An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) gives you more control over your insurance policy and how your beneficiaries will get the death benefit when you die. A life insurance policy is an investment and an asset. So, it will be part of your estate after you die. Because of this, the death benefit, or proceeds, can be subject to an estate tax if all of your assets are worth more than the federal exemption limit.
How ILITs Work
In estate planning, a trust is a separate entity that holds your assets, such as money, real estate, and personal items. So that they can be given to your heirs after you die. An ILIT is a trust that you can’t change your mind about. It holds your life insurance policy for you so that it doesn’t count toward your taxable estate.
The trust is the policyholder, so you don’t have to worry about anything to do with ownership. The death benefit is no longer part of your estate and does not add to the value of your estate for tax purposes. It also won’t have to go through probate, which is the legal process of getting your estate in order. Your heirs can get the full amount of the death benefit. Here’s the process:
You set up your ILIT
You give your existing life insurance to the trust, or you have the trust “buy” a new policy. Then you put money into the trust so it can pay your premiums.
The trust is the beneficiary of your life insurance policy. So when you die, the policy pays the death benefit to the trust. The benefit is not counted toward your estate tax.
The ILIT will give your trust’s beneficiaries the death benefit based on your instructions. Which are written in the trust document.
Setting Up An ILIT
ILITs are hard to understand and have many tax effects. When setting up a trust, it’s important to talk to an attorney to make sure it’s done right and works to your advantage. Once you’ve started putting together the trust you’ll find there are 3 designations that need to be made:
Grantor – You, the person who makes the trust
Trustee – The person you elect to manage the trust for you
Trust Beneficiaries – The people you have chosen to receive your assets listed in the ILIT after you have passed away
To actually set up the ILIT you have a few steps. First, you open and finance the ILIT and fund the trust to keep up with the premiums for your life insurance policy. Second, you’ll transfer or buy a new life insurance policy into the trust. Lastly, you’ll select a trustee and choose how the ILIT will distribute the benefits. Be careful as these instructions can not be changed later.
Benefits Of ILITs
Using an irrevocable life insurance trust can help you save on taxes and give you more control over how the death benefit from your life insurance is used.
Minimizing Estate Taxes
If you have a life insurance policy when you pass away, the death benefit is considered an asset. So, it is added to the total value of your estate. However, if you put the life insurance into an ILIT, the money from your death benefit would not be counted as part of the estate and will not face taxes. If you don’t include your life insurance, you may also be able to lower the total value of your estate before the federal exemption level and avoid paying taxes on it.
Death Benefit Can Pay Estate Taxes
All of the money and things you own make up your estate. If your estate is worth more than the amount the law says is exempt, federal estate taxes will have to be paid. In 2020, the amount that won’t be taxed is $12.92 million. This means that a person can leave $12.92 million to their heirs without having to pay any estate taxes at all. Also, if the two people are married, the exemption would double to $25.84 million. If the trust is set up right, the money from your death benefit can be used to help pay taxes on your other assets.
For example, let’s say you have a $15 million estate made up of real estate, retirement accounts, and stocks. Your beneficiaries would have to pay estate taxes for that amount. Your trustee could pay that tax with the money from your death benefit. This lets you beneficiaries get the full value of all other assets outside of the ILIT.
State Estate Taxes
Even if you don’t have to pay the federal estate tax, depending on where you live, you may still have to pay the state estate tax. When compared to the federal level, the amounts that are exempt from these estate taxes are much lower. Here are the states that charge an estate tax and their asset exemption limits:
Connecticut – $12.92 million
Hawaii – $5.49 million
Illinois – $8 million
Maine – $6.41 million
Maryland – $5 million
Massachusetts – $12.92 million
Minnesota – $3 million
New York – $6.58 million
Oregon – $1 million
Rhode Island – $1,733,264
Vermont – $5 million
You Control The Benefits
With a trust, you, as the grantor, can give specific instructions about how the death benefit will be used. Usually, the beneficiary gets the money from a death benefit in one lump sum or several payments over a set amount of time. With an ILIT, you can give extra instructions. Like holding back money if the beneficiaries are too young. Or even setting aside portions of the money into investment accounts that can be accessed later. Having the money from a life insurance policy owned by an ILIT can help protect the benefits of a trust beneficiary who gets government help. Like Social Security disability income or Medicaid. The Trustee can keep a close eye on how the trust’s money is spent so that it doesn’t affect the beneficiary’s ability to get government benefits.
