Life Cycle Financial Planners, LLC

Category: News

  • Ted Bernstein CBS Interview

    Ted Bernstein CBS interview with David Weir. The interview focused on several of the innovations Ted has introduced to the life insurance industry.

    For more information about Ted Bernstein and Life Cycle Planners, click here. 

     

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  • Retirement Tips & 10 Useful Retirement Terms.

    Retirement Tips & 10 Useful Retirement Terms.

    Whether you’re in retirement or getting ready to retire, here are 10 useful retirement tips and terms.

    Protect Your Nest Egg:

    1. Full Retirement Age: Full Retirement Age (FRA) is the age you can receive 100 percent of your Social Security benefit. If you delay, the benefits will increase by 8 percent, up to 70.
    2. Spousal Benefits: Another strategy that may help maximize your Social Security income is the spousal benefit. The spousal benefit is an option to receive your own benefit or one-half of your spouse’s benefit, whichever is greater.
    3. Lifetime Income: A term used to describe income for life. Social Security, pensions and annuities all provide lifetime income.
    4. Retirement Asset Diversification: Similar to portfolio diversification, you may benefit from having different types of assets. One of the most important retirement tips to consider is working with a retirement professional to stay properly diversified.
    5. Required Minimum Distributions: Mandatory IRS distributions to begin taking withdrawals from your retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401k. They are taxable and they begin at 70½, regardless of whether you want them.
    6. Re balancing: Re-balancing is a strategy to help keep your investments aligned with your time horizon and risk tolerance.
    7. Medicare Parts A, B, C, D: 
    • Part A – Hospital Coverage: If you qualify for medicare, you’ll pay no monthly premium for Part A coverage. However, you will have to meet the annual deductible before Medicare kicks in.
    • Part B – Non-Hospital Medical Coverage: Optional coverage for  doctor’s visits, tests, physical therapy, etc. You may want to opt out if you continue health insurance through a qualifying employer, or spouse.
    • Part C – Medicare Advantage: An alternative to Parts A and B, it offers coverage through private insurance companies that contract with Medicare. May provide benefits such as vision or dental care at an additional cost.
    • Part D – Prescription Drug Coverage: Adds prescription drug coverage to Medicare. It is offered by insurance companies and other private companies approved by Medicare.
    1. Donut Hole: A retirement term that describes the gap (or hole) in Medicare Part D, prescription coverage.
    2. Long-Term Care Insurance: Coverage for people who need help with common daily living activities, such as bathing, eating and dressing.
    3. Estate Planning: Preparing for retirement is a good time to review or create an estate plan. Updating living wills and powers of attorney is a good idea too.

    Please contact me at 561-869-4500 or email me to discuss these retirement tips or a review of your current plan.

    You can visit us at www.facebook.com/lifecycleplanners and www.linkedin.com/tedbernstein

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  • Simple Tips For Successful Inheritances & Wealth Transfer

    Simple Tips For Successful Inheritances & Wealth Transfer

    Learn these simple tips for Successful Inheritances. Help your heirs hold on to their inheritances and keep your family intact.

    Giving while living is ideal but that oftentimes is not possible. Wealth transference can be complex and gut wrenching for some. Without careful planning, conditions can end up ripe for wealth destruction. Wealth will transfer, just maybe not where you intended it to go. If you’re not okay with your life’s assets enriching litigation departments of probate law firms you’ve never met, now may be a good time to enhance your current wealth transference plan. Don’t let the assets for your heirs end up being lost to professional fees.

    I see more and more cases where well-meaning inheritances are busting up families and family relationships. The attached article does a great job highlighting a few of the unintended consequences that can affect not only the rich and famous. How much would it disappoint you to learn that your children may never speak to each other again because of their inheritance. It is a reality that is occurring more often every day.

    INHERITANCE Feature-INNM0518

    Or you can click on the link at Insurance News Net to view the article online.

    Please contact me at 561-869-4500 or email me about a complementary consultation about the wealth transfer and inheritance issues that may be concerning you and your spouse.

