The Lifetime LOC Blog

Every post

Newest first, grouped by month. Back to the blog

November 2026

Who Should Own Your Life Insurance? How the Goodman Triangle Can Trigger a Taxable GiftNovember 5, 2026

October 2026

A $30,000 Cost of Insurance Sounds Huge. On a $10 Million Policy It's 0.3%October 31, 2026
Reading an IUL Illustration: Why the Guaranteed Column Is Still Behind at Year 20October 29, 2026
Stopping IUL Premiums After 65, and How to Switch Off the ExpensesOctober 28, 2026
How Agent Commission Changes the Cash Value You Can Reach in Year OneOctober 27, 2026
Single, 28, and No Kids: Is There a Reason to Own Cash Value Life Insurance?October 26, 2026
How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? A $1.6 Million Example, Worked Out Line by LineOctober 25, 2026
Warning Signs a Mutual Life Insurer Might Convert to a Stock CompanyOctober 24, 2026
I Put In $44,000 More Than Planned in One Year. Here's What Year Six of My Whole Life Policy ShowsOctober 23, 2026
Do Surrender Charges Apply When You Take a Loan From a Max-Funded IUL?October 22, 2026
Scheduled or Unscheduled Paid-Up Additions: Can You Add Money Whenever You Want?October 21, 2026
$350,000 Over Five Years at Age 66: $223,000 or $51,000 in Policy Charges for the Same GoalOctober 20, 2026
Buying Cash Value Life Insurance From a Friend: Four Questions About the Design to Ask FirstOctober 19, 2026
A 30-Year-Old With a Lump Sum: IUL or Annuity?October 18, 2026
How to Test a Whole Life Policy You Already Own Before Using It as Your BankOctober 17, 2026
Should You Cut the Death Benefit After Seven Years of Heavy Funding?October 16, 2026
$33,000 Paid In Over Five Years and Nothing to Borrow: One Universal Life Policy, Taken ApartOctober 14, 2026
Policy Cash Value Acts Like Home Equity: Four Things That Match and One That Doesn'tOctober 13, 2026
An IUL Lets You Catch Up on Premium You Skipped, Up to the MEC LimitOctober 12, 2026
Two Whole Life Designs at $7,161 a Year: $0 or $4,200 of Cash Value After Year OneOctober 11, 2026
Premium Financing an IUL: The Lender Pays Most of the Premium and Holds the Cash ValueOctober 10, 2026
Do You Have to Requalify for the Term Insurance Inside Your Policy Every Year?October 9, 2026
Whole Life at 68: Seven Years of Premium Beat the Same Money Spread Over TenOctober 8, 2026
Before You Replace a Cash Value Policy, Ask for a Max-Funded In-Force IllustrationOctober 7, 2026
Year Six of My Own IUL: $42,000 Paid In, $44,770 in Cash ValueOctober 6, 2026
Whole Life for Emergency Money, an IUL for Retirement MoneyOctober 5, 2026
Whole Life Bought Before 2021 Often Guarantees 4%. Newer Policies Guarantee Less.October 4, 2026
Variable Universal Life: What It Did for Me at 19, and for a Retired Couple in 2008October 3, 2026
Why Some IUL Designs Convert Term to Base Each Year, and Who BenefitsOctober 2, 2026
When the Term Rider Burns Off, Your Room for Paid-Up Additions Goes With ItOctober 1, 2026

September 2026

Five Checks Before You Pick a Carrier for Whole Life or an IULSeptember 30, 2026
A Margin Call Wiped Out My $150,000 Brokerage Account. A Policy Loan Has No Margin Call.September 29, 2026
Give a Policy Away and Die Within Three Years, and It's Back in Your EstateSeptember 28, 2026
Why Your Death Benefit Grows on Its Own Once Cash Value Gets BigSeptember 27, 2026
How to Get a Table Rating Removed After Your Health ImprovesSeptember 26, 2026
Your Policy Has an End Date, and It's Usually Age 121September 25, 2026
If Your Birth Date Was Wrong on the Application, the Carrier Adjusts the Death BenefitSeptember 24, 2026
Three Reports an IUL Illustration Leaves Out Unless You Ask for ThemSeptember 23, 2026
Two IUL Designs for the Same 18-Year-Old, About $60,000 Apart in ExpensesSeptember 22, 2026
How Long Do You Have to Change Your Mind on a New Policy?September 21, 2026
The Year Your Whole Life Dividend Covers the Premium Is a Projection, Not a DateSeptember 20, 2026
There's a Legal Ceiling on the Rate an IUL Illustration Can ShowSeptember 19, 2026
What the State Guaranty Association Covers If Your Carrier FailsSeptember 18, 2026
Four Ways a Beneficiary Can Take the Death Benefit Instead of a Lump SumSeptember 17, 2026
Transferring Ownership of a Policy Can Make the Death Benefit TaxableSeptember 16, 2026
What an In-Force Illustration Shows That Your Annual Statement Doesn'tSeptember 15, 2026
Why You Can't Borrow 100% of Your Cash ValueSeptember 14, 2026
Cutting the Death Benefit Can Turn a Healthy Policy Into a MECSeptember 13, 2026
Should You Backdate a New Policy to Save Age?September 12, 2026
Why Cash Value Held Steady in 2022 While Bond Funds FellSeptember 11, 2026
What an IUL Carrier Can Change After You Buy, and What It Can'tSeptember 10, 2026
How the Guaranteed Insurability Rider Lets You Buy More Coverage With No New ExamSeptember 9, 2026
Why New IUL Premium Waits Weeks Before It Earns an Index CreditSeptember 8, 2026
When to Put IUL Money in the Fixed Account Instead of the IndexSeptember 7, 2026
Reinstating a Lapsed Policy, and What It Costs to Do ItSeptember 6, 2026
What an Unpaid Loan Balance Does to the Death BenefitSeptember 5, 2026
You Pay a Policy Loan Back. Where Does the Money Go?September 4, 2026
Whole Life Paid Up at 65 or Paid to 100September 3, 2026
What a Multiplier Rider Costs, and What It BuysSeptember 2, 2026
The Charges That Come Out Before Your Index Credit LandsSeptember 1, 2026