Disadvantages of ILITs
ILITs could help people reach certain tax and estate planning goals, but ILITs can also have the following problems. Before starting an ILIT, think about these things.
No Modifications
Once you give your life insurance policy to an ILIT, you can’t give it to another trust or entity. This is because you’ve given up all rights to your coverage. Imagine you set up an ILIT and named your spouse as a beneficiary. After a few years, you get a divorce and want to take your spouse off the policy. There is no easy way out of this situation unless specific language was added before the trust was put into action.
Potential Taxes
If you die within the first 3 years of setting up your ILIT, the trust’s life insurance policy may be automatically added to your estate. If the payout from your life insurance is part of your estate, it could be taxed along with the rest of your assets.
You Don’t Own Your Life Insurance
With an irrevocable life insurance trust, the policy is owned by the trust and not by you. Most of the time, you can’t change your life insurance policy after you set up an ILIT. Your trustee is in charge of making sure that your policy is managed and paid out according to the rules of the trust.
Choosing Life Insurance
If you are setting up an ILIT and choosing a new life insurance policy at the same time, you are in a great position to choose the best policy for your needs. This could be a term policy, which lasts a specific amount of time. However, it’s more likely with an ILIT that you will choose a whole life policy. The good news is, there is no rule about what kinds of life insurance you should include in your ILIT. To make sure you get the results you’re aiming for you may want to work with a lawyer, a financial advisor, and an insurance agent. Among the three, you’ll make sure all your bases are covered when you set up your ILIT.
Who Should Get an ILIT
ILITs are best for people with a high net worth who want to avoid paying higher estate taxes if they don’t have to. Parents who want the money to go to their minor children can also use an ILIT. This makes sure that the money goes to care for their children and doesn’t get stuck in court.
Most people won’t need to include the complexity of an ILIT in their end-of-life planning like paying for a funeral or cremation. So a strong will, a revocable trust, and an insurance policy will be enough for their estate plan. Since the trust can’t be changed once it’s set up. It’s best for people who have special needs when it comes to estate planning.
Working With EZ
Your family will still have bills to pay after you die, and they will need your help more than ever. The last thing you want them to worry about while they are grieving is money. There are many great options for low-cost life insurance that will give your family enough money for a low monthly price. Working with an agent who specializes in life insurance is the best way to find the right policy for you and your needs. At EZ.Insure, we know that you and your family want the best coverage but we also know you have to stay within your budget.
So, we will do everything we can to find you the best policy at the best price and we want to make it as easy as possible for you to do so! We’re here to help, and the best part is that everything we do is free. We will help you with everything, from answering all of your questions to helping you choose a policy and finish the enrollment process. We will also help you after your plan has started. To get started, just type your zip code into the bar below or give us a call at 877-670-3560.
Choosing a life insurance policy can be very confusing, since there are so many different options to look into. But we can help break down what you need to consider when searching for a policy! First, you’ll need to decide between the two main types of policies: whole life insurance and term life insurance. And while term life is excellent for people on a budget, there are situations when whole life is simply a better deal. So what’s the difference between the two, and is whole life right for you?
Difference Between Term & Whole Life
Both term life and whole life require you to pay a monthly premium. In return, your family will get an agreed-upon amount of money (your death benefit) when you pass away. The major difference between these types of policies lies in the length of the policy.
When you purchase term life insurance, you will be asked to choose the amount of time that your coverage will last, typically anywhere from ten to thirty years. After that amount of time, your policy will expire. If you outlive the policy, your family will not get your death benefit. And you will then have to decide whether to buy a new policy or extend your term. In both cases, your policy will likely be more expensive because you will be older and might have developed health conditions.