    You can visit us at www.facebook.com/lifecycleplanners

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  • Indexed Annuitiy: A $200 Billion Market

    Indexed Annuitiy: A $200 Billion Market

    Should you have a portion of your retirement assets in an indexed annuity? There is a great deal of information about how to allocate retirement assets. A fixed indexed annuity offers upside with virtually no downside.

    • If you want to create an income stream that is guaranteed for life, an indexed annuity may be the right tool.
    • If you want to protect your principal and receive a guarantee that you will NEVER lose it, you may want to consider an indexed annuity.
    • If you want market gains without market losses, a fixed indexed annuity will provide this “market insurance”.
    • Only an insurance company can guarantee 100% principal protection and income for life.

    Americans concerned about security in retirement are buying more than $200B of indexed annuities. Watch the video below to learn about the advantages of using a fixed indexed annuity versus variable annuities that continue falling out of favor for retirement planning.

    https://limra-1.wistia.com/medias/4yknawcnnn

    Please contact me at 561-869-4500 or email me about a complementary consultation for indexed annuities and a review of your coverage.

    You can visit us at www.facebook.com/lifecycleplanners

  • A Whole New Look At Life Insurance Advantages.

    A Whole New Look At Life Insurance Advantages.

    https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/family-finance/articles/2017-07-27/3-ways-to-use-life-insurance-while-youre-still-alive?sf74224675=1

    It used to be that life insurance only provided benefits to your beneficiaries. Like everything else, innovation has made life insurance far more valuable than ever before.

    Now you can tap the face amount of your policy if you have a health crisis. Think of it as an unfunded savings account. You could have a one million dollar policy with no value in it. At possibly the worst time in your life, you have guaranteed access to a portion of the million (up to 90%).

    Another innovation allows you to fund the policy and never lose principal when the market is down. No risk, only potential upside.

    Not impressed yet? If you reach the point where you don’t want or need the policy, you can sell it for a profit like any other asset you own.

    Please contact me at 561-869-4500 or email me about a complementary consultation including guaranteed income ideas and a review of your existing coverage. You can visit us on Facebook.

  • Annuities & Disappearing Surrender Charges

    Annuities & Disappearing Surrender Charges

    Surrender charges on fee-based variable annuities seem to be retreating faster than the polar ice caps, new filings reveal.

    “These advisor-sold contracts typically have no surrender or a very short surrender (period) with very low penalties,” said Kevin Loffredi, senior product manager, annuity solutions, for Morningstar.

    Surrender charges penalize an annuity contract holder for canceling the contract before a certain date. They also allow insurance companies to recoup their commissions paid upfront to advisors on the sale of a commission-based contract.

    http://insurancenewsnetmagazine.com/article/surrender-charges-disappearing-act-3332#.WYoxfxPyuUk

    For annuity buyers, contracts with shorter or no surrender penalties is advantageous. In the past several months, there has been a rush of insurance companies introducing products with better surrender charge solutions. The challenge for them will be distribution.

    Please contact me at 561-869-4500 or email me, Ted Bernstein, about a complementary consultation about indexed annuities and your specific needs. You can visit us at www.facebook.com/lifecycleplanners

    ted bernstein boca raton florida 
  • Customized Insurance Policy Lowers Premiums As Much As 40%

    Customized Insurance Policy Lowers Premiums As Much As 40%

    NEW INSTALLMENT PAYOUT OPTION REDUCES ANNUAL LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS AS MUCH AS 40%!

    Life insurance buyers have a new and often better option to protect their beneficiaries. According to Ted Bernstein of Life Cycle Financial Planners, it is an important choice policyowners now have when it comes to providing long term security for their families. The Installment Option can be 40% less premium, annually.

    Life insurance owners can choose how their proceeds are paid to their heirs with this option. Until this groundbreaking change emerged, a Lump-Sum payment of insurance proceeds was the only choice. Instead of having $1,000,000 paid in a lump-sum, policyholders can instruct the insurance company to customize the payment of the benefits to protect their heirs. For example, the insurance company can pay 10 equal payments of $100,000. Or, another family may choose to receive a lump-sum payment of $500,000 upon death, followed by 5 equal payments of $100,000 would be better.

