Why a second-to-die policy?While it’s a funny sounding name, “second-to-die” (also known as “survivorship” or even “joint”) policies can be extremely powerful and effective financial and estate planning tool when set up correctly. In its most basic sense, it is simply one life insurance policy (almost always permanent, not term) that pays out when BOTH applicants, usually two spouses, have passed away. This can create significant leverage and pays out to a family’s estate often income tax free2. Second-to-die policies are a common way to provide for a child who has special needs (fund a special needs trust), pay estate taxes2, and in general, leave a legacy to children, other heirs, in a tax-savvy way. Often it is when the second spouse has passed away that these financial needs arise (estate taxes, providing for a child with special needs, etc.) so second-to-die policies pay out precisely when needed. Working with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™The CFP® certification is one of the top marks financial planners and advisors can earn. This high-quality, rigorous program covers a broad spectrum of financial planning and estate planning subject areas and trains certificants in the discipline of financial planning. Unlike your stereotypical life insurance “salesperson”, we pride ourselves in taking a holistic planning approach to second to die policies. It may be one of the biggest estate decisions you ever make, so we believe working with a professionally trained CFP® is important to make the right choices. Who We ServeThanks to Zoom, we are able to work with clients all over the country now (not just the Boston area where we are based). Our clients share a common goal: they care about their children and want to leave them financially secure. We design customized second-to-die life policy plans (whole life, universal life) for parents who are concerned about their child with special needs someday when they are gone. We also work with families who want an efficient way to pay estate taxes when they’ve both passed (which is when the estate tax comes due generally, upon the second spouse passing, hence why these policies can be so effective). We also work with owners of closely held family businesses, who may have one child they want to leave their business to, but don’t know how to make it ‘fair’ to their other child, so they leave the other inheritance via second-to-die policy, “equalizing” the estate. These are just a few examples of the types of clients we serve. |