 and other market disruptions. You'll see why these products let you avoid the panic that causes so many investors to lock in losses they didn't need to take. ____________________________ Want to explore how life insurance can hedge your portfolio against business cycle risks? Reach out to us—we'd be happy to discuss strategies that fit your specific situation.

    30 min

  6. 12/21/2025

    Why SPIAs Make More Sense

    In this episode, we break down the significant changes Secure Act 2.0 brought to single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs). You'll learn how the new rules allow SPIA income to count toward satisfying your required minimum distributions. This change makes SPIAs substantially more attractive from a tax perspective. We walk through recent research that revisits the famous 4% withdrawal rule from the 1990s. The study compares the traditional approach to a strategy that splits your retirement funds between a SPIA and a stock-heavy portfolio. You'll see why this combination produces more income with zero risk of running out of money by age 100. The numbers tell an interesting story. The SPIA approach generated about $80,000 per year compared to $68,600 with the 4% rule. While legacy values were lower, the failure rate dropped to zero versus a 20% chance of being broke by age 95 under the traditional method. We also discuss why so many people resist buying SPIAs despite the clear benefits. You'll hear our perspective on retirement planning dogma and why guaranteed income deserves serious consideration in your plan. The conversation covers practical concerns about giving up access to cash and what peace of mind actually looks like in retirement. _________________________- Ready to explore how guaranteed income might fit into your retirement plan? Contact us to discuss whether a SPIA strategy makes sense for your specific situation.

    36 min

  7. 12/14/2025

    Imperfect Execution, Solid IUL Results

    In this episode, we walk through a real 10-year-old indexed universal life insurance policy that didn't follow the original plan. You'll see actual results from a policy where the owner paid about 41% less in premiums than planned and made sporadic payments throughout each year instead of sticking to a schedule. We break down the numbers to show you what really happened with this policy. The average index credit came in at 6.48%, slightly better than the 6% we used in projections. The internal rate of return essentially matched what we expected at policy inception, even though the cap rate dropped by about 30% along the way. You'll learn why timing matters when it comes to index credits and how this policy weathered periods of hitting the 1% floor. We explain how multiple payment segments work when premiums come in sporadically. We also show you what happens to policy expenses over time. In the most recent policy year, index credits totaled about $26,000 while expenses ran around $3,400. That gap only gets wider as the per-1000 charge drops off and the expense ratio falls below a quarter of one percent. We discuss why this policy is effectively out of the danger zone that critics often warn about. This is the fourth 10-year policy we've reviewed on the podcast, and it shows the same pattern as the others. Imperfect execution can still lead to solid results when the policy is properly designed from the start. __________________________ Want to discuss how an indexed universal life policy might fit your situation? Reach out to us and let's talk about your specific goals.

    26 min

  8. 12/07/2025

    Do Indexed Products Rob You Blind?

    Ever wondered if insurance companies are pocketing the difference between what the market returns and what your indexed product credits? We break down exactly how indexed universal life and indexed annuities actually work behind the scenes. You'll learn how insurance companies divide your premium into three distinct buckets: guarantees, operational costs, and the options budget. We explain why cap rates and participation rates go up and down based on interest rates and market volatility. Most importantly, we address the persistent claim that insurers are making huge profits by limiting your returns. We walk through the regulatory restrictions that prevent insurance companies from speculating with options. You'll understand why they use hedging strategies instead of trying to profit from market movements. This episode cuts through the noise and gives you the facts about how these products are designed. We also discuss why some older policies have lower cap rates than you'd expect and why certain companies use third-party investment managers. You'll gain insight into the competitive pressures that drive product innovation in the insurance industry. By the end, you'll have a clear picture of whether indexed products are truly designed to shortchange policyholders. _________________________ Ready to discuss how indexed products might fit into your financial strategy? Reach out to us to schedule a conversation about your specific situation.

    27 min
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The Insurance Pro Blog Podcast releases new episodes each week that support professional life insurance agents and financial planners who seek to better understand how cash value life insurance, in particular, might work for the benefit of their clients.

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