    We insure every aspect of our lives including our health, our homes, and our income. Why not protect your beneficiaries from mismanagement they can’t recover from, especially after you’re gone?

    INSTALLMENT PAYOUT OR LUMP-SUM? WHICH IS BETTER?

    “A Lump-Sum payout to heirs is often a recipe for disaster”, warns Ted Bernstein of Life Cycle Financial Planners.  The proceeds are gone within 3-5 years because it is difficult for many to manage a sudden lump-sum of money, similar to the issues facing lottery winners who take a lump-sum. As a result, life insurance consumers now have an alternative.  “Policyholders can protect their families from investment risk and drastically reduce their insurance premiums at the same time”, says Mr. Bernstein.

    Frequently Asked Questions:

    For many, it is a better structure and choosing it can save consumers as much as 40% EVERY YEAR for the same amount of insurance.  Or, they can increase the coverage by 40% for the same premium as a lump-sum option. The payments can be paid between 10 and 30 years.

    Ask us about apply and buy life insurance that allows life insurance buyers to get up to $5,000,000 of coverage in one phone call! WITH NO MEDICAL EXAM. No blood or urine tests, visits from insurance company doctors or an agent! Both term and permanent life insurance policies are available – Term, Whole Life, Universal Life, Guaranteed Universal Life, Indexed Universal Life.

    “From my experience, parents want to make sure there is enough life insurance to avoid any economic upheaval in the event of an early parental loss”, advises Deborah Bernstein of Life Cycle Planners. “The installment option is peace of mind you just don’t have with a lump-sum payout. We have seen too many situations where all the proceeds are gone within a few years of lump-sum payments”. As the innovator of this option, Ted Bernstein says both term and permanent policies are available from the highest rated U.S. insurance companies.

    Special Needs Families:  For families with special needs children, there is no room for error when it comes to investing assets for a lifetime. The Installment Option provides these families with a GUARANTEED solution.

    The Installment Payout Option:

    • Reduces premiums as much as 40% for same amount of death benefit.
    • Premiums and benefits are GUARANTEED.
    • Protects heirs from risk by guaranteeing payments over time.
    • Customizable – great flexibility. Payment periods between 10 and 30 years.

    Please call us at 561-869-4500 and let us help you compare your existing coverage. Or, email Ted.

    Make sure to inquire about Life Insurance with living benefits and turn the face amount of your life insurance policy into an emergency health insurance fund.

  • Federal Estate Tax Repeal – Bad For Business

    Federal Estate Tax Repeal – Bad For Business

    The life insurance industry let us down when it allowed the estate tax rate to settle at 40% and the lifetime credit (exemption) to  rise to $12MM per couple. The impact is still punishing planners of all stripes. It is time for life insurance companies to step up and commit to national advertising and marketing campaigns to promote the virtues of their core products, especially permanent life insurance.

    Since then, the pin has been pulled from the grenade for PERMANENT life insurance. If the estate and gift taxes are successfully repealed in an upcoming tax reform act, it will be a devastating blow for the jumbo case market and for PERMANENT life insurance. The grenade will have gone off. I understand there will be a few niche markets (key man, forced savings strategies, over-funding for retirement income, premium finance and others) that will survive. Those niche markets for permanent insurance may be meaningful enough for a handful of carriers; not for dozens of them. There will always be a need for low face amount, permanent policies. To be clear, the sale of these permanent policies does not support or lead to a successful, bustling practice. That model used to work by helping new agents develop the stepping stones to much larger opportunities. That model is on life support and the repeal of the estate tax will be its end.

    Just look at the overall permanent insurance numbers since the industry did not prevent the tax from being lowered or the exemption from rising to almost $6MM per person. Hopefully, the life insurance industry is mobilizing their influence and inspiring their troops to prevent the estate tax repeal from becoming reality. Personally, I don’t see it happening and I’m not sensing the passion and the fear required to win this battle. As much as anyone else in our industry, I hope that I am wrong.

