We would love to hear from you. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link to the right and choose your favorite way to reach-out!

wscdsdc

media/speaking contact

Jamie Johnson

business contact

Victoria Peterson

Contact Us

855.ask.wink

Close [x]
pattern

Industry News

Categories

  • Industry Articles (21,155)
  • Industry Conferences (2)
  • Industry Job Openings (35)
  • Moore on the Market (414)
  • Negative Media (144)
  • Positive Media (73)
  • Sheryl's Articles (800)
  • Wink's Articles (353)
  • Wink's Inside Story (274)
  • Wink's Press Releases (123)
  • Blog Archives

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • May 2008
  • February 2008
  • August 2006
  • Life insurance a lifesaver for college?

    February 15, 2013 by Liz Skinner

    Parents worried about how they’ll afford the soaring cost of college for their children increasingly are being steered by financial advisers in a surprising direction — life insurance.

    Life insurance that carries a cash balance that can be pulled out and used to pay for higher education offers tax advantages over the popular 529 college savings plans, according to some advisers. It’s also a better way to pay for college because the assets aren’t counted in the calculations used to determine financial aid eligibility, they contend.

    Jeremy Turner, a financial adviser and president of Safe College Funding LLC, said he steers about 10% to 15% of his middle-income clients in the direction of life insurance to plan for college costs.

    “It’s not a one-size fits all approach,” Mr. Turner said. “It takes some crafting to make sure it’s the right fit.”

    Many college-funding experts, however, find flaws in the use of insurance for college funding, especially for higher-income families who won’t qualify for financial aid regardless of whether those assets are accounted for in financial assistance calculations.

    But financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz said in a new Morningstar Inc. report that using life insurance to pay for college should be banned. The policies are expensive and include high commissions for the salesperson, who, he said, benefits more than the family purchasing the policies.

    While the insurance policies aren’t counted as parent assets in the calculation of financial aid, the cash value pulled out of the policy is treated as income and does count the following year in aid calculations, Mr. Kantrowitz said. Policyholders who take on a loan through the policy should not have those amounts considered toward financial aid.

    Still, a new survey suggests that more advisers are beginning to consider the idea.

    About 29% of financial advisers recommended that clients use life insurance products last year to save for college, a figure that was up from 23% in 2011 and 21% in 2009, according to a new survey by Financial Research Corp.

    The life insurance policies being used this way could include whole-, universal-and variable-life policies that allow owners to withdraw a certain amount of the paid premiums without paying taxes or a penalty. Some of the policies, alternatively, allow holders to take out a loan from the insurance company using the cash value of the policy as collateral.

    Gerber Life Insurance Co. has been selling a College Plan policy for about three years aimed at households with an income of $30,000 to $75,000 a year. The firm has sold tens of thousands of these endowment life insurance policies and saw a 40% increase in new customers in 2012, according to the plan’s chief marketing officer, George Thacker, speaking today at the College Savings Foundation’s annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.

    Funding college through a life insurance policy will make the most sense if the policy owners need long-term life insurance and plan to hold the policies for life, according to the Morningstar report. A “complex cost-benefit analysis” is needed to determine whether this strategy makes sense for a particular family, the report said.

    Assets that parents save in Section 529 college savings plans are counted in need-based-aid calculations and can reduce aid by a maximum of 5.64%. Of course, most 529 plans incorporate state tax deductions, and account withdrawals from the plans aren’t taxed as long as they are used for higher-education expenses such as tuition.

    State Farm Life Insurance Co. sells insurance policies aimed at complementing a 529 college savings plan, said director David Theile at the college savings meeting. His firm focuses on selling policies that provide a death benefit to fund the balance of college costs should something happen to a parent, he said.

    Originally Posted at InvestmentNews on February 14, 2013 by Liz Skinner.

    Categories: Industry Articles
    currency