Consultant

Pros and Cons of Indexed Universal Life Insurance

April 9, 2025

[ad_1]

Indexed universal life (IUL) insurance is a type of permanent life insurance. It provides lifelong coverage and includes a cash-value feature, which you can invest and use while you’re alive. IULs let you invest your cash value in a stock market index, such as the S&P 500. This allows your money to grow. A key feature of IULs is that they also protect your money from losses if the market goes down.

However, IULs can be complicated and often come with high fees. So if you’re considering IUL insurance, it’s crucial to understand how it works and who it’s best suited for.

Key Takeaways

Indexed universal life insurance combines a death benefit with cash value growth potential linked to market index performance, but it also protects against market losses.
IUL policies offer some tax advantages, including tax-deferred growth and potentially tax-free loans, but they come with significant fees that can impact overall returns.
These policies provide more growth potential than whole life insurance but less potential return than directly investing in the market due to participation rates and caps.
IULs require careful long-term planning, as canceling your policy in the first years of the policy can trigger high surrender charges.

Nez Riaz / Investopedia.

How Indexed Universal Life Insurance (IUL) Works

IUL insurance is a type of permanent life insurance coverage. It can also grow in value depending on how well a stock market index performs. A stock market index measures the performance of a group of stocks, such as the S&P 500.

When you invest directly in the stock market, you could lose all your money if the stock market does poorly. IUL insurance offers some protection against these losses and gives you a chance to gain money when the market does well.

Cash Value Growth Mechanism

When you pay premiums on an IUL policy, a portion goes toward insurance costs and fees, and the remainder is added to the policy’s cash value. You can allocate this cash value to one or more index accounts that track the performance of market indexes like the S&P 500.

The insurance company doesn’t directly invest your money in the market. Instead, it uses your premium to invest in other assets and then credits your account based on the performance of your chosen index. Your policy may include a guaranteed minimum interest return as well.

“I tell clients that the indexing is just a method of the insurance company setting the interest rate for the policy,” says Robert Wesley Shannon, certified financial planner for Brazos Wealth Advisors. “Over time, like 15 to 20 years, the rate of return usually is a bit better than a bond portfolio.”

Interest crediting typically works through:

Participation rates: This determines what percentage of the index’s gain will be credited to your policy. For example, if the index increases by 8% and your participation rate is 75%, your cash value would be credited with a 6% return.
Caps: This is the maximum return that can be credited to your account, regardless of how well the index performs. For instance, if your cap is 12% and the index returns 15%, your account would only be credited with 12% growth.
Floors: This provides downside protection by establishing a minimum interest rate (usually 0% to 1%) that will be credited to your account even if the index performs negatively.

Interest is generally calculated using one of two methods:

Point-to-point: Compares the value of an index at two specific times, usually at the start and end of a year. You earn interest if the index is higher at the end of the period than at the beginning.
Point-to-average: Calculates the average of an index’s value. It starts with the index’s value at the beginning of a period and then includes the index’s value for each day the market is open during that period. You earn interest if this average exceeds the index’s starting value. You earn interest if the average is positive, showing that the index grew throughout the term.

Death Benefit Options

IUL policies typically offer two death benefit options:

Level death benefit: The death benefit remains constant, equal to the policy’s face amount.
Increasing death benefit: The death benefit equals the policy’s face amount plus the cash value, potentially rising over time as the cash value grows.

Understanding IUL’s Growth Potential and Risk Limitations

A big reason people choose IUL insurance is that it offers a chance for your money to grow while limiting the downside risk of investing in the stock market. Unlike the stock market, IUL insurance limits your risk of losing money. This balance between growth potential and protection is due to the IUL’s interest-crediting structure.

Protection Against Market Losses

With an IUL policy, your cash value is protected from market dips through the policy’s guaranteed minimum interest rate. This means that if your policy’s underlying stock indexes lose 10% in a year but the policy’s floor rate is 0%, your cash value won’t lose money—it will stay the same thanks to the 0% floor.

However, this protection comes at a cost. The caps and participation rates limit your potential gains compared to directly investing in the market through a brokerage account. Additionally, most IUL policies only track the price changes of the index. This doesn’t include stock dividends, which may impact long-term performance.

Growth Potential Comparisons

Due to its link with market indexes, an IUL can potentially provide higher returns than a traditional whole life policy. However, because of participation rates and caps, its returns are generally lower than those of investing in the market yourself.

