Four common financial mistakes to avoid

Planning your financial strategy can be difficult and complex—knowing where to start is often the hardest part. How do you know if you’re making the most of your finances? Visiting with your financial professional is always a great place to begin. Before doing so, you may want to evaluate your finances and make sure you’re not making any of these four common mistakes.

Your money isn’t accessible enough

It’s important to save money for times of need or emergency, but where should you put it? Should the unexpected happen, you may want access to your funds so you can support yourself and your loved ones. What types of restrictions or limitations does your account have? During these times of emergency, would these restrictions make it hard to access your funds? While different than savings accounts, some life insurance policies can offer living benefits to help cover the costs of qualifying illnesses. Consider an option that provides the flexibility you need and that may offer other benefits you’re able to use.

Your money isn’t “working hard” toward your financial strategy

According to the FDIC, the average interest rate for a savings account is 0.09%.¹ Flexibility and accessibility are both important, but so is maximizing your funds and making your money work smarter and harder. How can your money potentially accrue more value while sitting in an account, better preparing you for the future? Knowing your account’s interest rate may be important—but are there other options out there that could offer you more? While life insurance isn’t the same as a savings account, indexed universal life insurance can offer the opportunity to grow cash value at potentially higher rates while remaining accessible through loans and withdrawals.

Your money suffers from fees

Protecting your money can be difficult. Make sure you’re familiar with the various fees being charged to wherever you may be keeping it. Some banks charge consumers, for example, if their account dips below a certain balance. There also may be annual fees charged for simply doing business with them. Consider options that offer you the flexibility you want with the breathability you need that keeps your money safe from a multitude of fees.

Your money isn’t being leveraged

If the unexpected were to happen, what would your beneficiaries receive today? In a savings account, your beneficiaries would likely receive the money as is with any interest accrued. Consider options that offer strong cash-value growth so you can maximize your legacy for your beneficiaries and loved ones. Life insurance immediately leverages funds into a larger, generally tax-free death benefit, allowing you to leave more behind.

Wherever you may keep your money, make sure it’s working toward your financial strategy. Keep your options in mind and determine what will set you up best for your future and the legacy you leave.

1.FDIC, https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/resources/rates/, Accessed February 13, 2020.

Indexed Universal Life Insurance products are not investments in the “market” or the applicable index. They are subject to all policy fees normally associated with universal life insurance.

The primary purpose of life insurance is to provide a death benefit to beneficiaries.  Because of the uncertainty surrounding all funding options except savings, it is critical to make personal savings the cornerstone of your college funding program. However, even a well-conceived savings plan can be vulnerable. Should you die prematurely, your savings plan could come to an abrupt end. To protect against this unexpected event, life insurance may be the only vehicle that can help assure the completion of a funding plan. In addition to the financial protection aspect of insurance, the tax-deferred buildup of cash values can be part of your college savings plan. Generally, if the policy is not a Modified Endowment Contract then tax-free withdrawals can be made up to the contract's cost basis. Moreover, if the policy is not a Modified Endowment Contract, then loans in excess of the cost basis are also tax free as long as the policy remains in force.

The death benefit will be reduced by the amount of the death benefit accelerated. Since benefits are paid prior to death, a discount will be applied to the death benefit accelerated. As a result, the actual amount received will be less than the amount of the death benefit accelerated. An administrative fee is required at time of election.

REV 7/2020