The possibility that your policy will end, and you will have to extend or repurchase is a major drawback of term life. With whole life insurance, though, you might pay higher premiums. But the policy will cover you for the rest of your life. Not only that, but many whole life policies have a cash value – like a savings account – attached to the policy that accrues money over time.
As we mentioned above, whole life can be more expensive than term life. But the difference in price is often not actually all that much. And again, with a whole life insurance policy, you will build a cash value account that grows over time. And the account is tax-deferred. So you can essentially use your policy as a type of bank account.
You should also consider whole life insurance over term life if:
You’re close to 50– You might think that if you’re heading towards 50, or a little older, term life is the way to go. But if you’re only around 50, you have a good chance of outliving a term life insurance policy. And then you’d have to pay an extremely high premium to get a new policy (that might have a smaller death benefit), since you will be buying/renewing your policy at a much older age.
You have children in college– If you have a child or children in college, a whole life insurance policy with added cash value is a great option. With one of these policies, you can save that money and then give it to your child for tuition.
You’ve been diagnosed with a medical condition– If you missed the opportunity to purchase a term life insurance policy when you were young and healthy, odds are that one will be very expensive if your health is no longer what it once was. In this case, it would probably be smarter to get a guaranteed issue whole life insurance policy. Rather than run the risk of not qualifying for a standard life insurance policy later on.
You have a child with special needs– Whole life is a great choice if you are a parent who has a child with special needs and an existing special needs trust. You can consider survivorship whole life insurance. Which covers both parents but only pays the death benefit after the remaining parent passes away. This is an excellent type of permanent coverage that is a great deal more affordable than coverage for both parents.
You own a business- There are a variety of types of life insurance options available to business owners. For example, you can take out a permanent cash-value life insurance policy such as an indexed universal life policy. With which you can access funds should you need liquidity in case of an emergency. Or if the key employee leaves the company.
Whole life insurance is a great choice for a lot of people. But if you’re not sure which policy is best for you, your best bet is to compare policies from different companies. There are many great affordable life insurance options to choose from that will provide enough money for your family. The best way to find the right life insurance policy is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance. We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.
In many cases, people think that only the breadwinner of a family needs to have a life insurance policy, since they bring in most of the family’s income, and it is their income that would need to be replaced. But what about families in which both partners make an equal income? Do both spouses need life insurance, and if so, which policy is best for dual-income families?
Why Dual-Income Families Should Have Life Insurance
If you and your partner both have an income, you both equally contribute to paying the bills and taking care of the debts that accumulate in your household. Your family is accustomed to living with both incomes, and losing one could seriously impact your family’s financial stability. When both income-providing partners have life insurance, this can help pay for funeral costs and offset the lost income from either spouse.
Whether you are the breadwinner of the family or not, it’s important to have a life insurance policy for:
Financial stability- A policy will ensure that your spouse or children will not have to deal with outstanding debt or bills, or with worrying about mortgage payments on their own without your income to balance it out.
Quality of life- Even if your spouse has an income, they might have to work more to maintain your family’s current lifestyle. They will be dealing with emotional and psychological stress alongside added bills such as childcare and more, which can add up.
What Type Of Life Insurance Should You Get?
When considering what type of policy both of you should get, one of the most important things to consider is whether you should get one policy together or separate policies. Consider the following options:
You do have the option to get separate policies, but you also have the option to get a policy that covers two people, known as joint life insurance. Joint life insurance is a type of universal life insurance, meaning that it is permanent life insurance, and so will remain in effect for your whole life. Depending on how your policy is structured, it might build cash value that grows, tax-deferred, over the life of the policy.
If both you and your partner need the same level of coverage, it may be less expensive to buy a single joint policy with the face value (benefit amount) you’re looking for, compared to two individual policies with the same face value. But you should be aware that, depending on the type of policy, once one policy holder passes away, and a claim is paid, the surviving partner will have to get a new policy to cover them.
Individual Life Insurance
Individual life insurance can be better suited to a couple that has a lot of financial needs, such as providing protection for young children or covering ongoing lifestyle expenses for the family. Another benefit is that individual insurance allows coverage to continue for surviving spouses, even if one of the spouses passes away and a claim is paid.
