Have you had an annual life insurance check up? It only takes a few minutes and could save your loved one a lot of pain down the road.
First, make sure you have enough life coverage. The easy way to do this is with our calculator. Plug in some numbers and get a total value. Make sure you have enough coverage to pay off debt, cover education costs for your kids, replace income and costs associated with death, such as an extended hospital stay. Don't forget to include final expenses, like burial or cremation fees, funeral expenses etc.
Second, make sure your beneficiaries are who you want. An irresponsible adult child or a deceased loved one may not be as suitable as you thought originally. Have your agent get you the correct forms for beneficiary changes.
Which leads us to the last part of the check up. Let your family know who to contact if they need help at your death. Life insurance agents come and go. The trusted agent you purchased your plan from may or may not still be in the business. If not, contact the company and request a new agent of record to help you. Leave this information available for your loved ones so they don't have to waste time and money to file your claim.
If you need help with any of these, let us know.
Surf Financial Brokers
Monday, March 6, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
So What's The Big News?
We've hinted for a while that we had a big announcement coming and now is a great time to share it. Starting this month, we will be once again offering Medicare Supplements.
If you or someone you know is about to turn 65, please contact us or pass our information along. We have partnered with a large organization with many years of experience in the Medicare Supplement market. Surf Financial Brokers looks forward to working with you and your friends and family.
If you or someone you know is about to turn 65, please contact us or pass our information along. We have partnered with a large organization with many years of experience in the Medicare Supplement market. Surf Financial Brokers looks forward to working with you and your friends and family.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Upside Growth, Downside Protection
If you've read my blog in the past, you know I think life insurance is a great way to get a "tax-free" retirement. The easiest and most effective way to do this is through an Indexed Universal Life policy (IUL). This policy builds its cash value by using an index, which yields returns that mirror the market, without having the actual risk of investing.
Without getting into the weeds, you can overfund a policy, which means that you put more into the policy than the required premium. The IRS, knowing that the cash value in a policy is tax-deferred, limits the amount you can pay over the premium. Otherwise, your policy becomes a Modified Endowment Contract (MEC), which is subject to taxes, and no one wants that.
Most policies have a floor, or minimum, which is usually around zero. In other words, the markets goes negative, you lose nothing. However, there's also a cap, which can be anywhere between 10-15%, depending on the policy. So, as the market goes up, so does your growth, but to a limit.
In essence, you have life insurance with potential for growth in the good times, no losses in the bad times, and it's all tax-deferred. But wait, there's more!
When you're ready to retire, you can pull that money out of the policy as a loan, thus avoiding taxes altogether. Tax-free retirement.
For more details, give us a call or look us up at our website.
Without getting into the weeds, you can overfund a policy, which means that you put more into the policy than the required premium. The IRS, knowing that the cash value in a policy is tax-deferred, limits the amount you can pay over the premium. Otherwise, your policy becomes a Modified Endowment Contract (MEC), which is subject to taxes, and no one wants that.
Most policies have a floor, or minimum, which is usually around zero. In other words, the markets goes negative, you lose nothing. However, there's also a cap, which can be anywhere between 10-15%, depending on the policy. So, as the market goes up, so does your growth, but to a limit.
In essence, you have life insurance with potential for growth in the good times, no losses in the bad times, and it's all tax-deferred. But wait, there's more!
When you're ready to retire, you can pull that money out of the policy as a loan, thus avoiding taxes altogether. Tax-free retirement.
For more details, give us a call or look us up at our website.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
The Doctor Who Doesn't Listen To The Patient
Imagine for a minute if you went to the doctor and all he talked about was a new wonder drug that was awesome and could treat a serious condition. The only problem is that you don't have that condition. At first you are polite because the doctor is very enthused about this new drug, but soon you become irritated because you need help with something else.
We in the insurance industry can become guilty of the same thing as this doctor. We find a product, for instance a disability policy, and start investing our time (as well as the client's) into that product, instead of listening to the client and finding out what they really need. In the end, the client isn't happy and the agent doesn't make the sale.
Look us up at Surf Financial Brokers and let us hear what you need to discuss. Life insurance, retirement planning, long term care or disability insurance. We want to listen to you.
Friday, August 5, 2016
Dental, Vision and Hearing - All In One Plan!
In the past, we at Surf Financial have offered our clients dental and vision plans, but only on a group basis. If someone wanted an individual dental and/vision plan, we just didn't have a plan to offer because we just didn't like what we were seeing in the marketplace.
Fortunately, we have found a plan for our South Carolina clients that offers dental, hearing and vision all in one plan. And the best part is that there is no network. In other words, you can use whichever provider you want.
And even better is that the plan is affordable. And these plans* start as low as $25/month! Coverage is available for yourself or your entire family.
For a quote give us a call at 843-283-3300 or contact us on the web at SurfFinancialBrokers.com
*For information regarding waiting periods, exclusions and limitations, give us a call.
Fortunately, we have found a plan for our South Carolina clients that offers dental, hearing and vision all in one plan. And the best part is that there is no network. In other words, you can use whichever provider you want.
And even better is that the plan is affordable. And these plans* start as low as $25/month! Coverage is available for yourself or your entire family.
