What Role Can Cash Value Life Insurance Play in Your Retirement Planning

Cash value life insurance brightens your financial picture with flexibility, accessibility to cash values, tax-deferred growth and an immediate death benefit. In addition, there are a number of roles that cash value life insurance can play in your retirement planning:

Source of Retirement Income  At retirement, the cash value available in the policy can be:

• taken in a lump sum by surrendering the policy;
• converted into a guaranteed lifetime income; or
• periodically withdrawn and/or borrowed to supplement your retirement income (withdrawals and loans will reduce the policy’s death benefit and cash value available for use).

Retirement Income Protection  At retirement, you can elect the maximum life annuity pension option from your pension plan and use life insurance death benefits to help replace your pension income for your spouse, if you should die first. You and your spouse then enjoy a higher pension income while both of you are alive, with the knowledge that if something should happen to you, your spouse will have a continuing source of retirement income.

Accelerated Death Benefits  Many life insurance companies make it possible for policyholders to collect a portion of a policy’s death benefit early, if the policyholder is terminally ill, stricken with a specific catastrophic illness or requires long-term care in a nursing home.