Wealth Preservation LLC

Life Insurance Review / Audit

Not only do life circumstances change but so do the external factors affecting your life insurance coverage, including, but not limited to: crediting rates, performance of sub accounts, and premium schedules. In recent years, life insurance rates have fallen, performance of policies tied to the market have collapsed, new products have come to market and creative methods for funding a policy have come about. To maximize the value of your investment, a Life Insurance Audit (also knows a Policy Review) should be performed every 24 months to make sure that the policy is still suitable, competitive and performing to expectation.

Below are some staggering statistics to consider...

92% of existing trust-owned policies could be restructured to provide 20% greater value

75% of restructured policies provide either a 40% increase in death benefit or a 40% reduction in premiums

1 out of every 3 life insurance policies held in trusts will lapse prior to the payment of a death benefit

A Wealth Preservation Policy Audit involves an in-depth review of 8 key components.

This information will give you and your advisors the information you need to make an educated decision to either retain the current coverage or consider replacement coverage.

Contextual Analysis – First and foremost, we must establish if the policy is still suitable for the current estate plan, as circumstances are constantly changing in clients’ lives as well as applicable tax law.

Underwriting Assessment – Assessing the policy rating when obtained and whether or not this was indeed accurate and negotiated well during the underwriting process. We also assess whether or not a lifestyle/health change has occurred which could create room for improvement.

Lapse Analysis – Unbeknownst to many clients, their policy(s) will eventually lapse due to poor policy performance, leaving the client with a sizeable premium increase. It is important to analyze the crediting rates (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed) and their impact on cash values in order to prevent an unexpected cash sum due from the carrier.

Cost/Fees Analysis – Many policies have excessive fees that need to be compared against industry benchmarks. These fees include loads, surrender charges, mortality/expense charges, subaccount management fees (variable), and other possibly hidden management fees.

Performance Analysis – During this process we look at the relationship between the policy’s cash values, fees and crediting rates. For Variable policies, we also look at the subaccount performance and choices. For Whole Life, we look at dividend payments and how this affects the policy. Ultimately, we look at how the performance stacks up against industry averages.

Carrier Stability Analysis – With hundreds of carriers in the marketplace, we provide an assessment of the carrier’s financial stability (Moody’s, S&P, AM BEST) and we also provide an objective view of the financials and underlying exposure. Lastly, we look at anything in the news that should be of interest or concern.

Market Comparison – With Life Insurance rates at historical lows and newer features available, it is important to assess whether there are savings and other benefits available to the client should they choose to switch to a new carrier. We will provide a market comparison from 40 of the top carriers.

Summary of Options – In summary we will outline the client’s options along with our recommendations to either stay in the current policy, make changes within the current policy, or acquire a new policy.