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PODCAST

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and Annuity Insights

Brandon Roberts & Brantley Whitley | Life Insurance Experts

Each week, we break down how cash value life insurance and fixed annuities actually work — with real numbers, real policy data, and honest analysis. Whether you"re exploring whole life insurance, considering a MYGA or fixed indexed annuity, or building a retirement income plan, we explain what matters and what doesn"t. No hype, no sales pitch — just clear thinking about products most people find confusing. Published by TheInsuranceProBlog.com, the web"s most comprehensive independent resource on

business investing

All Episodes

35:09

How Institutions Win at Retirement

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2026/02/15

You've probably heard that pensions are dying, but have you ever wondered why they were so effective in the first place? Research shows that traditional defined benefit pensions deliver the same retirement income at 49% less cost than typical 401(k) plans. Even the most efficient 401(k) plans still require 27% more funding to match pension benefits. The difference comes down to three main factors: lower investment costs, access to institutional-grade investments, and longevity risk pooling. Large

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26:45

When to Start Annuity Income

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2026/02/08

You've probably wondered when the right time is to start taking income from an annuity. Should you wait until you're older to maximize your monthly payout? Does that actually give you more money over your lifetime? We tackle this common question and explain why the answer is more nuanced than you might think. The reality is there's no mathematically perfect age or timeframe that works for everyone. We break down the differences between SPIAs (single premium immediate annuities) and annuities with

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25:03

Spend Cash Value First or Last?

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2026/02/01

When you retire with multiple accounts, figuring out which money to spend first can feel overwhelming. You have qualified assets like IRAs and 401(k)s, Roth accounts, brokerage assets, and life insurance cash value. The order matters more than you might think. We walk you through the strategy of spending qualified assets first in most cases. This lets you take advantage of lower tax brackets while your qualified money is still relatively small. It also allows your life insurance to continue growing

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29:19

Time Beats Timing in Whole Life

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2026/01/25

You've probably wondered if there's a perfect moment to start a whole life insurance policy. Maybe you're waiting for dividend rates to climb, or you think the economic conditions aren't quite right. We tackle this question head-on in this episode. The reality is that trying to time a whole life policy purchase like you would a stock market investment doesn't work. Whole life policies don't experience the same volatility as other assets. Dividend rates adjust gradually over time, and everyone

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31:28

How Much Cash Value Life Insurance Do I Actually Need?

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2026/01/18

You've probably wondered how much cash value life insurance you actually need. The truth is, there's no universal formula or magic percentage that works for everyone. This question oversimplifies what life insurance does and assumes there's a one-size-fits-all answer. We break down why "need" is the wrong word when it comes to cash value life insurance. In absolute terms, you don't need any cash value life insurance at all. But that doesn't mean it won't solve specific problems in your financial

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29:47

Insurance Outlasts Your Financial Advisor

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2026/01/11

Did you know that 40% of financial professionals plan to retire in the next 10 years? That means a lot of people face a real risk of outliving their advisor's career—or their advisor altogether. In this episode, we discuss why this transition creates unique challenges for retirees. When your advisor retires or passes away, you may find yourself searching for someone new at the very time cognitive decline makes financial decisions harder. We explore how life insurance and annuities can serve as a

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30:03

Life Insurance Hedges Business Cycles

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2026/01/04

You know that uncomfortable moment when your safe assets aren't paying what they used to? That's when most investors make their biggest mistake—chasing yield right before a market downturn. We're going to show you how life insurance breaks that cycle. The business cycle has a nasty habit of pushing conservative investors into stocks at exactly the wrong time. Interest rates drop, your CDs and bonds pay less, and suddenly risker assets look appealing. Then the market drops and you're stuck watching

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36:26

Why SPIAs Make More Sense

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/12/21

In this episode, we break down the significant changes Secure Act 2.0 brought to single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs). You'll learn how the new rules allow SPIA income to count toward satisfying your required minimum distributions. This change makes SPIAs substantially more attractive from a tax perspective. We walk through recent research that revisits the famous 4% withdrawal rule from the 1990s. The study compares the traditional approach to a strategy that splits your retirement funds

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26:10

Imperfect Execution, Solid IUL Results

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/12/14

In this episode, we walk through a real 10-year-old indexed universal life insurance policy that didn't follow the original plan. You'll see actual results from a policy where the owner paid about 41% less in premiums than planned and made sporadic payments throughout each year instead of sticking to a schedule. We break down the numbers to show you what really happened with this policy. The average index credit came in at 6.48%, slightly better than the 6% we used in projections. The internal rate

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27:21

Do Indexed Products Rob You Blind?

