Sometimes it can take a little preparation to help an insurance carrier see the worth of a key person. By understanding what carriers are looking for, it’s possible to justify high face amounts on key person policies. This article will guide you through financial underwriting justification.

Good planning starts with asking the right questions. This workbook will help you stay organized through the business planning data gathering process. There is room to record client information such as business valuation and succession plans, executive benefits and retirement plans.

When a pass-through business owner asks about nonqualified retirement plans for owner and non-owner key employees, it’s usually best to treat groups separately. This document explains how the tax consequences of any nonqualified plan are very different for owner vs key employees.

Start the conversation to help protect your business owner clients against the loss of a key employee. The business purchases life insurance or disability insurance on a key person and pays all premiums. Upon death or disability, the benefit is paid directly to the business.

Key person retention solutions are a common advanced planning request. With a competitive employment market, business owners are ready to take the next step to retain key employees. This guide covers how life insurance can be used to develop an employee bonus structure.

Selecting the right key person incentive plan doesn't have to be complicated! This roadmap guides the conversation with business owners looking to implement a restricted bonus, nonqualified defined benefit, lump sum deferred bonus or key person plus plan to retain a key employee.

When planning for a key person incentive program, it's important to gather the right information. This simple worksheet provides a place to list their current salary, basic underwriting points, the employer's budget for coverage, and the type of plan that best fits the key employee.

Reviewing your business owner clients’ buy-sell agreements is essential as our industry evolves. Specifically, learn more about how the recent decision in Connelly vs. the U.S. could impact buy-sell agreements funded with life insurance, and how to get ahead of any unwanted surprises.

Non-spouse beneficiaries of an inherited IRA must take all IRA assets as distributions within 10 years of a death. By purchasing a survivorship life insurance policy and taking systematic withdrawals from the IRA balance, clients can mitigate tax burdens.

Buy-sell agreements are frequently funded with life insurance, assuring that if an owner dies, the surviving family has a buyer with the cash to pay a fair price. Whether it's as stock redemption or cross-purchase agreement, it will help remaining owners retain control of the business.

Many things keep business owners up at night, including taxation and protecting against the loss of key employees. Corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) can help with both. In this solution, we'll look at COLI as an institutionally priced cash value life insurance product.

Developing an exit strategy is a pressing financial challenge facing small-business owners. For businesses with more than one owner, the ability to successfully sell a business interest at retirement is often dependent upon the quality of their buy-sell agreement.