Is your financial house haunted?

Insurance
4 MIN READ | #blog

It’s nighttime, and you’re walking down a long, dark hallway with only a flashlight to guide you. Suddenly the light falls upon a horrifying sight — is it a creepy clown? Or a flesh-eating zombie? Oh no, it’s something far more ghastly.

Behold the terror of your credit score!

Feel the chill of a depleted savings account!

Scream as you imagine your 401(k) balance!

While lots of people love a good scare at the movies, no one does when it comes to their finances. People often fear their finances because they are full of the unknown and unexpected, as it’s common to imagine worst-case scenarios and be afraid of things that may not even exist. If these feelings sound familiar, how can you chase away the fear and become financially confident?

The terror of the unknown

Just like in a horror flick, the unknown can bring a sense of dread. It can be fun to peek through your fingers as you wonder if there’s a vampire lurking around the corner. Much less fun is wondering if you’re prepared for retirement. Fortunately, unlike the protagonist who wanders down a dimly-lit hallway, you are not alone.

Financial professionals can help you face your fears, and even help to prevent a few shocks along the way. By working with a professional, you’ll be better able to perceive whether your fears are real ghosts, or just sheets blowing in the wind. Together you can create a written financial plan, and prioritize the behaviors that help to enable financial confidence. The result: ghosts, busted.

These behaviors include learning about financial principles and strategies, having a written financial plan, owning growth and protection strategies and maintaining a long-term focus. Your go-to finance professional can also help adjust your plan as your life goals shift, and help to keep you on track for the long-term.

The shock of the unexpected

Sometimes the hero walks into an eerie room — and suddenly — a monster jumps out. The audience screams in surprise. It’s shocking because we don’t expect it. Unfortunately, real life can deliver frightening surprises, too. For instance, approximately one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled during their working years.1 With this in mind, consider income protection in the form of disability insurance in the event of an illness or accident.2

Whole life insurance can be important protection against the unexpected. If you die prematurely, whole life can provide financial confidence to your loved ones. Whole life insurance offers a way to protect your family upon your passing, through its death benefit.3 Hopefully this unforeseen event will never happen, but in the meantime, you can use whole life cash value to make improvements today, such as by funding higher education or a business. 4,5

The mystery of the illusion

Special effects teams work hard to create terrifying haunted houses on film. But once the movie wraps and the lights come on, we see that the set is made of tricks to deceive us. The flickering lights, the fog machine, and the recording of ghostly sounds are all gimmicks intended to send chills down our spine.

Often our financial fears are the same — what we’re afraid of isn’t real. We might think we can’t recover from a poor credit score, but that’s not true. Likewise, it’s never too early, or too late, to begin to save, live within our means, or plan our retirement. When we sit down with a financial professional, we see that the worries were just our minds playing tricks on us. There is nothing to fear, and only financial confidence to gain.

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2022-144748 Exp. 10/2024

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SOURCES:

1 U.S. Social Security Administration Fact Sheet, January 2021.

2 Individual disability income products underwritten and issued by Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America (BLICOA), Pittsfield, MA. BLICOA is a wholly owned stock subsidiary of and administrator for The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), New York, NY or provided by Guardian. Product provisions and availability may vary by state.

3 Whole life insurance is intended to provide death benefit protection for an individual’s entire life. With payment of the required guaranteed fixed premiums, you will receive a guaranteed death benefit and guaranteed cash values inside the policy.

4 Some whole life polices do not have cash values in the first two years of the policy and don’t pay a dividend until the policy’s third year. Talk to your financial representative and refer to your individual whole life policy illustration for more information.

5 Policy benefits are reduced by any outstanding loan or loan interest and/or withdrawals. Dividends, if any, are affected by policy loans and loan interest. Withdrawals above the cost basis may result in taxable ordinary income. If the policy lapses, or is surrendered, any outstanding loans considered gain in the policy may be subject to ordinary income taxes. If the policy is a Modified Endowment Contract (MEC), loans are treated like withdrawals, but as gain first, subject to ordinary income taxes. If the policy owner is under 59½, any taxable withdrawal may also be subject to a 10% federal tax penalty.

DISCLAIMERS:

The Guardian Network® is a network of preferred providers authorized to offer products of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), New York, NY and its subsidiaries.

Material discussed is meant for general informational purposes only and is not to be construed as tax, legal, or investment advice. Although the information has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, the information should be relied upon only when coordinated with individual professional advice.