A buy-sell agreement protects a business if the owner were to die, become sick or disabled, or if they elected to terminate their employment early or retire. Without a plan in place, a business and its owners could experience:
The benefit of a buy-sell agreement cannot be overstated. A properly structured buy-sell can address and help eliminate potential problems or issues before they arise. For almost all business owners, a well designed and funded business succession plan may help bring security and peace of mind for the business owner's personal and business family.
These are tools to help you share the importance of business continuation planning.
Qualified plans have become a valued benefit to employers and their employees. The key to the qualified plan market is the tax status conferred on these plans. This includes:
This tax treatment often makes a qualified plan a compelling tool for the business owner. In addition to these tax advantages, key elements of a qualified plan include:
To meet the needs of your business owner client it is important that you have an understanding of the advantages qualified plans provide, as well as the various types of plans available. The material in this area will provide you with tools to communicate the vital concepts and information on how to proceed with a qualified plan case.
Executive Benefits are a way to provide special benefits to the owners and key people of a business. The Executive Benefits a business owner can offer are a great way to reward the people who are key to your business today, while creating incentives for continued great work and creating a platform to help recruit the people you want – those are just a few of the advantages an executive benefit program may help you accomplish.
Executive Benefits are normally provided to a select group of employees. This may include the owners, other highly compensated individuals or a select group of management. These plans are not designed to benefit all of the employees in the business.
here are a number of programs available underneath the umbrella of Executive Benefits. The information and material you will find on this page are designed to help guide you through a variety of programs and key concepts. You may find more detailed information on specific programs on other areas of this site.
In today’s global economy, it has become increasingly common for individuals who are not U.S. citizens to have significant business, family and/or other financial ties to the United States. These individuals may have special estate and tax planning needs under the United States’ federal tax rules.
Whether you are a:
Your U.S. based assets may be subject to a federal estate tax as high as 40% with only a small exemption available.
There are ways to identify and plan for these special situations. Life Insurance may provide one piece to the puzzle. Life Insurance may help provide death benefit protection, long-term tax benefits and certainty in estate planning for Foreign Nationals. The information and material you will find on this page are designed to help guide you through the special circumstances and questions that must be asked to start the planning process.
Life insurance is often used by a business to support an executive benefit program, to fund a buy sell, or to provide liquidity in the event a key person leaves the business. In some instances, the life insurance will be on the lives of a number of executives or owners of the business. When that number exceeds 10 lives – it may be beneficial to consider the use of a Guaranteed Issue or Simplified Issue program.
Bonus arrangements – sometimes called Executive Bonus Plans or Section 162 Bonus Arrangements – are a way to provide special benefits to the key employees and/or owners of a business. A bonus arrangement using life insurance that is owned by the insured is a way to reward key people.
Bonus arrangements, when used with a permanent life insurance policy owned by the employee, are easy to understand and simple to implement and can deliver the following benefits:
At National Life Group – we have a program called Bonus Plans 4 ½ ways – which helps identify at least 4 ½ different ways to design a bonus program. This demonstrates how flexible these programs may be.
Premium finance is a strategy used by wealthy individuals and business owners to finance premiums for large life insurance policies. The strategy allows a high net-worth individual who has a need for permanent life insurance to use an alternative method for paying the premiums. Rather than using their current cash flow or assets to pay for those premiums, they may choose to finance them from a bank. Individuals who are well suited to the strategy understand both the power, and associated risks, of leverage.
Premium finance is very attractive for healthy insured’s between the age of 25 -55, but arrangements can be successfully designed for clients up to insurance age 70. There are many options to consider when designing and implementing a financed life insurance policy, and we appreciate the opportunity work with you and your clients tp suggest policy designs that might be suitable for financed life insurance.
This business strategy is offered and managed by an independent third party who is not affiliated with the companies of National Life Group. No National Life Group company nor anyone acting on its behalf has evaluated the strategy or is authorized to make any representation regarding the suitability, effectiveness, or legality of this strategy, or the suitability of using life insurance or annuities in connection with this strategy. National Life is bound only by the terms of the life insurance contracts issued by the Group insurance companies. This is not a solicitation of any product or service. Please consult your tax and/or legal advisors regarding whether this strategy is appropriate for your situation.
Split dollar arrangements are a way for a business to help the business owner or key employees of the business acquire permanent life protection. It is also a way for an individual to assist another person (or trust) with the costs of acquiring a permanent life insurance policy.
Key person coverage is life insurance purchased by a business on an owner or an employee whose services contribute substantially to the success and continuity of the business. The insurance policy is owned and payable to the business. The insurance is in place to protect the business from the loss of a key person.
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