INSURANCE PLANNING

Client Centered
  • We incorporate insurance into a comprehensive plan to protect against the most common risks that can break even the most solidly laid plans. Whether we are considering a new product or reviewing an existing insurance policy, our analysis focuses on finding the most cost-effective manner of addressing the risk being insured against. This analysis, therefore, has two main components: the maximum amount that you can potentially lose and the cost to protect against that risk.

  • We consider a variety of outcomes and scenarios when developing your financial plans. While many insurance agents only focus on one area of risk, we look at the bigger picture to ensure your insurance coverage is appropriate for your lifestyle and your financial resources.

  • While we do often recommend utilizing insurance to protect against risks, we encourage you to be cautious of insurance products that also serve as investments. These products are often overly complicated with high costs that prevent them from being a cost-effective solution. We can provide many of these products, but we rarely do because in many instances they do not address the risk any better while providing us additional compensation at your expense.

Disclosure: Foundational  Financial Advisors does not provide insurance products. Foundational Financial Advisors will work with your insurance advisors to implement any recommend strategies. 

Examples of risks that can devastate even the best financial plan and the insurance we consider to prevent that devastation include:

<strong>Death</strong>

Death

  • While any death can be traumatic, the death of a household’s primary earner can be especially problematic from a financial standpoint. Leaving a spouse or children without the means to earn a living can have a long lasting impact.

  • Life insurance is the most commonly used product to prevent the devastating impact that death can cause. While no amount of money can replace a person, it can often afford you the peace of mind knowing your loved ones will be taken care of after you are gone. We work with your insurance advisor to help ensure your insurance needs fit into your financial plan.   

  • With various forms and features, life insurance can be a valuable tool in your financial plan to transfer these risks to the insurance company. Certain life insurance policies can even provide you with tax benefits while living.

Common Types of Life Insurance:

  • Term
  • Increasing or Decreasing Term
  • Permanent
  • Universal
  • Whole
  • Variable
  • Variable Universal
  • Survivorship
  • Final Expense
  • No Medical Exam

Common Reasons for Life Insurance

  • Marriage
  • Having a baby
  • Education Planning
  • Taking care of family members
  • Final Expenses and Funeral/Burial costs
  • Estate Planning
  • Changing jobs or relocating Retirement Planning
  • Medical bills
  • Mortgage, Vehicle, or Student loans
  • Credit card debt or outstanding bills
  • Buy-Sell Agreements
Disability

Disability

  • Becoming disabled is difficult situation that most people prefer not to think about. Most financial planning involves allowing you to focus on working to succeed in your job or career, but good planning includes a safety net to fall back on should you become disabled by injury or illness.

  • To fully assess the risk a disability poses to your financial plan, we review information about your employment, health/medical condition, and education history. We then strategically devise a plan to minimize the risk a disability poses in a cost-efficient manner. We do not limit our analysis to recommending disability insurance, but rather factor in all your options and resources.
  • Disability insurance can provide direct monthly payments covering a portion of your salary needed to cover essential living expenses.

  • If you are disabled or have recently become disabled, our plans are directed at ensuring the benefits you are set to receive from insurance or government programs are optimally utilized to maintain your standard of living.
Health and Medical Care

Health and Medical Care

  • Medical conditions and events can devastate your whole life and not just your body. The right insurance not only helps provide coverage against a catastrophic illness or event, but also for your recurring medical needs. 

  • Whether you are an employer offering health benefits, receive health benefits through your employer, or are considering Medicare Advantage or Medigap policies, we walk you through the complex regulatory and legislative landscape to make your plan meets your specific financial needs.

  • Our experience and knowledge allows us to utilize creative strategies to maximize your benefits while minimizing premiums, co-pays, and deductibles.
  • For employers, the right benefit strategy can help you attract and retain valuable employees.

  • One particular subset of medical expenses that is not covered by traditional health insurance or Medicare is long-term care. Medicaid does provide for long-term care but comes with significant drawbacks such as income and asset limits. 

Physical Therapy/Rehabilitation

  • Recovering from a major health event can have a significant effect on your ability to manage your life as you see fit. Whether you are unable to work, forced to retire, or otherwise prohibited from living the life you want, we can assist you in structuring you finances to best receive the care you need while not sacrificing your standard of living. 
Long-Term Care

Long-Term Care

  • Long-term care can include lengthy physical therapy/rehabilitation, home health care, assisted living, and nursing home care.  

  • Rather than being put into a facility, many people choose to remain in the comfort of their own home and receive the treatments or assistance they need there for as long as they can. We can help structure your plan to ensure you enjoy the comforts of your own home as long as possible.

