FAQ'S
Frequently Asked Question
You’re asking all the right questions. These important FAQs will help you make an informed decision regarding your benefits insurance purchase.
Personal insurance refers to a class of insurance products that provide financial protection to individuals against specific risks or losses. Examples include life, health, auto, homeowner, and disability insurance.
Home insurance is not mandatory by law, however, every homeowner needs one to protect their building and belongings. Furthermore, if you’ve taken out a mortgage or home equity loan, the providers will insist that you have homeowner insurance.
If you run a business from your residence, a business owner policy provides the 3 basic types of coverages that you may need. However, depending on your business, you may need more protection.
At a minimum, anyone who wants to drive a car in the United States (except in Virginia and New Hampshire) needs liability insurance. If you’ve taken out a car loan or use your vehicle to conduct a business, you may need more comprehensive coverage.
Common ways to reduce insurance costs include shopping around for a better deal, maintaining good credit, increasing deductibles, bundling several policies, and reviewing your coverage regularly. An insurance advisor can also help get better deals.
Employee benefits are extra perks offered by a company to attract and retain its workers. These benefits are intended to improve job satisfaction and promote employee well-being.
The most sought-after benefits in the US include employer-sponsored healthcare, life insurance, and pension/retirement plans. Some other prominent ones are mandatory paid time off, employee discounts, and mental health assistance.
Depending on the size of a company and the industry it operates in, the following employee benefits are required by federal law: Social Security and Medicare, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and FMLA protections.
According to data from the Department of Labor, the benefits that US employers spend the most money on for their workers include paid leave, life/health/disability insurance, and Social Security & Medicare.
Employee benefits are very important when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. 60% of workers say it contributes to their job satisfaction levels and 73% say great benefits will convince them to stay with an employer for a longer period.
Estate tax planning (also called inheritance tax planning) is the combination of estate planning with tax planning to ensure all assets are transferred to beneficiaries effectively and in a way that doesn’t drastically reduce their inheritance or increase their tax burden.
Estate planning refers to the entire strategy that outlines how a person’s assets will be managed and distributed after they pass. Designating a living trust is part of the overall strategy, and it involves selecting a trustee to manage a person’s affairs when they pass away or become incapacitated while alive.
Every estate planning process starts with defining one’s goals and objectives, the rest of the steps include taking inventory of assets, choosing beneficiaries and executors, creating a will and trusts, designating powers of attorneys, and finally, reviewing the plan and improving it as needed.
A legal beneficiary is a person who has been designated to receive certain rights, benefits, or assets under a legal document such as a will, trust, retirement account or insurance policy.
Even though their priorities and the composition of their estate plans will be different from those who are married, single people and unmarried couples still need to put a plan in place. It is essential for asset distribution, beneficiary designation, incapacity planning, guardianship for dependents, and charitable contributions.
Commercial insurance is also called business insurance, and it provides protection to businesses, covering losses that arise from theft, accidents, lawsuits, natural disasters, etc. It is different from regular (or personal) insurance.
A commercial insurance policy may provide coverage for the following: general liability, property, business interruption, professional liability, workers’ compensation, cyber liability, or commercial auto. Learn more here
Depending on certain factors, either of the listed insurance providers may be cheaper for some people while being more expensive for others. To get a personalized quote, book an appointment here.
Commercial insurance (or business insurance) may be expensive due to factors surrounding a company and the industry it operates in. Some relevant factors include the business’s claims history, size and revenue, location, industry risk, coverage type, and so on.
How much coverage a business needs depends on factors like its location, nature of business, loan history, etc. However, some of the following may be required legally or by the company’s partners: professional liability, workers’ compensation, commercial auto, commercial general liability, and commercial property
While there is no one-size-fits-all amount, some experts say about 70% of pre-retirement income is a safe bet. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 39.6% of US retirees spend between $10K and $30K per year.
IULs are a type of life insurance policy that lets users contribute to an account that is invested in indexes, bonds, and stocks. IULs are similar to 401(k)s and Roth retirement accounts because they can be customized to provide the policy owner with steady income during retirement, and they don’t have some of the restrictions found in 401(k)s.
Yes, if the cash value of your IUL policy has reached a certain threshold, you may be able to withdraw from the account or borrow against the balance.
How much a person earns in Social Security retirement benefits depends on lifetime earnings on which they paid Social Security taxes, the age at which they started collecting benefits, and full retirement age. For 2023, the average benefit earned is estimated at $1827 per month.
There are a number of features that make IULs a great investment vehicle, including the fact that contributions are invested in financial products and therefore earn returns. Furthermore, no tax is charged on IUL gains during the growth phase and policy owners can withdraw from the account without penalties.
The following types of accounts make it possible for people to earn retirement income without paying taxes: Roth IRAs and 401(K)s, some fixed-index annuities*, health savings accounts, municipal bond retirement funds, and proceeds from life insurance.
*The principal invested in some annuities can be withdrawn tax-free under the right conditions, however, gains may be taxed.
There are a number of investment products that let people earn returns on retirement savings without paying taxes. Examples include IUL policies, Roth IRAs and 401(K)s, and municipal bond retirement funds.
Depending on your age, the US has limits for how much an individual can contribute into a retirement account every year, be it taxed or tax-free. However, life insurance policies and annuity products make it possible to increase retirement savings under the umbrella of the law.
While they are typically considered as regular income and taxed as such, there are a number of US states that do not charge taxes on retirement income, including Florida, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Alaska.
Taxes on retirement income are not determined by age but by income. So, no matter how old you are, as long as you earn over a certain threshold per year and live in a state that charges taxes on retirement income, taxes will be deducted on your income.