Business pays premium, executive gets death benefit — pennies on the dollar of tax exposure.
Employer pays a life insurance premium on a key executive; economic benefit taxed to employee is only the term-equivalent cost (nickel per $1K of coverage at young ages). At death/exit, employer recovers cash value or premiums paid, executive/heirs get the excess death benefit. Modern loan-regime split-dollar (Notice 2002-8) uses AFR-rate loans. Big win for owner-execs of C-corps and closely-held businesses.
Click Generate advisory deep dive for mechanics, IRC citations, a step-by-step execution plan, a worked numeric example on your profile, costs, risks, and this-week actions.
Overfund whole life, borrow against cash value at 5–6%, arbitrage into real estate.
Overfund IUL to MEC line — tax-free retirement income via policy loans.
Wrap hedge funds/PE inside a tax-free life policy — no LTCG, no ordinary income.
Borrow at SOFR+1.5% to pay life insurance premiums, arbitrage against policy crediting.
Business pays deductible premiums to owner-controlled captive — up to $2.85M/yr tax-free receipts.
Layer umbrella and excess policies for $5M–$50M liability coverage at $500–$5K/yr.
Take higher deductibles on rarely-claimed policies; pocket the premium savings.
Company-owned life on a critical exec — cash value grows tax-deferred, death benefit tax-free.