    Whether the tax is repealed or not, I would urge life insurance companies to act like companies in  other industries who own the responsibility for creating a product’s demand. Without advertising and marketing campaigns on a national stage to re-brand the image of permanent life insurance and its distribution system, the remaining agents who average 60 years old will continue jumping ship. Leaving the responsibility and the cost of creating demand for this product to the distribution system, or no one, is a recipe for further disaster. Manufacturers create organic demand for their products. The auto industry and consumer electronics are two great examples.

    Imagine if Apple and BMW left all sales and marketing solely to their local dealerships or the local wireless stores? No national sales and marketing campaigns to launch new products, defend against competitors, shape markets or educate consumers?

    Today, most life insurance companies do not advertise on a national stage and if they do, they are brand advertising, which is of little or no value in business development at the local level. We don’t need anymore TV branding ads from insurance companies during The Masters. What the industry DOES NEED is for every relevant company to start running advertising campaigns about the virtues of permanent life insurance (and their other products) during the NCAA tournament, The Bachelor, the morning news shows, The Late Show with James Cordon and The Masters. This is an industry-wide problem and the industry needs to step up.

    Permanent life insurance is a remarkable tool with extraordinary flexibility and great versatility. It can be customized, by the right professional, so that no two permanent life insurance policies are the same. No two buyers are the same. Their policies can and should reflect their differences, their needs and their desires, now and in the future.

    One client may have an over-funded $5,000,000 IUL with Option C and a death benefit payable in a lump-sum. Another may have a $5,000,000 GUL with Living Benefits and the Installment Payout Option to protect his/her family with 20 guaranteed payments of $250,000 for 20 years. Another client may have a minimum funded UL tied into their lifestyle, earning credits for living the good life. And another might have a $5,000,000 WL policy with vanishing premiums.

    Just like the combination of apps on my Smart Phone are not like the apps on another’s, no two permanent life insurance policies should be the same. We each start with a Smart Phone that makes calls. But, the way I intend to use mine is different than how you use yours. Our needs are different and that is what leads to which apps we download.

    To help our industry fight the battle against the estate tax repeal, contact AALU for information about who to contact in Washington.

    Ted Bernstein can be reached at Life Cycle Planners or by calling him in Boca Raton, Florida at 561-869-4500.

    Don’t need your life insurance policy anymore? It has value, even term insurance. Read more…

  • New York Times: ‘Consider An Annuity’ In Retirement

    New York Times: ‘Consider An Annuity’ In Retirement

    This retirement story in the New York Times, How to make your money last as long as you do, hit the bullseye by explaining how annuities provide guaranteed, lifetime income in retirement.
    “Consider an annuity”… [Retirees] will always have enough to cover essential living expenses, no matter how long they live or how badly their investments perform.”

    With a portion of your retirement funds in the right type of annuity, the principal is protected by creating guaranteed income that will last “as long as you do”. As you get older, the amount of income increases and will not level off until you begin to draw a paycheck from the contract.

    In other words, anyone who wants absolute security in retirement should take advantage of this special kind of annuity.

    No other retirement solution offers 100% principal protection, participation in market gains, tax deferral, favorable taxation on distribution, liquid from day one and no commissions paid by you or your account.

    Consider an annuity if you are:

    1. Married and in, or near retirement. 
    2. Want dependable, predictable income for life.
    3. Single, in or near retirement.
    4. Seeking a simple and safe solution built entirely on guarantees.
    5. Interested in transparency, disclosure and regulated products.
    6. Seeking guaranteed income for life with NO principal risk.

    ROI in retirement is reliability of income.

    With the New York Times suggesting that people “consider an annuity” to make their money last as long as they do is supportive of everything that is stressed by economists and professors all over the world. Guaranteed, lifetime income in retirement is finally beginning to receive mainstream attention.

    Do you have assets in an IRA? Read this.

    If you would like to meet or talk by phone, please email Ted Bernstein or call me at: 561-869-4500

  • Don’t Need or Don’t Want An Existing Life Insurance Policy?

    Don’t Need or Don’t Want An Existing Life Insurance Policy?

    Do You Know The Market Value Of Your Existing, Inforce Life Insurance Policy?

