Estate planning using life insurance With the right life insurance strategy, you can safeguard who and what you care about, while creating opportunities for your wealth to go further. To take advantage of the full functionality of this interactive PDF, please view on your computer using Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat. It is not intended for viewing on ipads, other tablets, or mobile devices.
Why life insurance? You may already own life insurance or be aware of its primary use providing money to your family or other beneficiaries when you are no longer here. Yet, the value that life insurance can bring to a comprehensive, integrated estate plan goes far beyond providing cash liquidity through the payment of death benefits. Whether you want to leave a legacy to your family for generations to come, assure the continuation of a business you have built or make a significant impact through philanthropy, life insurance, when used strategically, can help you address your goals. Your Merrill Lynch advisor, working together with insurance specialists, trust specialists and your attorney, can help you identify the right life insurance strategy for you. Benefits of Life Insurance Life insurance can be a versatile tool and offer powerful benefits to enhance your legacy and complement your overall financial strategy. Merrill Lynch Wealth Management makes available products and services offered by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated ( MLPF&S ), a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC, and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation ( BofA Corp. ). Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc. (MLLA) is a licensed insurance agency and wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. Investment, insurance and annuity products: Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value Are Not Deposits Are Not Insured by Any Federal Government Agency Are Not a Condition to Any Banking Service or Activity
Why life insurance in an irrevocable trust? Creating a tax-efficient pathway for wealth transfer Life insurance can be used to maximize your wealth and pass it on to the people or causes that are important to you with less risk and the potential for greater tax efficiency. One of the most common ways of using life insurance in a wealth transfer plan is by using it in conjunction with an irrevocable trust. When held as an asset inside a trust, life insurance can enable you to potentially leave a greater value to your heirs. Properly structured by your attorney, the irrevocable trust becomes the owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy on your life. All the assets owned by the trust, including the life insurance death benefit, may be excluded from your taxable estate. Some specific irrevocable trusts that may help you meet your family, business and philanthropic goals, such as a dynasty trust and incentive trust, are described here. Life insurance and trusts, together, provide powerful opportunities to help achieve your estate planning goals. 3
What s important to you? When it comes to wealth transfer planning, you have your unique perspective and priorities about who and what you want to take care of and the legacy you wish to leave behind. Click below to begin exploring how life insurance can help you with what matters most. 4
It s important to me FAMILY Maximize your wealth to take care of those who matter most If you have loved ones you want to make sure are well taken care of, it s important that you take every possible measure to maximize the real value of the wealth you have created. Perhaps you even wish to assure the welfare of generations of your family into the distant future. Life insurance, properly structured within various trust instruments, can help you achieve those important goals. Or maybe you want to address a special family situation that presents particular challenges when planning for wealth transfer, such as a special needs individual who will require continual care or members of a blended family whom you want to treat individually but fairly. Trusts remain one of the fundamental and most effective wealth structuring tools to help you address such situations. And, when appropriate, life insurance can be incorporated into a trust to help you reach your goals. To provide for my spouse during my lifetime and after by minimizing tax burdens To have a wealth transfer plan that prioritizes my special family situation To secure my legacy by my standards That my heirs get the maximum value from the assets I leave behind 5
FAMILY It s important to me... To provide for my spouse during my lifetime and after by minimizing tax burdens Minimizing taxes on the estate that will pass on to your spouse can make a significant difference in the net amount he or she will inherit. By properly structuring assets within an irrevocable trust, you can protect those assets from estate taxes. Life insurance in a trust can further protect assets from income taxes. Life insurance can be combined with specific types of trusts to address particular needs, such as assuring the financial comfort of a spouse. 6
FAMILY It s important to me... To have a wealth transfer plan that prioritizes my special family situation When it comes to families, each has its own makeup and unique circumstances. A properly structured trust can accommodate different family scenarios. In a variety of instances, a life insurance policy within an irrevocable trust holds the key to securing a specific asset amount while minimizing taxes. 7
FAMILY It s important to me... To secure my legacy by my standards If leaving a legacy which assures financial security and ease for your current family members, as well as those to come in future generations, you will find there are trusts structured to help you build your dynasty, in combination with life insurance. Additionally, if the way that monies that you bequest are used is also important to you, a trust can provide you with a certain amount of control over your estate even after death. 8
FAMILY It s important to me... That my heirs get the maximum value from the assets I leave behind Do you have assets that could benefit from a valuation discount, such as a minority stake in a private company? that may appreciate substantially in value, such as ownership in a company that could be sold or taken public? that generate strong cash flow, such as commercial real estate? If you wish to arrange for the transfer of your highly-appreciating assets to your heirs while minimizing taxes on that transfer, consider the following trust solutions. Both potentially allow you to remove future appreciation from your taxable estate, leaving more for your heirs. 9
It s important to me BUSINESS That my family business continues on and all my heirs are taken care of Plan for the equitable transfer of your business and your wealth to heirs It may be important to you that your family members who are active in the business can successfully take over after you are gone. You may also want to ensure that you pass on an equitable inheritance among family members who will carry on the business and heirs who are not involved in the business. 10
It s important to me PHILANTHROPY Making your wealth go further for the causes and people who mean the most To leave a significant gift to my favorite charity upon my death To continue my impact through philanthropy while feeling sure my family is taken care of If philanthropy has been a way of life for you, you may want that legacy of giving to continue, even after your passing. Perhaps you have been devoted to supporting a particular charitable organization and want to make sure that they are able to continue their work. Life insurance can be a solution to such concerns, assuring a guaranteed amount to the charity of your choice, while offering tax benefits to your estate and heirs. Life insurance can also provide a way for you to take care of the charities that matter to you without significantly reducing the amount your heirs receive, providing you with a way to potentially guarantee inheritances and replace wealth earmarked for philanthropy. 11