For a quote give us a call at 843-283-3300 or contact us on the web at SurfFinancialBrokers.com
*For information regarding waiting periods, exclusions and limitations, give us a call.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Special Needs Trusts
It seems like the topic of special needs planning drops into my lap every 3-4 months. In the course of a conversation with a new client I'll learn that there is a special needs child in the picture. Like a snowflake, all situations are different, but in many cases they can be handled nearly the same.
Let's look at an example. A middle-aged couple has 3 kids, one of which is autistic. While it's assumed that one of the other two kids will take responsibility for their sibling down the road, nothing is written in stone. Mom and Dad can care for the child up to a point but someone is going to have to care for them as they get older. And what happens when Mom and Dad pass away?
Most importantly, special needs kids grow to become special needs adults.
A Special Needs Trust is typically the answer. First and foremost, I highly recommend you find an attorney who has a couple of these irrevocable trusts already approved by a judge. As an attorney friend of mine said when discussing this topic with me, "Do not let an lawyer 'practice' on your client!"
A Special Needs Trust works like this: The trust is established but without any money inside. The money comes from a second-to-die life insurance* policy on the parents. The logic behind this is that if one parent dies, the surviving parent can still care for the child. At the death of the second parent, the life insurance policy is paid to the trust which then can help support the special needs child/adult.
The key to all of this is planning. As I stated earlier, all cases are different, however taking the time to prepare can really lessen the stress and financial burden down the road.
*We suggest a second-to-die guaranteed universal life policy. For more information, contact us through our website at Surf Financial Brokers.
Let's look at an example. A middle-aged couple has 3 kids, one of which is autistic. While it's assumed that one of the other two kids will take responsibility for their sibling down the road, nothing is written in stone. Mom and Dad can care for the child up to a point but someone is going to have to care for them as they get older. And what happens when Mom and Dad pass away?
Most importantly, special needs kids grow to become special needs adults.
A Special Needs Trust is typically the answer. First and foremost, I highly recommend you find an attorney who has a couple of these irrevocable trusts already approved by a judge. As an attorney friend of mine said when discussing this topic with me, "Do not let an lawyer 'practice' on your client!"
A Special Needs Trust works like this: The trust is established but without any money inside. The money comes from a second-to-die life insurance* policy on the parents. The logic behind this is that if one parent dies, the surviving parent can still care for the child. At the death of the second parent, the life insurance policy is paid to the trust which then can help support the special needs child/adult.
The key to all of this is planning. As I stated earlier, all cases are different, however taking the time to prepare can really lessen the stress and financial burden down the road.
*We suggest a second-to-die guaranteed universal life policy. For more information, contact us through our website at Surf Financial Brokers.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Sick or Hurt? Can't Work? Need a HUG?
May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month (DIAM) and I'm sure you're still worn out from last year's awesome good time.
But seriously, DI is one of the most undersold insurance products out there and for several reasons.
First, unless your employer offers it to you, most people don't go out of their way to find out how to get a policy. We at Surf Financial go out of our way to help the large number of self-employed secure a DI policy. Everyone from farmers to chiropractors, accountants to engineers and, yes, even stay-at-home spouses can and should have a disability policy in place.
Another reason why people do not have DI coverage is that many agents don't understand the product well enough to sell it. It's difficult to explain something that you don't understand. Luckily, most of our agents know the benefit of disability insurance and would love to help you.
Lastly, many people don't understand the process of getting a disability policy. Unlike life insurance, where your health is the major thing taken into consideration, DI underwriters need to look at your occupation (some are more dangerous than others) and your income needs. This is where things get tricky.
In a previous post, I mentioned the M.U.G. (mortgage, utilities, groceries) plan. Since many people rent, I've changed the mortgage to housing, thus the HUG plan. What are your monthly bills? How much would you need if you were sick or hurt and unable to work? A DI plan can be designed to cover those bills at a minimum.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being very important and 1 not important at all, how important is it to you that you can take care of your housing, utilities, groceries and more if you were unable to work due to a sickness or injury? How important would it be to make sure that your family was able to continue living a "normal" life should something happen to you as a breadwinner.
But seriously, DI is one of the most undersold insurance products out there and for several reasons.
First, unless your employer offers it to you, most people don't go out of their way to find out how to get a policy. We at Surf Financial go out of our way to help the large number of self-employed secure a DI policy. Everyone from farmers to chiropractors, accountants to engineers and, yes, even stay-at-home spouses can and should have a disability policy in place.
Another reason why people do not have DI coverage is that many agents don't understand the product well enough to sell it. It's difficult to explain something that you don't understand. Luckily, most of our agents know the benefit of disability insurance and would love to help you.
Lastly, many people don't understand the process of getting a disability policy. Unlike life insurance, where your health is the major thing taken into consideration, DI underwriters need to look at your occupation (some are more dangerous than others) and your income needs. This is where things get tricky.
In a previous post, I mentioned the M.U.G. (mortgage, utilities, groceries) plan. Since many people rent, I've changed the mortgage to housing, thus the HUG plan. What are your monthly bills? How much would you need if you were sick or hurt and unable to work? A DI plan can be designed to cover those bills at a minimum.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being very important and 1 not important at all, how important is it to you that you can take care of your housing, utilities, groceries and more if you were unable to work due to a sickness or injury? How important would it be to make sure that your family was able to continue living a "normal" life should something happen to you as a breadwinner.
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