Life Insurance Benefits You Can Use Now

A survey from COUNTRY Financial found two in 10 Americans don’t think life insurance is worth it.  Many think it’s only for protecting loved ones after they’ve gone but some life insurance can also build cash value for you to use while you’re alive.

Here are five ways life insurance can work for you today:

• Supplementing your retirement income – Building up tax free cash value gives you an asset to leverage if, for example, your investment assets are underperforming. Having assets that are not negatively affected by the stock market can help a retiree avoid having to “sell low” from an investment in order to provide income. In general, cash value provides a buffer to underperforming investment assets.

• Funding a child’s education – You can take a loan against the cash value you’ve built up to pay for a child’s school tuition. The process is easier than a bank loan and typically has lower fees.
• Starting or expanding a business – You can use the cash value to help fund the launch of a new business venture. It enables you to keep cash accessible for start-up costs.

• Making a down payment on a home (or vacation home) –You can borrow from your cash value to help with a down payment for a home, the closing costs or other fees.   

• Paying for an unexpected expense  - While it’s good to have an emergency fund of at least 3-6 months of living expenses saved for unexpected events, you can also use the cash value in your life insurance policy, to help cover unexpected costs or future commitments down the road.

The bottom line is that while you provide coverage for your family’s needs, you can also build a tax-free cash value that can benefit you in a multitude of ways, paying for education, new business, real estate, retirement and more.  Some insurance companies offer a non-direct recognition whole life product, which allows policyholders to use their cash value without compromising its growth, a huge benefit to perpetually grow the asset even while borrowing against it.

Kyle Mraz is Agency Manager for COUNTRY Financial in Denver, Co. He can be reached at kyle.mraz@countryfinancial.com with questions.

Life insurance policies issued by COUNTRY Life Insurance Company® and COUNTRY Investors Life Assurance Company®, Bloomington, IL. 

Policy loans and withdrawals decrease the cash value and death benefit amount of the policy. The decision to purchase life insurance should be primarily based on a need for the death benefit. Policies are not an investment and are not appropriate as a replacement for retirement savings accumulation.