We've all heard the old saying about the inevitability of death and taxes. There are trillions of dollars sitting in IRAs, 401ks and other qualified accounts held throughout the United States that have yet to be taxed.



As an incentive to save for retirement, the government gives you a break up front by not taxing the "seed money" or the contributions you make to these plans. But at some point down the line taxes will come due when you start cashing in on what should be the much larger amount of your "harvest money."



And with the record amount of deficit spending by the government currently underway as a result of the financial crisis and other matters, it is important to consider, now rather than later, whether taxes will be higher or lower down the road when you start reaping your harvest for retirement and other life needs.



So in this new economic era where people are giving much more weight to how they are allocated between financial safety and financial exposure, we are aslo hearing alot more discussion about Roth conversions and other tax allocation strategies to get the tax bite out of the way early on and not let it grow into the future where who knows what awaits.



At the end of the day, it's not about how much you make, but how much you get to keep and enjoy during your lifetime and then ultimately pass on to those of your choosing.



Qualified plans are a good source of retirement income; however, as a beneficial transfer vehicle, they are not the most efficient.



If the asset is not needed for income and the goal is to leave it for the kids and grandkids, what took years of hard work and sacrifice to accumulate actually becomes a ticking tax time bomb at the time it is passed on.



There are three main barriers to the growth and transfer of qualified accounts: Required Minimum Distributions, Income Tax and Possible Estate Taxes. If hit twice through income and estate taxes, the legacy benefit could transfer potentially at less than 30 cents on the dollar.



There are more tax-efficient ways with safety for the individual to not only maintain control of who gets the benefit of their life's work, but, at the same time, accumulate cash for their long term needs.



The superior wealth transfer benefits of a life insurance policy are well known. However, not so widely known is how a properly structured form of whole life insurance known as Fixed Indexed Universal life (FIUL) can also offer the following Superior Living Benefits: tax-deferred accumulation of the policy's cash value; tax-free distribution of the accumulated cash value for say college tuition or retirement income needs via policy loans and withdrawls; no income contribution limits; and, throughout the life of the policy, a tax-free death benefit to protect the financial security of your loved ones.



With a FIUL policy, you have the flexibility of growing the cash value by either tying the interest credited to the annual performance of a major market index such as the S&P 500 -- known as the Indexing Method; locking in a competitive guaranteed fixed rate of return which is declared annually; or choosing a percentage allocation between the two crediting methods.



When indexing with a FIUL policy, the allocated portion of your accumulated cash value is never directly invested in the market, and you have up-front, contractual guarantees offered by a wide selection of major insurance companies that will provide, at all times, Safety of Principal, Liquidity and Locked-in Gains as credited.



By the way, these are the very same insurance companies you rely on to insure your health, homes, businesses and automobiles, and, again, your family's financial security in the event of your absence.



Knowing and using the rules to your advantage can yield significant results.



Learn more about how to grow financial independence and security for you and the family.