You can’t beat the return on investment by a Powerball jackpot winner in Zephyrillis, FL, last May 18– $590.5 million for a $2 lottery ticket. However, if you’re serious about leveraging dollars for your family, a life insurance policy is a far better bet than the lottery.
Sure, the lottery produces a bigger bang for the buck. The latest payout, in fact, was the largest in history. However, your odds on winning big are infinitesimal: one in 175 million for the Powerball jackpot.
With life insurance, in return for a relatively small premium, the policy pays a large benefit to your loved ones if you die within the term of the policy – an event that’s more likely than winning the lottery, (A study for the LIFE Foundation found that the chance of dying after age 25 before reaching normal retirement age is one in six for men and one in nine for women). The average cost of 20-year, $250,000 level-term life coverage for a healthy 30-year-old male comes to about $150 a year, according to LIMRA. Even better, a permanent life policy will provide a guaranteed payout to your beneficiary(ies).
Life payouts are generally tax free, while Uncle Sam will take a healthy 25% cut up front if you take a lottery payout as a lump sum on a lower amount, rather than an annuity. For example, the tax bite would have reduced the Florida Powerball winner’s one-time payout of $371 million to $278 million.
We’d be happy to demonstrate how life insurance can play an essential role in providing financial security for your family.
