Dawn and I (Dave) would like to share with you some very important information that may help you and/or your family in the future. April is Financial Literacy Month and we thought this is a great time to share with some topics to get you thinking about your future plans for maintaining your lifestyle or even making it better.
Many times we see situations to where people don’t plan for life and especially for the unexpected. As they say, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
Whether you looking to save towards your retirement or you are already in your retirement years, you should always be evaluating your portfolio to make sure it is still meeting your current needs. Life changes and so do products and investment strategies.
Let’s use myself for an example. Over 20+ years ago I had bought over $250,000.00 in life insurance. At the time I was “promised” 12%+ average
return and because of my age for these Universal Life plans, my total monthly premiums were less than $100 per month. At that time, I was sold that this was going to be my retirement fund with projections of well over 1 Million when I retire. Needless to say that these plans never averaged 12%, cost of insurance went up along with some other factors such as fees, these plans will what we call “Lapse” unless we fund more into the premiums.
That being the case, it is very important to review the products in your portfolio on a regular basis. I have seen it many times when reviewing clients policies and especially life insurance. Clients didn’t really understand what they bought and what is doesn’t cover. A lot of investment products change over the years and as these products change, so should your planning for the future.
For example: Did you know that some Life Insurance products have what they call “Accelerated Benefit Riders?” An Accelerated Benefit Rider (ABR) can help where other policies only cover death benefits, but not living benefits.
Imagine what would happen to someone if they had one of the older life insurance policies and the only way people that would benefit from these policies is the family they leave behind.
Now imagine they had a policy that had riders built-in that if they got sick would cover their premiums or if they had these ABR’s, they could use the money for LIFE! Having a policy that you can use for living is much better than the alternative. Standard ABR’s can give someone access to their death benefits if they were ever diagnosed with a terminal, critical or chronic illness.
I just know from my point of view if I were ever diagnosed with a terminal illness, I would want to have access to my policies death benefits rather than waiting for the alternative. Having access to these benefits would give me and my family options. Options to seek alternative cures, options to stop working, options to travel or whatever I decide to do, I would have options.
Here are just a few facts people don’t consider about Life Insurance.
- One in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012)
- Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Every four minutes, someone dies of a stroke. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012)
- People who reach age 65 have a 40% chance of entering a nursing home. About 10% of the people who enter a nursing home will stay there 5 years or more. (Medicare, US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2012)
- You should get more from a life insurance policy. You should have access to benefits you can use, while you are living.
They say that those who have money, have the power. So having the right product gives you the power you need whether it is the correct life insurance or other investments that are in your portfolio.
Having the wrong health insurance can cost people more in the long-run. Certain situations may not be covered under some Long-term care (LTC) policies. Annuities with a bonus structure could add to a nice nest egg. Contributing to a 401K plan may cost a lot more in taxes consequence compared to other methods for retirement. The list goes on…
People want to do the right thing and they probably did the right thing at that point in time in their lives. But the problem is, they may not have thought about how things can change over time.
Wouldn’t it be nice for these services and products to be there when you need them most?
That is why it is so important that you do a portfolio review PERIOD. Whether you currently have someone you trust or you would like to work with financial professionals like us, we are here to make sure your portfolio fits your needs now and in the future…
Our portfolio reviews are meant to give you the peace of mind you deserve.
CALL TODAY for Your Personal No Cost/No Obligation PORTFOLIO REVIEW. (NOTE: No Cost/No Obligation PORTFOLIO REVIEW are ONLY Offered in Florida & Michigan)
Dave (941) 932-1388 or Dawn (941) 932-1389
MAIN LINKS
CONTACT US
Company Information:
Safeguard Assurance LLC
11228 28th St. Cir. E.
Parrish, FL 34219
(941) 932-1388 or 1389
info@safeguardassurance.com