  • Two primary options for ensuring you are able to afford this care are long-term care insurance and contracting with a long-term care facility that provides guaranteed life care. These two options can be used to protect your assets and ability to choose your care providers.
  • Typically, long-term care insurance provides monthly payments to compensate for the increased care you will need in a long-term care facility. Long-term care can also provide for home health care and physical therapy. These contracts are usually activated when you can no longer perform the activities of daily living.

  • Guaranteed life care or another similar program allows you to stay in the facility of your choice for the rest of your life. These programs usually require a substantial down-payment
Home &#38; Auto Insurance

Home & Auto Insurance

  • Auto insurance protects against the potentially devastating effects of an automobile accident. We can assist your insurance agent in determining the appropriate level of coverage for your financial situation.

  • Home owners insurance covers what for many people is their largest asset—their home. We evaluate your ownership and assets in helping your insurance agent to determine the correct level of coverage for your financial circumstances.

  • Other insurance is available to cover other valuable assets such as recreational vehicles, watercraft, and motorcycles.  

Personal Liability Umbrella Policies

  • These policies serve as additional liability protection if a claim should exceed the limits of most other personal insurance policies. Rather than increasing your protection limits on several individual policies, this insurance affords you the protection on all of them in a much more cost-effective manner. 

  • Litigators usually sue those with the deepest pockets, so these policies can be essential for asset protection purposes in the event you face a lawsuit.

  • We strive to help you accumulate and protect your wealth, so we want you to know the appropriate steps to protect it from all manners of risks in today’s litigious society.
Variable Annuities

Variable Annuities

  • Please note we include variable annuities under Insurance Planning which is under Risk Management Planning and not under Investment Planning. 

  • Variable annuities in general are a contract with an insurance company funded by a single payment or series of payments from you in exchange for periodic payments for the rest of your life (or potentially the life of your spouse or some other designee). These contracts can help protect against the risk of outliving your assets and can also include a death benefit. They can provide tax-deferred growth.

  • These benefits help protect against a risk and often involve additional costs. The investment growth is based upon the selection of investments that can often be obtained outside the contract for a lower cost. To put it more simply, you are paying the insurance company to insure this risk, and you are paying them to invest your money all in this one contract. 
  • Annuities are designed to be long-term investments and frequently involves charges such as administrative fees, annual contract fees, mortality and risk expense charges, and surrender charges. Early withdrawals may impact annuity cash values and death benefits. Taxes are payable on withdrawal of the funds. An additional 10% IRS penalty may apply to withdrawals prior to age 59 ½..With the purchase of any additional-cost riders, the contract's values will be reduced by the cost of the rider. This may result in a loss of principal and interest in any year in which the contract does not earn interest or earns interest in an amount less than the rider charge.

  • While variable annuities are valuable tools in the appropriate situation, we have found that some clients have been sold variable annuities without even fully understanding the product they have received. Some advisors may prioritize the sale of variable annuities simply because it earns them a higher commission. If you have an existing variable annuity, it can potentially be transferred tax-free into an alternative product with the same or similar investment choices but lower costs and fees.

  • Investments in variable products will fluctuate and values upon redemption may be less than the original amount invested. Annuities are not guaranteed by FDIC or any other governmental agency and are not deposits or other obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by any bank or savings association. 

  • Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an (a fixed/variable annuity, mutual fund) carefully before investing. Prospectuses containing this and other information about the (fixed/variable annuity, mutual fund) are available by contacting your registered representative. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing to ensure the (fixed/variable annuity, mutual fund) is appropriate for your goals and risk tolerance. Prospectus offers must be prominently displayed (other than in footnotes).

  • Additionally, the disclosure must be italicized or in bold, with the font size of the offer the same size as the rest of the document. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an (a fixed/variable annuity, mutual fund) carefully before investing. Prospectuses containing this and other information about the (fixed/variable annuity, mutual fund) are available by contacting your registered representative. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing to ensure the (fixed/variable annuity, mutual fund) is appropriate for your goals and risk tolerance.

  • Significant fees and charges may be incurred when transferring out of an annuity, including the possibility of paying front-end fees when purchasing a new annuity. 

  • We can assist you if you are considering a variable annuity or would just like an advisor to review your current variable contract to determine if it meets your needs.

  • Note: Foundational Financial Advisors, LLC is a fee-based Registered Investment Advisor compensated for investment products and retirement planning.

Have a Question

Thank you! Oops!