Insights & Perspectives

The two primary categories are term life insurance and permanent life insurance. Both can provide a death benefit, but they are designed to address different needs. Understanding how they work can help you have a more productive conversation about the role life insurance may play in your overall financial plan.

The 401(k) is full. The Roth IRA is phased out. The SEP-IRA may help on both fronts, but often not by enough. Most high earners have already maximized these tools and still feel the same two pressures every year. This is where most retirement conversations stop. It is also where a Cash Balance plan starts to matter.

That pattern is easy to miss in real time, because markets react to announcements before anyone knows what will actually be implemented. Investors do the same. They read the headline, imagine the most extreme version of the outcome, and feel pressure to make a portfolio decision before the facts have settled. That is usually when mistakes happen.

Most people don’t misunderstand life insurance because they lack information. They misunderstand it because they’ve only been shown one version of what it does.

Why market volatility is largely irrelevant when your plan is built correctly.