marcircus,
I believe you're on the right track with your ideas since you are planning to keep it for very long term. Just be sure that you will be able to keep up the premiums comfortably, which may not be a problem for you if you have a reliable, steady discretionary income coming in. It also sounds like you're going to be using it more for the cash accumulation purpose than the insurance, which this product can be great for because
1.) tax-deferral 2.) tax-free loans and withdrawel as long as you don't violate MEC 3.) tied into securities for a greater potential of return 4.) as you mentioned, better chance of outpacing inflation 5.) the insurance benefit 6.) locking in your children's insurability 7.) providing a great financial start for them 8.) like you said, they cannot start an IRA yet.
Your other alternatives for the long term investing in comparison to VUL?
Savings account or CD's - safe, guaranteed no risk, but very little return and is taxable,
Stocks, bonds, and Mutual funds - same potential for greater returns, more flexible payments, no COI or M & E, but is taxible and no insurance benefit.
UL and WL - safer as long as you keep up with the premiums, costs less, easier to keep up and understand, but lower returns.
College Savings Plan - tax-deferred growth, tax-free withdrawel if used for qualified educational expenses only, tied into securites for potential better returns, but you will only have about 8 years left to save and your goal is to save for longer terms.
So VUL may be a good fit for your goal as long you feel that you understand it and can afford it.
In regards to taking out loans and withdrawels, it can be done with a strategy, but you have to find a good advisor to make illustrations for it and he/she can recommend things like what is the max you can take out and how it will affect your policy. It is not recommended to take loans until many years down the road though after you've built up enough cash value; and thats why its imperitive to keep up with premiums and find a good agent to help you devise a plan
Basically, the three ways you can fail a VUL are 1.) not paying at least the target premium 2.) not keeping track with investments or not having a suitable allocation mix 3.) excessively taking out loans and withdrawels and not keeping up w/ premiums ... which is again why its important to have a good, trustworthy advisor that will keep you informed and updated and remind you to take care of your premiums when needed.
I believe you're on the right track with your ideas since you are planning to keep it for very long term. Just be sure that you will be able to keep up the premiums comfortably, which may not be a problem for you if you have a reliable, steady discretionary income coming in. It also sounds like you're going to be using it more for the cash accumulation purpose than the insurance, which this product can be great for because
1.) tax-deferral 2.) tax-free loans and withdrawel as long as you don't violate MEC 3.) tied into securities for a greater potential of return 4.) as you mentioned, better chance of outpacing inflation 5.) the insurance benefit 6.) locking in your children's insurability 7.) providing a great financial start for them 8.) like you said, they cannot start an IRA yet.
Your other alternatives for the long term investing in comparison to VUL?
Savings account or CD's - safe, guaranteed no risk, but very little return and is taxable,
Stocks, bonds, and Mutual funds - same potential for greater returns, more flexible payments, no COI or M & E, but is taxible and no insurance benefit.
UL and WL - safer as long as you keep up with the premiums, costs less, easier to keep up and understand, but lower returns.
College Savings Plan - tax-deferred growth, tax-free withdrawel if used for qualified educational expenses only, tied into securites for potential better returns, but you will only have about 8 years left to save and your goal is to save for longer terms.
So VUL may be a good fit for your goal as long you feel that you understand it and can afford it.
In regards to taking out loans and withdrawels, it can be done with a strategy, but you have to find a good advisor to make illustrations for it and he/she can recommend things like what is the max you can take out and how it will affect your policy. It is not recommended to take loans until many years down the road though after you've built up enough cash value; and thats why its imperitive to keep up with premiums and find a good agent to help you devise a plan
Basically, the three ways you can fail a VUL are 1.) not paying at least the target premium 2.) not keeping track with investments or not having a suitable allocation mix 3.) excessively taking out loans and withdrawels and not keeping up w/ premiums ... which is again why its important to have a good, trustworthy advisor that will keep you informed and updated and remind you to take care of your premiums when needed.