Living benefits
Draw on the death benefit early when serious illness arrives. While you are living, for you.
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Life insurance is no longer only about the far future and the people left behind. Living benefits are the part that supports you while you are still here, when illness or accident upends things.
What it is
A rider on a life policy that releases part of the death benefit early if you meet defined conditions: critical, chronic or terminal illness. The difference from ordinary life coverage is simply that you are the one who uses it.
It cushions the double blow of large medical bills arriving exactly when income stops.
Three kinds
Critical illness
A diagnosis of one of the conditions named in the contract (cancer, heart attack, stroke, major organ transplant, end-stage renal failure) releases part of the benefit, as a lump sum or in installments, to use as you wish.
Terminal illness
A prognosis of twelve or twenty-four months releases a substantial share of the benefit, so the time left can be spent as you choose.
Chronic illness
Unable to manage two of the six daily activities for ninety days, or diagnosed with serious cognitive impairment, releases part of the benefit regularly or as a lump sum.
A chronic illness rider is not the same thing as long-term care insurance, and tax treatment varies by state. Conditions, triggers and amounts differ by carrier and product.
Does your current policy have it?
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Most people do not know whether their own life policy includes this. Send me the policy and I will tell you what is actually in it, and what is missing.
Financial Planning & Insurance
IRA rollover Gather the accounts left at former employers into one, and take control of how they are invested.
Roth IRA conversion Pay the tax now so withdrawals later are free of it. It does not suit everyone.
Life insurance Coverage for the people left behind, plus benefits you use while living and money toward retirement.
Cancer & critical illness A lump sum on diagnosis, to cover the lost income and the bills. No restriction on how you spend it.