Term life insurance: Offers no cash value component, functioning purely as insurance protection
Whole life insurance: Provides guaranteed but generally lower cash value growth with more predictable returns
Variable universal life insurance: Allows for potentially higher returns through direct market investments in sub-accounts but offers no downside protection against market losses

In favorable market conditions, IULs can outperform traditional whole life insurance. However, during extended periods of strong market performance, the caps on an IUL policy may lead to significantly lower returns than directly investing in the stock market or a variable universal life insurance policy.

Understanding the Costs of IUL

IUL insurance policies include various fees and charges that can significantly reduce how well your policy performs. These costs are often complicated and may not be obvious when buying the policy.

Premium Expense Charges

When you pay your premiums, the insurance company deducts a sales expense charge to help cover the insurance company’s cost of issuing and administering the policy. These charges can be 6% or more of your IUL premiums.

Administrative Expenses

Administrative charges on an IUL policy cover maintenance and management costs incurred by your insurer, such as customer service or claims assistance.

Cost of Insurance

The cost of insurance is deducted every month from your cash value and increases as you age. This covers the life insurance component of your policy and is based on your age, gender, health status, and other factors.

Surrender Charges

If you terminate your policy or withdraw a substantial amount from your cash value during the early years (typically 10 to 15 years), you may face surrender charges.

Index Account Charges

Some policies assess additional fees on the underlying index tracked by your IUL policy, further reducing your effective returns. These might be labeled as fund charges or asset-based charges.

Advisor Insight

“IULs come with a lot of internal fees that only work in very specific types of scenarios,” said Juan G. Hernandez-Ariano, certified financial planner at OneSeven. “Because of it, and the fact that they pay good commissions to the agents that sell it, there’s been a lot of abuse when selling these to clients.”

Tax Advantages of IUL

IUL policies offer potential tax advantages that may appeal to some investors, especially those in higher tax brackets or who have maximized other tax-advantaged investment options.

Tax-Deferred Growth

The cash value of your IUL policy grows tax-deferred, meaning you don’t pay taxes on the growth as it accumulates.

Tax-Free Death Benefit

As with most life insurance policies, the death benefit paid to your beneficiaries is generally income tax-free.

Tax-Free Access to Cash Value

You can access your cash value through policy loans and withdrawals that may be tax-free under certain circumstances.

Withdrawals: You can withdraw up to your cost basis (the amount you’ve paid in premiums) tax-free. However, you owe income tax for withdrawing gains above that amount.
Policy Loans: Loans against your cash value are not considered taxable income as long as the policy remains in force. However, the insurer may charge interest on any outstanding loans.

This tax-free access can be particularly valuable if you want to supplement your retirement income or fund other financial needs without increasing your taxable income.

Section 7702 Compliance

To maintain these tax advantages, your IUL policy must qualify as life insurance under Section 7702 of the Internal Revenue Code. This means your policy must maintain a minimum ratio of death benefit to cash value.

If your policy becomes too heavily funded relative to its death benefit, it may be classified as a modified endowment contract (MEC), which worsens the tax treatment of loans and withdrawals. In an MEC, any loans or withdrawals you take out are taxed on a last-in-first-out basis, meaning you take out your taxable gains before the tax-free basis. You may also be hit with a 10% penalty if taken before age 59 and a half.

Pros & Cons of Indexed Universal Life Insurance

Pros

Upside potential with downside protection: IUL offers you the opportunity to benefit from favorable market performance while protecting against market losses through the guaranteed minimum interest rate (floor).
Tax advantages: Your policy’s cash value grows tax-deferred, and policy loans and withdrawals can be tax-free, making IUL potentially useful for tax-efficient wealth accumulation and distribution.
Flexibility: You can adjust your premium payments over time.
Permanent coverage: Unlike term insurance, which expires after a set period, IUL provides you with lifelong coverage as long as you keep paying your premiums.
No Social Security impact: Income you take from an IUL policy through loans doesn’t count as Social Security income during the benefit calculation process.