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/12/07

Ever wondered if insurance companies are pocketing the difference between what the market returns and what your indexed product credits? We break down exactly how indexed universal life and indexed annuities actually work behind the scenes. You'll learn how insurance companies divide your premium into three distinct buckets: guarantees, operational costs, and the options budget. We explain why cap rates and participation rates go up and down based on interest rates and market volatility. Most

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37:54

The Missing Wealth Management Tool

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/11/30

You've probably noticed that life insurance rarely comes up in wealth management conversations. When it does, it's usually dismissed with vague rules about income levels or net worth thresholds that don't actually mean anything. We think that's a problem worth addressing. In this episode, we explore why cash value life insurance deserves a seat at the wealth management table. You'll hear about the specific attributes that make it valuable—not as a path to massive wealth multiplication, but as a

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31:41

Income Now or Income Later

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/11/23

Income Now or Income Later You've probably wondered whether life insurance or annuities make more sense for your retirement income strategy. This episode breaks down the key differences between these two approaches and helps you understand when each one works best. We explore why life insurance is like a "crockpot" that needs time to develop - typically requiring at least 10 years before you should consider taking income from it. In contrast, annuities work more like a "microwave," allowing you to

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41:49

Kyle Busch IUL Lawsuit Breakdown

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/11/16

You've probably heard about NASCAR driver Kyle Busch's lawsuit against Pacific Life over indexed universal life insurance policies that didn't perform as promised. We break down exactly what went wrong and why this case matters for anyone considering IUL insurance. You'll discover the specific policy design mistakes that led to this multi-million dollar disappointment. We explain how flat extras for high-risk occupations can destroy cash value growth and why the agent's approach violated basic IUL

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29:19

Lock In Guaranteed Income Now

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/11/09

Current annuity features offer some of the best income benefits we've seen in years, but this opportunity may not last much longer. In this episode, we explain why today's annuities can provide guaranteed lifetime income that would require a 20% annual return in the stock market to match. We discuss how recent interest rate changes have brought back attractive bonuses and income riders that saw little innovation for over a decade. You'll learn why these features typically vanish or diminish when

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38:00

Retirement Without Permission

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/11/02

You've been told that maxing out your 401(k) is the key to a secure retirement. But what happens when you're 52, hate your job, and have a million dollars locked away that you can't touch without massive penalties? We explore the hidden trap that catches millions of Americans who concentrate too much wealth in retirement accounts. You'll discover why the traditional "save until 65" approach often leaves people feeling stuck and unable to make career changes when they want to. This episode breaks

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31:49

Forty Year IUL Return Probabilities

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/10/26

When someone asks you about the average rate of return for indexed universal life insurance, you'll discover that average is actually a meaningless number. You need to understand the probability of hitting specific rates of return to make accurate projections about what might happen with your IUL policy. In this episode, we analyze 40 years of S&P 500 data using rolling periods from 1930 through 2024 to determine real probability outcomes for IUL policies. You'll learn how different cap rates, floor

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32:01

The Real Whole Life Insurance Candidates

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/10/19

You've probably heard the standard advice about who should buy whole life insurance: ultra-conservative investors who've maxed out their 401k and IRA contributions. The financial industry often treats cash value life insurance as a last resort for people with nowhere else to put their money. We challenge that conventional wisdom in this episode. You'll discover that the real candidates for whole life insurance aren't defined by their risk tolerance or retirement account status. Instead, they share

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36:39

Maximizing Cash Through Paid-Up Additions

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/10/12

You want to build cash value with whole life insurance, but you're not sure how paid-up additions actually work. This episode breaks down the fundamentals of paid-up additions riders and why they're essential for cash accumulation. We explain the difference between having a PUA rider and actually using it effectively. You'll learn why a policy built for strong cash performance must have a paid-up additions rider. We walk through real examples comparing policies with different premium allocations to

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35:11

IUL Policy Survives Twelve Year Test

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/10/05

This episode examines real-world data from a 12-year-old indexed universal life insurance policy. We track how the policy performed despite significant changes to its original parameters. The case study reveals insights about IUL resilience and flexibility. The policy started with a 12% cap rate and 2% floor on the S&P 500. Over the 12 years, the cap rate dropped to 7.75%, yet the policy still achieved an average return of 7.37%. This exceeded the original 6% assumption used in the planning process

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36:18

Life Insurance Hits Forty-Two Year High

Insurance Pro Blog Podcast | Life Insurance and... ·

2025/09/28

The life insurance industry just hit its strongest growth in over four decades. We break down the latest LIMRA data, which shows a 13% premium increase and 17% policy growth in Q2 2025. Cash value policies are driving this surge, not term insurance. Index universal life sales increased 21% year-over-year, while whole life sales grew 8% and variable universal life sales rose 4%. Term insurance remained essentially flat with just 1% growth. We examine which companies are issuing the largest policies

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198 results

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