PHILANTHROPY It s important to me... To leave a significant gift to my favorite charity upon my death An outright gift of life insurance can increase your philanthropic legacy and provide a guaranteed amount to the charity of your choice, acting as an important part of your overall estate plan. Three ways charitable gifts of life insurance can be structured: You can purchase a new life insurance policy that you own, naming the charity as the beneficiary. You can work with a charity to have them own and be the beneficiary of a policy that you fund. 1 2 3 You can work with a charity to donate an existing policy insuring your life, making the charity the owner and beneficiary of the policy. In this case, you will not receive a charitable income tax deduction and the death benefit proceeds will be included in your estate for estate tax purposes, but the death benefit proceeds paid to the charity will qualify for a charitable estate tax deduction. In addition, because you retain ownership, you can supplement your retirement income with cash withdrawals or take federal income tax-preferred loans on the policy. You will make donations to the charity to pay the insurance premiums and this scenario will allow you to take an immediate charitable income tax deduction for the life insurance premium amount. Upon your death, the charity will receive the death benefit proceeds. This donation will entitle you to a charitable income tax deduction and you can continue your donations to fund any additional premium payments. The additional donations will generally be income tax deductible. 12
PHILANTHROPY It s important to me... To continue my impact through philanthropy while feeling sure my family is taken care of If you enjoy the rewards of volunteering, raising and donating funds for causes dear to you, you may want to leave a significant legacy to those causes. On the other hand, you may worry that the money you bequeath to charity could leave your heirs without the financial security you wish for them. With the following strategy, you can replace the wealth you leave to charity with funds for your heirs. There are three components to this wealth replacement strategy: a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT), a life insurance policy and an irrevocable trust. These three components work together to enable you to donate to a favored cause, but replace that donation with proceeds from life insurance for your heirs. First, you transfer cash or a long-appreciated asset to the CRT. The CRT provides payouts to you, or possibly your surviving spouse, for life or for a period not to exceed 20 years. Next, you establish an irrevocable trust and the trustee purchases a life insurance policy on your life with a death benefit that is approximately equal to the value of the assets you donated. The premium payments on this life insurance policy can be made using the income payouts from the CRT. Upon your death, life insurance benefits are paid to the irrevocable trust and distributed to your heirs according to the terms of the trust. Remaining assets of the CRT are distributed to the charity. Benefits of a Charitable Remainder Trust A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) allows you or your beneficiaries to receive tax-deferred payouts from your assets and leave the balance to your favorite charity(ies). As part of a wealth replacement strategy, those payouts are used to fund life insurance premiums for a policy amount that will replace the amount left to the charity. A CRT may help: Address charitable goals even after death. Diversify highly appreciated assets without triggering capital gains taxes. Provide a stream of payments to you and/or your spouse or someone else if you choose. Generate an immediate charitable income tax deduction. Reduce the size of your taxable estate. 13
LET S CONNECT Helping you pursue your goals with life insurance A comprehensive strategy Your Merrill Lynch advisor brings together a full understanding of your priorities and goals as well as your assets, liabilities, risk tolerance and other financial factors to help create a comprehensive strategy. With an advisor you trust and who understands what you re trying to achieve, selecting a life insurance solution doesn t have to be overwhelming. Choice of insurance solutions The insurance products we make available to you have gone through our due diligence, which means they meet our selection criteria based on factors such as ratings, financial strength and product innovation. Your Merrill Lynch advisor, along with insurance specialists and carriers and your attorney, will assess different features and benefits to find a solution that most closely aligns with your goals and preferences. Schedule a conversation with your advisor who can identify life insurance solutions that will help you take care of the people and concerns most important to you. 14
This brochure was prepared to support the promotion and marketing of insurance and/or annuity products. The issuing insurance company, MLLA, MLPF&S and their representatives do not provide tax, accounting or legal advice to clients. Clients should consult their own independent advisors as to any tax, accounting or legal statements made herein. Merrill Lynch offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. There are important differences between brokerage and investment advisory services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the differences, particularly when determining which service or services to select. For more information about these services and their differences, speak with your Financial Advisor. Life insurance policies contain fees and expenses, including cost of insurance, administrative fees, premium loads, surrender charges and other charges or fees that will impact policy values. Life insurance death benefit proceeds are generally excludable from the beneficiary s gross income for income tax purposes. There are a few exceptions, such as when a life insurance policy has been transferred for valuable consideration. If you transfer existing life insurance to a trust, you may incur gift taxes. Also, the insurance policy must be transferred to the trust at least three years before death occurs in order for the proceeds to be excluded from your estate. The decision to transfer current life insurance to a trust should be reviewed in the context of the survivor s needs and in conjunction with a qualified attorney. Trusts should be drafted by an attorney familiar with such matters in order to take into account income and transfer tax laws (including generation-skipping transfer tax). Failure to do so could result in adverse tax treatment of trust proceeds. Creating and funding a trust is a sophisticated estate planning technique and your legal and estate planning advisor(s) should be consulted prior to making any estate, tax, or investment decisions. All guarantees and benefits of an insurance policy are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. They are not backed by Merrill Lynch or its affiliates, nor do Merrill Lynch or its affiliates make any representations or guarantees regarding the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. All annuity contract or rider guarantees, including optional benefits and any fixed subaccount crediting rates or annuity payout rates, are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Trust and fiduciary services are provided by U.S. Trust, a division of Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC, or U.S. Trust Company of Delaware. Both are wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation (BofA Corp.). Bank of America, N.A., MLLA, and MLPF&S are wholly owned subsidiaries of BofA Corp. 2018 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. ARYMBXM4 360000PM-0118 15