Individual policies are also a better option if you want coverage that is customized for each of you, such as different benefit amounts or terms of coverage. But it is important to note that individual life insurance policies will have slightly higher premiums than a joint policy.
How Much Coverage Should You Get?
Once you’ve thought about what type of policy you and your spouse should get, you’ll have to think about the amount of coverage you should have. When looking for a policy that will give your family enough coverage, you should make sure the benefit amount is at least 10 times your annual income. In some cases, it might be appropriate to add an extra 15 to 20% just in case there are any extra death-related expenses and financial obligations that your spouse would have to take on, such as a mortgage, car payments, utilities, childcare, and more.
Need Help?
There are many great affordable life insurance options to choose from that will provide enough money for your family, for a low monthly price. The best way to find the right life insurance policy for you and your specific needs is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance. We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.
Your child is off to college, and while this is generally a very joyous time, it can also be very nerve-wracking: after all, the cost of college has been increasing over the last decade and it doesn’t look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. In fact, we have $1.4 trillion in outstanding student debt in this country! About 93% of student loans have a cosigner – and if your family is like many families, you are that cosigner. If something were to happen to your child and they were to pass, you would be responsible for your child’s student loan. You can protect yourself by buying life insurance for your college-age child, to ensure that these loans will not financially cripple your family in the future.
Before we look at the best types of life insurance for your family, let’s take a look at the types of student loans that your child might need to take out to fund their education. There are generally two kinds of loans that you can take out: federal student loans and private student loans. Federal student loans will most likely not require a cosigner, and if the borrower passes away, they will not be passed on to family members. On the other hand, if your child takes out a private student loan, they will most likely need a cosigner who will be responsible for the debt if the borrower passes away.
Do You Need Life Insurance?
If you are a cosigner of your child’s student loans, you will be responsible for the loan in the event of their passing. We know that no one wants to think about losing their child, but if they are going off to college and are taking out a private student loan, you should think about purchasing life insurance for them, since their debt would fall on you if they were to pass away.
Which Policy Is Best?
There are many different kinds of life insurance policies that you can choose from, but if you are considering a plan for a college student there are two main types of policies you should think about: whole life insurance and term life insurance. Term life insurance will cover your child for a set period of time (like 5, 10, 15, or 20 years) before expiring, while whole life insurance will last for the rest of the policyholder’s life.
If you’re looking to cover your child during their student loan payback period, a term life policy is a good way to go, since you can choose the amount of time you want the policy to cover them for. If you are looking for something your child can one day take over the payments for and have for the rest of their life, consider a whole life insurance policy.
How Much Coverage Should You Get?
When trying to figure out how much coverage you need, you will need to take into consideration the amount of the loan and interests.
If you have decided to get a life insurance policy for your child the next thing you need to consider is how much coverage you will need. The amount of coverage that you need will be determined by how large a student loan your child has. The best way to calculate the amount you will need is to take into consideration the loan amount, how long you expect the repayment period to be, and the amount of expected interest. Generally, private student loan repayment periods range in length from 5 to 15 years, with an annual interest rate that ranges between 3 and 15%.
Need Help?
It is not easy to think about losing your child, especially as they embark on this new journey in life. But if you are a cosigner to their student loans, you will be responsible for paying off their debt, which can be crippling, especially since the average student loan is almost $55,000. There are many great affordable life insurance options to choose from that will provide enough coverage for this type of debt for a low monthly price. The best way to find the right life insurance policy that will work for you is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance. We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates.Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.
Life insurance is the best way to ensure that your family will have financial security after you’re gone: the benefits that they will be able to claim will help them to pay the bills and stay afloat. But did you know that a small percentage of life insurance benefits go unclaimed by beneficiaries every year? That means that your family could miss out on money that is intended to help them after you’re gone. Find out what happens to unclaimed life insurance money and how you can avoid your beneficiaries losing out.
Benefits go unclaimed when your loved ones are not notified of a life insurance policy you took out, or the company cannot reach the beneficiary.