August 2026

Three Ways an IUL Can Count Your Index YearAugust 31, 2026
Withdrawal or Loan: Two Ways to Get Money OutAugust 30, 2026
Volatility-Controlled Indexes Inside an IULAugust 29, 2026
Mutual or Stock Company: Who the Carrier Answers ToAugust 28, 2026
What a Carrier's Financial Strength Rating Actually MeasuresAugust 27, 2026
Loan Interest Charged in Advance or in ArrearsAugust 26, 2026
Chronic Illness Rider or Long-Term Care Rider: What Each One BuysAugust 25, 2026
The Rider That Pays Your Premium When You Can'tAugust 24, 2026
Wash Loans and Zero Net Cost, ExplainedAugust 23, 2026
The Dividend Rate Isn't Your ReturnAugust 22, 2026
What Your Health Rating Changes Inside the PolicyAugust 21, 2026
The Rider That Keeps a Loaned-Up Policy From LapsingAugust 20, 2026
Why an IUL Never Really Earns the Straight-Line NumberAugust 19, 2026
Why Paying Monthly Costs More Than Paying Once a YearAugust 18, 2026
The Two-Year Window Inside Every New PolicyAugust 17, 2026
The Tax Bill That Arrives When a Loaned-Up Policy LapsesAugust 16, 2026
The Automatic Premium Loan: The Provision That Pays Your Bill For YouAugust 15, 2026
Guideline Premium or Cash Value Accumulation: The Test Your Policy Runs OnAugust 14, 2026
Walking Away Without Losing Everything: Non-Forfeiture OptionsAugust 13, 2026
Why a High Cash Value Policy Often Has Term Insurance Inside ItAugust 12, 2026
What a Whole Life Dividend Actually Is, and Where It Comes FromAugust 11, 2026
The PUA Rider: How Extra Dollars Become Tiny Paid-Up PoliciesAugust 10, 2026
The Rising Charge Inside Every IULAugust 9, 2026
Fixed or Variable: The Two Ways Policy Loans Charge InterestAugust 8, 2026
The 1035 Exchange: Moving Cash Value Without a Tax BillAugust 8, 2026
Target Premium: The Carrier's Number, Not YoursAugust 7, 2026
Owner, Insured, Beneficiary: Why the Three Roles MatterAugust 6, 2026
Cap, Participation Rate, Spread: The Three Levers on IUL GrowthAugust 4, 2026
What 'Participating' Whole Life Actually MeansAugust 3, 2026
The Riders That Actually Matter on a High Cash Value PolicyAugust 2, 2026
Cash Value and Surrender Value Aren't the Same NumberAugust 1, 2026

July 2026

Where Your Premium Goes After You Pay ItJuly 31, 2026
Why a Policy Loan Needs No Credit CheckJuly 30, 2026
How the IRS Treats Your Policy's Cash ValueJuly 29, 2026
Level or Increasing: The Death Benefit Choice Inside an IULJuly 28, 2026
What Happens If You Stop Paying PremiumsJuly 27, 2026
Collateral Assignment: Using Your Policy to Back a Bank LoanJuly 26, 2026
Why the First Few Years of Cash Value Look So SlowJuly 25, 2026
The Four Things You Can Do With a Whole Life DividendJuly 24, 2026
The Annual Reset and the Zero Floor: How an IUL Handles a Down YearJuly 23, 2026
The MEC Line: Why Your Policy Has a Funding Speed LimitJuly 22, 2026
How to Read a Policy Illustration Without Getting FooledJuly 21, 2026
Direct and Non-Direct Recognition: How a Loan Changes Your DividendJuly 20, 2026
IUL vs. Whole Life: How the Two Growth Engines DifferJuly 19, 2026
What Makes One Policy Grow and Another Just Sit ThereJuly 18, 2026
What Actually Happens When You Borrow Against Your PolicyJuly 17, 2026
Why Dividend Rates Are Climbing After a Decade of DriftJuly 16, 2026
The Banks' Favorite Asset Isn't on the Lobby PosterJuly 16, 2026

See it with your own numbers

The needs analysis is free and open to anyone. We'll look at your cash flow and whether this asset actually fits your plan. If it doesn't yet, you'll hear that from me too. No obligation, no chase-down calls afterward. Just answers.

Book My Free Needs Analysis