<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I was expecting, too biased
Review: Although Mr. Baldwin did a nice job explaining the various insurance products, he came across as too much of a salesman.I also found a portion of what he said to be misleading. He talks about how if a person is happy paying their premiums (and expenses) with after-tax dollars, then term insurance is good for them. He then states that by using a VUL product, a person can pay their fees with before-tax dollars. This is misleading in that the premium you pay to the insurance company IS AFTER TAX! The best thing to keep in mind while reading this book is that Ben Baldwin is an insurance salesman!
Rating:
Summary: It's like an insurance salesman in your living room.
Review: I think it is a very detailed, organized, and thought out sales pitch for variable universal life insurance (VUL). I came to the conclusion that the product could be useful some a few people with long term need for life insurance, a higher tax bracket, probable estate tax liabilities, and success at finding a policy with low fees. There are a lot of fees associated with the VUL policies which this book primarily pushes. Good investment performance would also be needed. I came to the conclusion that VUL would only make since for me if estate taxes would be an issue 30 to 40 years from now. Otherwise the buy term and invest the rest strategy would probably win out. He made a strong pitch for buying through an insurance professional (his profession), but it is my opinion that this would result in excess fees which would off-set much of the tax advantages. In my case I would already need to pay a for the preparation of the life insurance trust to give me the estate benefit I wanted. He also proposed that VUL was a much better choice than a non-deductible IRA (book was written pre-Roth IRA) because of all the trouble or cost for the paperwork required by non-deductible IRAs. Seemed to me there was as much paperwork involved with VUL, although much of it may be prepared by the insurance company. They should do something for those fees. It was a well written book and read well. Easier to put down though than it is to get an insurance salesman out of you living room.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I was expecting, too biased
Review: If you're looking for an objective presentation of life insurance choices, this is NOT the book. This is biased towards Variable Univeral Life. I'm returning this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Most confusing book of all time
Review: Most people feel guilty about lack of savings, too little life insurance protection, and too much debt. Here comes a book that promises to help people understand cash value life insurance once and for all. However this book is more complicated than the life insurance policies themselves. The cash value life insurance policies, written by attorneys, are confusing to most people to the point that people have no real idea as to what exactly they agreed to. This book makes the situation even worse.
Everyone needs a plan to get out of debt, a term life insurance policy if other people/kids are depending on their income, and a wealth building strategy that includes a diversified stock mutual fund portfoilio if you want to avoid working the rest of your life or retiring broke. After you fund your emergency fund, you should fully fund your Roth IRA if qualified in your portfolio. Your Roth IRA will provide Tax-Free income to you in retirement. Cash value life insurance is the most expensive investment vehicle ever and will never be able to provide tax free money for retirement. Then fund your 401k especially if your company matches. Any investment advisor that advises against any of the previous strategies probably wants to make a fortune selling you incomprehensible, expensive and inappropriate cash value life insurance. A good financial advisor is out there just call around.
Rating: 
Summary: powerful info!!!
Review: The book is user friendly and full of great ideas to help you make the most of your money. Perfect use of life insurance and its unique tax advantages. I feel sorry for those that believe that investing the difference and buying term is the best choice, it is not anymore a good choice.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for industry professionals as well as investors
Review: This book is a must own for any financial services professional as well as any investor. Ben Baldwin takes the new investor through the basics of financial planning, teaches about mutual funds, life insurance, annuities in an easy to understand way pointing out the pros and cons of each product. Originally one of the fiercest detractors of variable products, Ben Baldwin was open minded enough to take a serious look and study variable products. His volte-face is as impressive as his credentials. To those who keep claiming that variable products are expensive, fee ridden products, maybe you should really open your mind and study these products. You might even change your mind and realize maybe is knows something you don't, that VUL might actually be the swiss army knife of financial planning.
Rating:
Summary: For anybody that calls themselves financial advisor
Review: This book is for any life agent, financial advisor, CFP, CPA, or anybody who specializes in the financial services industry. This book is for agents who still sales whole life or universal life ,variable universal life can do anything that fixed insurance product can do and more. This book is also for those who sale the VUL, it will help you understand what it is and how it works, It is a hell of a lot more than just Life insurance. This book is also for buy term and invest the difference people, after reading this book you will understand that term investing the difference is a foolish mistake and a amiture one as well. If you are giving financial advise and not looking to see if the VUL can fit into their portfolio in some cases you might be leaving your client an incompleate financial plan. I would ask for all those specializing in these areas to please read this book. As of today there isn't a financial product that can do what the VUL can if structured properly. Please email me if anybody finds a better and more productive product.
Rating:
Summary: The New Life Insurance Investment Advisor
Review: Variable life is the next best thing to 401(k). This book explains why 85% of the Fortune 500 companies use this tax strategy to fund supplemental retirement plans for top executives. Clearly, one who believes buying term and investing the difference is smart has not built much of a pile of money, so doesn't understand what 1099 income does to their taxes. This book affirms my own actions. While I'd like to avoid the commissions, it is a worthy tradeoff - the avoidance of confiscatory taxes on the growth and, later, on the income I will intentionally generate for retirement. My program functions like a tax free mutual fund, my agent is a CFP, and the overall package was well worth the few thousand of commission I paid. Compared to the unearned commission the IRS charges, this is a bargain for anyone with the intellect and logic to overcome age old biases and heresay. Thanks to this book, I like what I own even better now.
<< 1 >>
| 