You might be wondering how this could even happen. Well, the number one reason that life insurance benefits go unclaimed is that people will purchase a life insurance policy but forget to tell their family members that they have done so. After all, if you don’t tell your beneficiaries that you have taken out a policy on yourself, they won’t know that there will be benefits they can claim when you’re gone, meaning they’ll miss out on the money meant for them.
The number two reason life insurance benefits go unclaimed? Family members can also forget that their loved ones have a life insurance policy after they’ve passed, which means it’s important that you keep all of your information regarding your policy easily accessible to your beneficiaries.
What Happens if Your Benefits Go Unclaimed?
The good news is that your life insurance company will typically try to contact your beneficiary if they have not claimed their benefits within a certain amount of time after your passing. But if they can’t reach them, they will follow the legal requirements and turn over the unclaimed insurance money to the state.
Making Sure Your Family Gets Their Benefits
Make sure your family has your life insurance documents so they are aware and can claim benefits when the time comes.
Insurers will usually try to get your benefits into the right hands, so the best thing you can do to help them do so is to make sure you name a beneficiary, remember to change your beneficiary if necessary, and keep information on how to reach your beneficiary current at all times. In addition, don’t forget to give your beneficiary a copy of your policy, so they will know exactly how to access their benefits when you are gone.
Your family has financial obligations that will not go away when you are gone; they will need your help more than ever with their expenses, and the last thing you want them to worry about is money while they are grieving. There are many great affordable life insurance options to choose from that will provide enough money for your family, for a low monthly price. The best way to find the right life insurance policy for you and your specific needs is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance. We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.
If you have health issues or engage in certain behaviors, like smoking, trying to find a great life insurance policy can seem daunting. Most insurance companies require a medical exam to qualify for a policy, and most will ask you questions about your lifestyle and medical history, so they will know how healthy you are, and if you are a smoker. But what if you use e-cigarettes? Whether you smoke traditional cigarettes or e-cigarettes, you can expect to pay slightly higher rates than non-smokers. But don’t let that scare you off, you can find an affordable life insurance policy even if you are an e-cigarette user.
What Are E-cigarettes?
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, have become popular with a lot of smokers, especially those looking for a way to smoke fewer traditional cigarettes. While many people believe that smoking e-cigarettes, or “vaping,” is less of a health hazard than smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes, the jury is still out on the health effects of this type of smoking. Most e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, an addictive drug, and they can affect your cardiovascular system, your lungs, and your respiratory health over time. This means that e-cigarettes are still considered to be a form of “tobacco use” in the eyes of health insurance companies.
How E-Cigarettes Affect Life Insurance Rates
Life insurance companies consider anything harmful to your health as a risk when it comes to insuring you, so using e-cigarettes will affect your life insurance rates. But, because using e-cigarettes is not considered the same as smoking traditional cigarettes and using tobacco, life insurance companies are starting to offer better ratings and lower premiums for people who use e-cigarettes compared to people who smoke traditional cigarettes. Some insurers, but not all, will even place people under a non-smoking category if they only use electronic cigarettes.
Some life insurance companies will lower your rate after you have quit smoking for some time.
In fact, all life insurance companies have different ways of rating smokers. For example, some life insurance companies will allow you to begin your policy at a non-smoker rate for three years, and if you have quit smoking after the 3 years are up, you can continue to pay the same rate. If you continue to smoke, though, you will most likely have to pay a slightly higher rate. Not all insurers allow you to do this, but most will allow you to retake your medical exam and reclassify into a better health class if you have quit smoking for at least a year.
If you’re looking for term or permanent life insurance, the best way to find an affordable policy is to compare all of your options. But if it turns out that you can’t find affordable permanent or term life because of your history of using e-cigarettes, you can also look into guaranteed issue life insurance. You can get guaranteed issue life insurance regardless of your health, because you won’t be required to take a medical exam or answer any medical questions. Just be aware that these plans typically offer lower coverage amounts.
Your family has financial obligations that will not go away when you are gone; they will need your help more than ever with their expenses, and the last thing you want them to worry about is money while they are grieving. There are many great affordable life insurance options to choose from that will provide enough money for your family, for a low monthly price. The best way to find the right life insurance policy for you and your specific needs is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance. We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.