Cons

Complex structure: IUL policies are complicated financial products with multiple variables that can be difficult to understand and compare.
High fees and expenses: IULs come with multiple layers of fees, which can significantly reduce your potential returns compared to other investment options.
Limited returns due to caps: Performance caps in IULs may limit the upside potential of your policy, meaning you could miss out on the full returns during strong market years. Additionally, IUL policies typically don’t include dividends, which can represent a significant portion of total market returns.
Risk of policy lapse: If your policy’s cash value becomes too low to cover policy costs (which increase as you age), the policy could lapse, potentially resulting in adverse tax consequences and loss of coverage.
Surrender charges: If you attempt to access your policy’s cash value early, you may incur substantial surrender charges, making IULs unsuitable for short-term financial goals.
Uncertain future performance: Your insurer could change its interest crediting methods, caps, and participation rates, making it difficult to predict your policy’s long-term performance.

Indexed Universal Life Insurance vs. Other Types of Life Insurance

If you’re considering other life insurance options, it’s important to understand how IULs compare,

Term Life Insurance

Similarities: Both provide a death benefit to beneficiaries.
Differences: Term life insurance is much simpler and less expensive than an IUL. It offers coverage for a specific period (typically 10 to 30 years) with no cash value component.

Whole Life Insurance

Similarities: Both are permanent policies with cash value components and guaranteed death benefits.
Differences: Whole life insurance offers guaranteed cash value growth with fixed premiums and dividends (in participating policies). IULs potentially provide higher returns in strong markets but with a greater risk of loss due to the fee structure.

Variable Universal Life (VUL)

Similarities: Both are permanent policies with flexible premiums and adjustable death benefits.
Differences: VUL policies allow you to directly invest in subaccounts similar to mutual funds, offering potentially higher returns but greater risk due to the lack of downside protection. While IUL provides downside protection, caps limit policies’ upside potential.

When deciding between these products, it’s important to ask yourself why you’re buying life insurance.

“If a client wants to participate in the stock market, why are they using a relatively costly insurance platform to do so? If a client needs to transfer risk to an insurance company, which is the main idea of insurance, why do they want to transfer it back to themself with a variable product?” said Donald LaGrange, wealth advisor at Murphy and Sylvest Wealth Management.

Questions to Ask Before Buying Indexed Universal Life Insurance

Before purchasing an IUL policy, consider asking your insurance agent or a fee-based financial advisor the following questions:

What are the current caps, participation rates, and floors, and how often do they change?
What is the historical performance of this specific policy, and how does it compare to directly investing in the market?
What is the complete fee structure of the policy, including all charges that will impact my returns?
How much of my premium will go toward fees versus the policy’s cash value in the first year? Or the first 10 years?
What are the policy’s surrender charges, and how long do they last?
How is interest calculated (point-to-point, monthly average, etc.)?
Does the index crediting method include dividends?
What happens if I can’t pay my premiums for a period of time?
Can you provide illustrations showing poor, moderate, and strong market performance scenarios for this specific policy?
What is the insurance company’s financial strength rating? Is there any chance it could impact the insurer’s ability to pay out benefits in a market downturn?

Is Indexed Universal Life Insurance a Good Idea?

If any of the following apply to you, an IUL may be worth considering:

You’re looking for permanent life insurance coverage.
You maxed out other tax-advantaged investments, like your 401(k) or IRA.
You’re interested in the potential for higher returns compared with whole life insurance as well as some downside protection.
You have a long-term investment horizon, such as 15 years or longer.
You value flexibility in premium payments and death benefit amounts.
You want to supplement your retirement income in a tax-efficient manner.

On the other hand, an IUL may not be the best option if you don’t have anything to gain in terms of tax benefits or if you don’t have extra money you’re looking to invest.

“You generally don’t get an IUL because of the promise of a high return or because of low fees,” said Hernandez-Ariano. “You do it because of some potential tax benefits when you already have a pretty solid nest egg and some pretty reliable disposable cash flow that will exist for at least 10 years.”

If any of the following apply to your situation, you may want to consider a traditional term life insurance policy and invest any leftover cash directly in the market:

You want maximum life insurance coverage at the lowest cost (term insurance would be better).
You prefer a simple and transparent investment strategy.
You don’t want to commit to long-term premium payments.
You haven’t yet maxed out contributions to your other tax-advantaged retirement accounts, like your 401(k) or IRA.
You have a strong appetite for maximum investment returns and are comfortable with market volatility.

The Bottom Line

Indexed universal life insurance offers both lifelong insurance protection and a chance for your money to grow based on the market. It also protects you from large losses in the market. However, IULs can be complex and expensive. There are limits on how much your money can grow and there are various fees. Also, it might be hard to take your money out early. These things can significantly affect how well your policy performs.

[ad_2]

Source link