At The Shay Agency, we want to help Wilkes-Barre, PA, residents protect their financial security and provide for their families. Our agency offers a unique insurance product, a cash-value life insurance policy, that enables you to save money in an interest-earning account while maintaining a life insurance policy.
How Cash Value Policies Work
A cash-value life insurance policy provides traditional whole-life coverage and a savings component that takes the form of a money market or savings account. When you pay the premium for the traditional life insurance policy, a portion of each month’s premium goes into the savings account pre-tax. That means you also build a tax-free savings account that earns monthly interest.
When You Pay Taxes on the Cash Value Savings Once the account vests, you can withdraw funds from it or use it as collateral for a loan. At this time, you pay taxes on it. If you never touch the savings account, you never pay taxes on it. It grows via its interest and contributes to your net worth.
How It Benefits Your Beneficiary
Most cash-value accounts return the savings component to the insurance company at your death. In most cases, there’s little left because individuals and their families use the money to pay the premiums on the whole-life policy as they age. Some individuals withdraw funds from the account for medical care or other necessary expenses. The whole life policy that forms the other half of the insurance product pays its full benefit to your beneficiary unless you borrowed against the policy or depleted the savings component. In those cases, the death benefit reduces the amount of the withdrawal.
Here’s an Example
You purchase and maintain a $100,000 whole life plus cash value account policy. It vests. Each month, you pay a premium. In this example, you contribute to the savings over the years, building a cash value account of $10,000. Five years before your death, you withdraw $5,000 to make renovations so you can use a mobility chair in your Wilkes-Barre, PA, home. This withdrawal reduces your death benefit by $5,000 unless you repay the money. Because you choose not to do so, when you die, your beneficiary receives $95,000 as your death benefit.
Contact Us Today
Let the insurance agents at The Shay Agency help you prepare your finances for life and death. Contact us today to establish a cash-value life insurance policy.