    Every day, people are receiving significant cash payments for unwanted or unneeded life insurance policies they thought had no value.

    If you are 65 or older, you may have a policy with asset value in the secondary market. The value of policies is measured as a percentage of the face amount. If you have a $2,000,000 policy with a settlement value of 10%, it is worth $200,000. It is fairly simple and straightforward to get an appraisal done to determine your policy’s value.

    Please email or call me at 561-869-4500. Visit us at Life Cycle Planners in Boca Raton, Florida.

    The secondary market is the market for unwanted life insurance policies – they are usually institutional investors. A good analogy is Carmax. They buy cars from people who don’t want or need them anymore. They specialize in the aftermarket of automobiles. In the life insurance industry, there are buyers who specialize in this market and they are typically the highest bidders.

    The state of Florida has made it mandatory for life insurance companies to inform Floridians that they should consult with a professional when contemplating a change:

    …“a life insurer shall provide an individual life insurance policyholder with a statement informing him or her that if he or she is considering making changes in the status of his or her policy, he or she should consult with a licensed insurance or financial advisor.”

    If you have a policy with cash value, its value is based on it and nothing more. Life settlements may not appeal to everyone. Some people don’t like the idea of strangers having an interest in their mortality. It is a perfectly reasonable position, regardless of the potential financial benefit that might exist. There can be meaningful differences in the offers you receive from the secondary market.

    Term life insurance policies may have value in the secondary market.

    There may be no cash surrender value in your life insurance policy but there may be great “market value” for a life settlement company. The payment you receive in a life settlement transaction is the market value (see the recent case studies below).

    It may be in your best interest to consider selling. The goal is to compare offers you receive against the value in the policy.

    More than 90% of seniors lapse policies without knowing about this option. They would have considered a life settlement if they were aware of the process.

    Further, 79 percent feel their advisers should have told them first.

    Depending on several factors, including age, health and policy type, life insurance policies can be valued as much as 20-30% of the face value. If you no longer want to pay premiums for a policy, there are realistic options to consider.

    The reasons to  consider selling an unwanted or unneeded policy:

    · Receive a higher cash payout than cash surrender value.
    · Receive money for a term policy.
    · Create cash to fund retirement solutions such as guaranteed income annuities, long term care insurance or life insurance with the installment payout option.

    For example, 30 years ago, Dr. Smith purchased $2,000,000 of life insurance to protect his wife and children against the loss of his $300,000 income. He was 46 when it was issued and today, at 75, his children are grown and the need for income protection is gone. With nearly $200,000 of guaranteed lifetime income from annuities, a pension and social security, Dr. Smith feels the policy is unnecessary.

    The insurance policy had a cash value value of $90,000 if he walked away. The Life Settlement value was 15% of the face value, or $300,000. The decision was simple in this case.

    Unfortunately, each year there are too many people who are still unaware of life settlements or they fail to give it proper consideration.

    Potential Disadvantages:

    1. Life Insurance benefits are usually income tax-free. Some portion of a life settlement may be subject to income tax.
    2. Paperwork is required to transfer the ownership of the policy.
    3. Proceeds will benefit the buyers, typically non-family members.

    Organizations such as the AICPA and hundreds of esteemed estate planning law firms are on record advocating the benefits of life settlements. Life insurance is an asset with great potential value.

    RECENT CASE STUDIES REPORTED IN THE INDUSTRY

    – an 88 year old male sold a $2,500,000 John Hancock policy, which netted him $500,000 (cash surrender value was $0),

    – an 88 year old male sold a $2,000,000 universal life policy for $1,110,000 (cash surrender value was $218,000),

    – a 64 year old female sold a term policy for $20,100 (the face value was $250,000; she kept $50,000 for her beneficiary),

    – a 72 year old man sold a $896,450 Transamerica policy for $196,476 (cash surrender value was $94,647),

    – a 61 year old man sold a $400,000 Mass Mutual term policy for $220,400.

    Please email me at Ted Bernstein or call me at 561-869-4500. Visit us at Life Cycle Planners in Boca Raton, Florida.