Insurance Planning
As a fee-only fiduciary, we take an objective approach to seeking the appropriate insurance solutions for you and your family.
Advising on Strategies for Managing Risk for Your Family and Your Property
Our team has experience and expertise working with various insurance providers to seek the best solution for you. You want fiduciary answers to these important questions:
- If something bad happens to be me tomorrow, will my family be okay?
- What if I get sick and cannot work?
- This insurance agent I know keeps pitching me a lot of ideas – which of these things do I really need, and how much? How else can I protect my assets?
As always, our advice is completely objective and independent with no financial incentives involved in choosing providers or solutions, because as a fee only advisor we do not sell insurance or accept referral fees. We can help you navigate the various life, disability, and property/casualty options successfully. We can review your situation and inform you about the pros and cons regarding various insurance products for your unique personal situation. We can help you sort out the different options and decide what approaches make the most sense for you and your family.
Surprise Property and Casualty Insurance Issues Can Destroy Your Financial Plan
Insurance planning and risk management may seem like a life or disability insurance discussion, but your HB Wealth advisor will also want to help you review your property and casualty insurance coverage. This may seem like basic coverage that is all the same across carriers, but the reality is that poorly designed coverage can leave a major gap in your financial plan. Coverages can vary in terms of how exactly you would get paid if your house was destroyed in a fire or the water heater flooded your basement. We can help you interpret the language in your policy to then speak with your insurance agent about whether your coverage is a good fit with your needs.
Excess Liability Coverage is Another Financial Planning Issue
Many families have excess liability coverage (often called umbrella coverage) in place, but the coverage level may be very low relative to their net worth or the size of a potential claim if they have young drivers or a lake house with a boat or other higher risk scenarios. Your HB Wealth advisor can help you evaluate your coverage and speak with your insurance agent about potential upgrades you may want to consider in this important risk management area.
Life Insurance Can Be Helpful for Estate Planning
For some families, a life insurance policy designed to help cover estate tax issues can be a solid strategy to consider if the family has many illiquid assets that the family would not want to sell to cover estate taxes. Your HB Wealth advisor can help you understand your potential estate tax liabilities and evaluate options that a life insurance agent presents to potentially address that important planning topic.
Long Term Care Insurance – How Do I Manage the Risk of Long Term Care?
As people live longer, the fear of running out of money due to high health care costs is a more common discussion topic. Long term care insurance is one option that can help with those concerns, although costs have risen significantly and coverages are not as generous as in the past. Hybrid policies combining life insurance and long term care insurance are a potential option to consider, and your HB Wealth advisor will also help you evaluate this topic as part of your overall wealth forecast to determine if insurance is even something you need to worry about for this issue.
Health Insurance – The Hidden Early Retirement Issue
Many successful families want to consider retiring early as their financial plans are successful and financial independence is reached. However, they may not think about the implications of leaving their company environment on their health insurance. Your HB Wealth advisor can connect you with insurance agents who know the right policies available for you and strategies to ensure you get the coverage you are willing to pay for in the health insurance world.
Do We Need Life or Disability Insurance Coverage?
Many families have existing life or disability policies in place, while others may have none at all. Your HB Wealth advisor can help you evaluate how your wealth forecast would be affected by a sudden death or disability. Insurance for this need can be an important factor in financial planning overall, and is a key analysis your HB Wealth advisor will potentially want to explore with you.