Using Life Insurance as a Tool to Create Multi-Generational Wealth

This post was made in collaboration with Life Happens. All opinions, images and content are my own.

When I think about my legacy and what will be left on this earth when I am gone, several things come to mind. I think about my artwork in homes across the country. I think about all the students I worked with over a 13-year span in the hope that I made a lasting impact on their lives. But more than anything, I think about my own children. I think about how I want to ensure that they are set up in the best possible way to succeed in life when I’m gone. And beyond that, I think about their children being set up as well. I think about building multi-generational wealth.

Lennox (our toddler) standing on a chair holding onto his GGMa’s finger while Maddox (our baby) sits relaxed in her lap.

When both of my parents’ birth parents passed, my brother and I did not receive any inheritance.  None of them had any monetary gifts or assets for their kids or grandkids, except my paternal grandfather who left his home to his eldest son, who gave that home to his youngest son. Knowing that I want to do more for my lineage, it made me wonder how my mom was set up. Earlier this year I decided to sit down with her to discuss her estate planning. I inquired about retirement accounts, investments, life insurance policies and learned she had only a retirement account and one small policy through her employer that wasn’t even a quarter of her annual income. I shared with her that as an easy rule of thumb, “experts recommend having life insurance that equals between 10 to 15 times your gross income.” (Life Happens) She was only concerned with having enough to pay off her credit card debt and fund her funeral. Many people see life insurance as my mom did; they make sure all basic needs are taken care of for when they pass, but aren’t considering future generations, or the impact that building generational wealth can have on their families.

Maddox sitting in his big brother’s lap, staring up into his eyes as GGMa looks on in love.

My wife and I have three sons, and I want each of them to receive an inheritance that will benefit and propel them in life. Life insurance is a selfless purchase because it is an investment that does not benefit me but provides a tax-free financial cushion for my beneficiaries when I am gone. With three young children, it makes us feel good to know that our policy could ensure their education if something were to happen to us. In addition to this, it is also important to make sure your beneficiaries are financially literate so that they can sustain and grow their wealth. Of course, I hope to be around for many years to come, to make sure our littles are fully knowledgeable on everything financial and have the best opportunities available to them, but with life insurance we are prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Lennox is leaning in reading the words in the book held by his GGMa.

Life insurance has been an important conversation in our family, and an important purchase for me to transition from thinking about generational wealth to actually building it. If you’re looking to start the conversation with your family, and get unbiased information about life insurance, then the nonprofit organization Life Happens is a great place to start. You can even calculate how much life insurance you might need, directly on Life Happens’ website.

Embracing my grandmother.