Have I been wrong about whole life insurance all along??

[allhis]

So I thought that the conventional wisdom was to go with term life insurance, which we have a good amount of at a reasonable rate.
I had a very brief conversation with a friend today (dentist who owns his own practice and is generally very business savvy) concerning using whole life insurance as an investment tool.  He mentioned that many wealthy people use it as a form of investment w/o tax repercussions. 
For reference I have been reading reviews on this book - 
www.amazon.com/Money-Wealth-Life-Insurance-Supercharge/dp/1494896478/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1FAGJ9TVZCD5M6RDDFFM

It involves using "cash value" life insurance (sounds like whole life??) to put away a good chunk of change each year and earn interest/dividends that are not now nor will be subject to taxes in the future.

Can anyone give me any sort of advice in this area - legit articles to research, etc.  My husband is a high income earner and I'm looking for ways to diversify our portfolio, particularly if such methods would have tax advantages.

[aurora]

I am not an expert on life insurance at all but my understanding is that it can make sense in certain circumstances for high income earners. A financial advisor recommended it to us (and I posted a similar question here then) but when I looked into the details we weren't there yet with respect to enough income to reap the benefits.

[Deleted]

We just got it but are high income earners and see it as estate planning, not retirement investing. I don't think it's worthwhile for most people.

[Pom]

www.moneyunder30.com/whole-life-insurance-good-investment

It's expensive, it's hard to know if the policy you are being sold is a really good product (so find an expert you trust implicitly like a knowledgeable estate planning attorney) and be sure it is the best option for your financial situation.

My step dad has a policy but when he bought it, I believe he had a large amount of cash coming in steadily year after year (owned his own business) and it will be beneficial for his estate I hope.

[LoveTrains]

Whole life insurance is a tool that can make sense for those with high incomes who are looking for ways to diversify their portfolios. I personally don't fall into that category, so I don't have it.

[dancingirl21]

Our Financial Advisor suggested that we do it, but we went only with term. We aren't high enough earners yet to put it in whole life. He uses it as an investment tool and recommends his clients do the same but we firmly said no and he stopped pushing.

[my3bears]

Just wanted to add that while it makes sense for SOME high earners, it's not automatically good for all high earners. None of the high earners that I know have it.

[allhis]

Edited for personal info

[Deleted]

Stands next to Stan. Muni bonds are more tempting to me for tax advantaged planning compared to whole life. Suze says no, and the commissions are generally INSANE so please ask whoever might sell you this how much commission they will receive by selling it to you.

[Poppy]

I know it's confusing to do internet research on this topic because the folks that sell these products have a (very) vested interest in protecting their reputation. Most of the content that you'll find in favor of them was created by the people who make a ton of money off them. I say this as someone who naïvely purchased a similar product (variable annuity) without truly understanding the consequences, when it didn't really make sense to do so.

I think you need a good estate planning attorney on your team. ASAP. They should be able to help you optimize for your situation.

[cjeanette]

Apr 23, 2015 9:02:33 GMT -5 allhis said:

You want to get an estate planner into the mix.

Variable Life Insurance can be a great tool for retirement and estate planning when you are pretty high net worth. Your financial advisor should be able help you figure out if it is even worth looking into for you.

It's so situation specific.

[SJ]

I don't really have anything new to add, as I feel others have covered it well.

I would want to know a lot more about your current situation and everything else you are already doing with your money.

You definitely need to be aware of fees and commissions, and realize that your money is often working better for you in other vehicles.

[allhis]

Thanks everyone for the help! To be honest, even though I may not have gotten a clear-cut answer due to my lack of info, the fact that this investment vehicle comes with high commissions and fees makes it not very attractive to me. I think we'll stick with the current investment picture as it is laid out and perhaps make changes in the future if necessary. I really appreciate all of your educated advice. One of these days I'm going to take the time to concisely write out our entire financial picture and be brave enough to post it to get some info from others in terms of best uses for our money. I wish this type of thing wasn't so such a faux pas talk about in real life because I find it's hard to get unbiased opinions. I trust our financial advisor of course, but part of me always wonders a little if what they advise isn't because it is in their best interest?
I'm going to edit my above post with the $$ data, would you mind doing the same cjeanette (not sure how to tag?) thanks!!

[cjeanette]

Apr 23, 2015 12:41:18 GMT -5 allhis said:

Thanks everyone for the help! To be honest, even though I may not have gotten a clear-cut answer due to my lack of info, the fact that this investment vehicle comes with high commissions and fees makes it not very attractive to me. I think we'll stick with the current investment picture as it is laid out and perhaps make changes in the future if necessary. I really appreciate all of your educated advice. One of these days I'm going to take the time to concisely write out our entire financial picture and be brave enough to post it to get some info from others in terms of best uses for our money. I wish this type of thing wasn't so such a faux pas talk about in real life because I find it's hard to get unbiased opinions. I trust our financial advisor of course, but part of me always wonders a little if what they advise isn't because it is in their best interest?
I'm going to edit my above post with the $$ data, would you mind doing the same cjeanette (not sure how to tag?) thanks!!

done

[Deleted]

pandce.proboards.com/thread/317512/life-insurance-why-bad-investment