Gary H. called about an existing $3 million insurance policy on his father. He was concerned about the continuing annual premiums of $20,000 in light of the fact that his father, who was about to turn 97, was in “amazingly good” health. He wanted to know if he should cash in the policy for the existing cash surrender value of approximately $1.1 million rather than keep the policy which would terminate with little or no cash value when his father reached 100 years old. We suggested he allow us to look into selling the policy in a “life settlement” transaction. After negotiation with various life settlement “funders,” we were able to obtain a cash settlement of approximately $1.8 million. This was $700,000 over the cash surrender value and approximately $500,000 over the total premiums paid into the policy. In this case, a life settlement transaction turned out to be a life savior!
