Estate Planning Mistakes: Failing To Properly Use Life Insurance
During the past seven weeks we’ve discussed the seven-biggest estate planning mistakes investors make. In week one, we reviewed each of the seven. But in case you missed it, here’s a quick list of each of these big mistakes:
- Not having an estate plan
- Not reviewing your plan annually
- Not placing your assets in your trust
- Not having the liquidity your estate needs to pay estate taxes
- Delaying decisions and planning due to tax policy uncertainty
- Not taking advantage of tax planning and wealth transfer strategies
- Failure to properly utilize life insurance as a planning and liquidity tool
Last week, we discussed the complications that can arise when you don’t have the proper wealth transfer strategies in place. In this final installment of our estate planning mistakes series, we’ll take a look at the failure to properly utilize life insurance in an estate plan.
Everyone knows that having adequate life insurance in place is an absolute necessity, yet most people don’t realize that life insurance can be a powerful tool in your estate planning arsenal. Because life insurance offers immediate liquidity upon the death of the insured, a proper amount of life insurance can be the transitional grease that keeps your family’s financial future from grinding to a halt.
Having the proper amount of life insurance is an essential component to most estate plans, but you’d be surprised at the number of people I encounter who either have no coverage, or who are woefully underinsured. Don’t let the lack of life insurance stunt the transfer of capital to your loved ones.
If you have substantial assets, you need to have the right mix of liquid assets in place within your estate plan. Fortunately, my friend and colleague Kevin Yurkus, president of Fairway Capital, is an expert at helping high-net-worth investors manage their estate plans. Fairway Capital is a sponsor of my weekly radio show, and one reason why is because I trust Kevin’s judgment when it comes to all things estate planning.
If you have assets of more than $2 million, you MUST listen to my new audio special report. In this report, we cover each of the seven-biggest estate planning mistakes, and we explain how easy it is to correct each one.
To listen to this FREE audio special report, click here
Jim Woods is a 30-plus-year veteran of the markets with varied experience as a broker, hedge fund trader, financial writer, author and newsletter editor.
His books include co-authoring, “Billion Dollar Green: Profit from the Eco Revolution,” and “The Wealth Shield: How to Invest and Protect Your Money from Another Stock Market Crash, Financial Crisis or Global Economic Collapse.” He’s also ghostwritten many books and articles, as well as edited content for some of the investment industry’s biggest luminaries. Read more about Jim Woods.
