Insurance Planning

Insurance is a key component of a sound financial plan. Financial planning involves making a strategy to accumulate the financial assets clients believe necessary for their family’s well-being at various stages of life. Protecting yourself against catastrophic loss is just as important as accumulating assets, though.

Rollins Financial Advisors counsels clients regarding a wide array of insurance products, including life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance. We’ll help you figure out what coverage you need based on your particular family situation and goals.

The advisors at Rollins Financial Advisors are fiduciaries for our clients. Legally, a fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care for clients. We will never take a commission from any financial product recommended to you, including insurance policies, and it is our legal and ethical responsibility to pursue your financial best interest in good faith.

Surely, a financial advisor should always act in the interest of the client and not in their own, right? Not necessarily… Many financial advisors are basically salespeople. There is a great deal of talk about trust in the financial services industry, but you should always do your due diligence before spending your money, whether in the market or on insurance policies. Entrusting your financial resources to fee-only asset managers is a great place to start.

Life insurance can be a key part of your financial strategy. Life insurance policies can help to provide for your loved ones in the event of your death. We’ll explain the different types of life insurance available—including term life, universal life, and whole life—and the advantages of each, and help you develop a contingency plan that fits your budget and ensures your family’s needs are met after you’re gone.

Life insurance is an important aspect of a solid estate plan; if the policy is properly structured any income tax due on distributed assets should be easily paid without resorting to the sale of assets. Money from life insurance policies themselves that beneficiaries receive are typically tax-exempt.

Term life insurance is the most common and generally most economical life insurance you can buy. It provides a set death benefit over a set period of time, usually somewhere from 10 to 30 years. Term life policies make a lot of sense for most families seeking to protect their financial situation, potentially replacing lost income from an unexpected death, while children are growing up.

Whole life insurance is a more permanent coverage option. It allows you to lock in your premium rate – it can’t go up as you age or your health deteriorates – as long as premiums are paid, and the policy will be paid out no matter how long you live. Whole life policies differ from term-life policies in having “cash value.” The cash value of the policy can increase as you make payments and is available to be borrowed against to cover expenses. Whole life policy holders must pay these funds back with interest in order to maintain the full value of the policy.

Universal life policies, like whole life, are more expensive than term life insurance. Universal policies offer the flexibility to adjust your benefit amount in response to differing life situations without having to buy a new policy or submit to new health screenings.

Rollins Financial Advisors can also counsel you with regard to long-term disability insurance. A long-term disability policy protects you from a scenario where you are unable to work for an extended period of time and provide income to support your family. Less than half of all American workers are covered by employer-provided disability insurance. Even if your employer provides this coverage for you, there is a good chance it may be inadequate to meet your family’s needs, especially if the inability to work is protracted. Many employer group disability plans are capped at six months of benefits.

Long-term care insurance is increasingly a necessity in a sound financial plan. People are living longer post-retirement lives. Medical expenses, especially nursing home or at-home elderly care expenses, are growing faster than the rate of inflation. You need a strategy to deal with the potential of devastating elder care expenses at a time of your life when most seniors are on a fixed income.

Government programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid provide much needed assistance to America’s growing elderly population. Their future funding, though, is always in the hands of politicians. They are also designed to prevent people from being driven into poverty by medical expenses or old age, not to sustain the standard of living necessary for your family’s well-being. Long-term care insurance can bridge that gap, giving you not only the peace of mind that you will be well cared for later in life, but also that your family will be secure.

No matter what stage of life you are in, Rollins Financial Advisors can guide you to insurance policies to protect you and your family from setbacks and secure your financial health.

Rollins Financial Advisors does not provide insurance planning and does not review or advise on specific insurance products.