My company-- Steven Tarnofsky Insurance Services, Inc.—specializes in educating consumers with a view to helping them address their retirement, income and insurance needs. When committing to a course of action it is important to understand the “why” and the “how”. For this reason serious planning would involve doing a Needs Analysis to develop a financial road map forward. This would include planning for sources of retirement income and maintaining adequate life insurance coverage to protect loved ones in case of premature death. Many of these same life insurance policies include significant living benefits, protecting against the high cost of chronic illness and critical illness.

Many people have heard about Life Settlements but often don’t how this market works. A life settlement is an alternative to lapsing or surrendering an unwanted or unneeded life insurance policy by selling it on the secondary market. The buyer assumes all premium payments. The seller receives a lump sum payment based upon the size of the policy’s death benefit and the age and medical history of the insured.

There are no restrictions on how one can use the proceeds: for funding retirement, reducing debt, paying medical bills, paying for a vacation, etc. Not all transactions result in large offers. In certain cases there may be no offer at all. But discovering the possibilities in the life settlement market can give life insurance policyowners who qualify a significant  source of cash about which they were previously unaware.