Many advisors decry the use of life insurance that lasts lifelong. This is especially so–but flat incorrect–in the replacement of a pension’s survivor benefit (SBP) or Social Security’s loss of the lowest pay at the first death among spouses. Many advisors recommend “permanent” coverage only for estate tax liquidity or the luxury of leaving a legacy. They often dismiss using lifelong coverage to replace a survivor payment from a pension or social security. The reasons that many advisors are wrong in the assertion that lifelong coverage is a bad idea are these: 1. Old mortality costs have come down, but many advisors have not crunched the numbers, 2. many advisors use the wrong assumptions in calculating SBP equivalency (please see my book The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning) and ignore two disadvantages of SBP from pension plans, 3. They shy away from the complexities and sensibilities involved in “incentive” trusts that can encourage adult children & grandchildren from “beyond the grave” and 4. They are unaware of the trend in low-load life insurance (see my book on how to use illustrations to identify long-lasting vs high-internal-cost policies). Here are a few sources of low-load policies: Ameritas Life Insurance Co., North American Co. for Life and Health, Southland Life, and USAA Life Insurance Co.
Published by
Dan Gallagher
Overview:
Dan retired from financial services in December 2017 to work professionally as a writer, freelancer, speaker and educator. This is curtailed due to spine problems. During his practice, Dan’s professional designations included: Chartered Financial Consultant & Chartered Life Underwriter (1989), Certified Financial Planner® (1992) and Certified Business Intermediary (2002). Dan’s thirty-year financial practice encompassed group and individual benefits, money management, financial plans, business valuation & brokerage, commercial realty and – often very personal – counseling. He now relies on agent Bill Pettit to offer his works, especially fiction.
Chronology:
Dan graduated from Virginia Military Institute (1981), third among Economics majors, simultaneously completing the Modern Languages curriculum. He served in the Infantry, then as a reservist in a Special Forces support role, next as a Training Company Commander and later in a classified Army Research Institute role. Dan completed his Master of Business Administration at William & Mary (1986). He and wife Laura married in 1988, loved raising their four children, and assisted both Boy and Girl Scouting through their church through 2010.
Dan has given numerous seminars at major employers and other entities including Delta Environmental Consultants (now Antea Group), Anheuser-Busch, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Canon USA and small businesses. Charlotte Magazine selected Dan as a ‘2009 Five-star Wealth Manager.’ Dan was a panelist and guest speaker at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce’s 2007 ‘Business Disposition Workshop.’
Dan is the author of a novel, a licensing manual, and numerous articles in journals such as Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Financial & Estate Planning, The Daily Press and The Virginia Gazette. Articles by and about Dan have also been published in the Charlotte Business Journal and Charlotte Ventures. His fiction and narrative nonfiction have been published by Skyhorse Publishing, Superversive Press, Millhaven Press, Creative Loafing, NFAA Archery (a humor short story), and Tuscany Bay Press.
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