Financial Defense: Special Report

September is Life Insurance Awareness month. By many peoples' standard I would be considered a nerd. That would be for many reasons but one of them is because I love life insurance. Life insurance is simple. It has a cost and a benefit that is clearly stated. It is easy to understand and our clients come to understand the simplicity life insurance possess, but also the massive impact it can have on a family.

I want to talk about financial defense. Most advisors in the world are focused on growth and income, which are good things to think about. But they can't be all that you focus on. Growth and income would fall under the category of offense. But as the old saying goes, "the best offense is a good defense" or "defense wins championships." Take your pick. But the point is, defense is important and cannot be overlooked. 

Now, when it comes to finances and planning for retirement, you do not have to give up any offense if you want a good defense. Life insurance is the single best way to play financial defense for the things that you don't see coming. Let me share a quick story with you...

An amazing family I know with some awesome people (10 kids in this family) that have done wonderful things in their lives were not prepared for what they did not see coming.

To start, their mother had to go into a nursing home in her 80s. It cost $100,000 a year that the family had to start writing a check for each month. 

The 48 year old daughter, sister, wife, and mother thought she had mono, but was later diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and at the height of her family's life and her career, she has to spend 18 hours a day in bed.

Her husband, at age 63 was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. 

Another sister, at age 24 with one child, lost her husband in a car accident.

One of the brothers thought he had a sinus infection. Turns out he had an inoperable brain tumor. 

Not to mention the lost decade from 2000 - 2009. 

I'm not trying to be a downer but the reality is that this family had a lot happen that they did not see coming and life insurance could have helped in each situation. 

Life insurance is not like it use to be. It is not just for if you die too early or when you die. It can be used while you are living. It can protect a family from the high costs of a nursing home, it can help pay for medical bills, it can replace lost income, it can protect your retirement income and not lose value due to a market loss. 

Life insurance is a tool that can help families be prepared for what they do not see coming. Sadly, many Americans do not put value in life insurance like they should. 

It is shocking what the averages are that Americans spend on various things...

We have helped people protect their family with life insurance for less than what you see most people spend each month on various things. We have helped people protect their retirement income for less than the cost of takeout food. 

If you get one thing from this post I hope it is this: Life insurance is a cornerstone for the financial security and planning for a family. It can't replace a lost loved one but it can make sure the family that is left behind can keep going. 

One of the things that I love most about life insurance that most people don't know about is how it can eliminate hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes in retirement and significantly increase retirement income all the while taking market risk off the table. 

If you want to see what protecting your family or reducing your taxes in retirement looks like, give us a call.

ABOUT THE NERD/AUTHOR: Cory Carlton is the Co-Founder & CEO of Both Hands Financial Group. He is married to Emily and has two daughters, Harper and Scarlett, with another baby arriving in February. Cory loves the outdoors and spending time with his family. Life insurance is a passion for Cory. He could talk about it all day and often does when helping our agents help their clients with their life insurance needs. To Cory, life insurance is there for a family when they need help the most. Whether that be at the time of a loss, a time of challenge, or at retirement when there does not need to be any unknown variables impacting retirement and income. Cory is considered a nerd due to his interests in science-fiction, fantasy movies, super heroes, renaissance festivals and beard growing.