While You Were Building Your Legacy, Did You Create a Plan to Protect It?
Imagine your family’s future without you in it. Would your family be financially secure and able to continue along the path you started? Would the absence of your income, on top of everyday expenses, jeopardize those plans?
Coverage Profiles: Martina R.’s story
Martina R., Benefits Coordinator, age 42
“I love my mom very much, especially for all that she did for us girls growing up, without much in the way of finances. After she passed while I was still in high school, we literally had nothing to support ourselves. My sister and I really had it hard, but we could always count on each other. Had my mother owned a life insurance policy, we would’ve had a better start. Of course, I had to struggle a lot to achieve what I have now, but I wouldn’t want to put my own family through the same circumstance. Electing supplemental coverage through my firm was one of the first things I did when I came onboard. If something were to happen to me, I know my loved ones will be taken care of.”
Net of liquid investment savings, many families will require an amount of life insurance equal to 6-8 times annual income. The amount needed may even be higher based upon expected investment yields, the number of dependents, and the cost of living. Early in one’s career, we tend to be vastly better spenders than savers. It typically requires less insurance to retire debt, than attempting to provide sufficient invested funds to carry the debt.
In our view, any benefit amounts exceeding approximately $1,000,000 should be transferred to an individual non-experience rated pooled product such as Group Universal Life (GUL). While TBG West does not specialize in these types of plans which can add a layer of complexity and should be purchased only through an equally experienced specialist broker, we have teamed up with our brokerage partners to provide these benefits at the same high level of service which our customers are used to.
Coverage Profiles: Jason K.’s story
Jason K., Associate at a law firm, age 31
“My wife and I recently purchased a new condo. By purchasing a life insurance policy through my Firm, we’ve checked the box on a financial building-block for our family’s future. A little bit more freedom, without having to worry about “what-if” has been more than worth it to us.”
Fast Facts: Life Insurance
Under group term life insurance, premiums typically increase at incremental 5-year age bands.
Depending upon how a supplemental life plan is structured, yes. Insurers will typically require that the partner or employee first obtain supplemental life coverage on themselves before a spouse can become covered at increments ranging from 10% – 100% of the partner or employee’s coverage amount. Based on when they apply as well as how much coverage is requested, spouses may also need to answer questions about their health history.
We recommend that partners and employees maximize their guaranteed issue when it is first available to them (i.e., at time of hire or at their first open enrollment) because increases in coverage are often a function of earned income, up to a specified plan limit.
Continue a Conversation
Together with Disability and Long Term Care, Group Life insurance is essential to the financial well-being of your partners and employees. Let’s talk today with your firm’s benefits team about your goals and how TBG West can help you realize them.