Life Insurance Innovation for Military Retirees

Life insurance innovation is similar to other areas of life. It represents new technology and financial tools developed in recent decades. However, many people, particularly financial professionals, have yet to figure out how to utilize these innovations effectively.

Understanding life insurance innovation is not just about ‘bringing new toys to an old fight.’ Given the dynamics of the financial system and the various risks associated with people’s money, this new approach will become increasingly common in the coming decades.

These risks include the possibility of a stock market crash, rising taxes, potential lawsuits, job losses, and the challenge of ensuring that liquid assets are appropriately allocated.

We have unusually high government debt. The coronavirus has disrupted the stock market and the economy. In February 2020, the stock market took its worst dive since 2008. Protests, riots, looting, and general civil unrest are still unfolding.

With the world changing now and our risks evolving, it’s crucial to adopt a different approach to mitigating risks. Yet, the average financial professional currently approaches this the same way they did before the 2008 crisis when the internet and social media took off.

The world is different now, and our risks are, too.

I wrote this article to introduce this new financial technology and how it was developed. To set that up, let’s look at the three main aspects of the financial industry.

First, there’s the investment world—think Wall Street. In one way or another, the entire investment world is tied to owning stock in a company or an asset like gold, cash, or something similar. Transactions occur through a market—that’s what the stock market is. 

Next, there’s the real estate market, which comprises people who own their own homes, investment properties, or commercial real estate. A whole different world was going on over there, which caused the financial crisis of 2008. We had overextended subprime mortgages, and builders were building like crazy and overinflating the market. The same thing happened with the dot.com bubble around 1999/2000.

Finally, there’s the financial industry that people seem to forget about the insurance industry. Besides technically defining credit default swaps, most insurance has nothing to do with Wall Street’s shenanigans. The innovation in the life insurance industry isn’t happening on Wall Street. They don’t get tied up in flashy things like real estate, don’t do Super Bowl ads, or take significant risks. They hang out in places like Des Moines, Iowa, or Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

It is a fact that prices can and will inflate in our economy, and people can become overextended. But for decades and decades, over 100 years, insurance companies have been making very, very smart plays with money.

While investment banks such as Lehman Brothers were either crashing or getting bailed out, and while the real estate market shocked everybody and crashed if anything, insurance companies have been growing, especially the smaller firms that are being more flexible with how they distribute their value and thinking beyond the old-school model of how to sell insurance. In this part of the financial industry, there’s innovation going on.

Sure, there’s always innovation in the investment world; there’s always a guy who thinks he can beat the market. However, when it comes to mitigating real risks, the risks I mentioned above, insurance companies are your best bet.

Considering life insurance as a wealth management tool is not just a smart move; it’s a strategic one. These new insurance products are now available to the average American, can help mitigate risk, and offer many excellent little bonuses that add up.

We want to help these insurance companies do what they could be better at. They need to improve at branding and marketing themselves. They still think they’re death insurance when they’re intelligent people who understand numbers and the tax code.

They’re trying to develop ways to grow their business, and that’s smart, but they need to learn how to combine all that they have to offer so that it can change somebody’s life. We know that story and how it works in the military and veteran community. 

Which military retirees are good candidates for using life insurance as a wealth management tool? Who is this solution for?

A better question is, who is life insurance innovation not for? It’s best for those who say, “I’ve got myself into a pretty good financial position. I’ve served a career in the military. I make a good income, and I have a lot of benefits and bonuses that I can use and leverage. I want to know how to do it. And I want to position myself not just to get a job when I leave the military but to grow wealth and influence so that one day I can give back more.”

The War Chest Strategy is for those ready to take control of their financial future and make a significant impact. 

For a person with this mindset, the insurance vehicles we discuss have become very intriguing and exclusive. So we’ve noticed that it’s only for about 10%.

For the other 90%, I recommend following the standard Dave Ramsey-type approach, which will set them up for success and asset growth. This tried and tested method is worth considering for those ready to take a more innovative and potentially rewarding approach.

But we want to share my story for those who want to leverage their potential. I’ve been in this industry for 10 years. I’ve been innovating in the financial services world, online marketing, and job creation. And I realize how these things can tie together. When you start operating as your business entity, whether or not you’re an entrepreneur, you’re still a contractor.

Even if you get a job, you spend your time for money. However, you could get benefits similar to an entrepreneur regarding the tax system, how you leverage your money, how you want to use the banks, etc.

Well, that’s all hard to set up and do. But what if there was a way to get all the same benefits that a business owner gets with regards to protecting your assets from litigation, having some investment growth vehicle, having a way to generate revenue, having a way to build equity, having a way to leave a legacy; all of it tax-free and available for you to leverage like a bank in any way you see fit?

These insurance vehicles are the only way to get the same advantages out of the system that a small business owner does. We call it your War Chest private pension insurance account.

It liberates you to make your own choices with your money. You’re not stuck with how much you can contribute based on age, when to withdraw cash, or for what purposes you can use it. 

With a private pension account, you have flexibility and control over your resources, potential, and life, which makes sense because that’s what you are insuring―you’re insuring the income-producing potential of your life. It’s not about death. Yes, If you die, somebody wins the lottery. But that’s just a bonus. You’re not dead yet. So, let’s learn how to position your money so that you can use it.

However, you can only determine whether or not this solution is right for you if you know it exists and understand how it works. We’re here to inform you of your options and develop improvements to the War Chest Strategy as a Survivor Benefit Plan replacement. We want to be very intentional about it.

The life insurance industry is ripe for innovation, and that’s where you come in. If you’re a military retiree looking for ways to make your money work harder, consider scheduling a consultation with our team today.

We can help you find the right life insurance policy to meet your needs and give you the peace of mind to know your family is financially secure if something happens to you.