Seniors who need cash in the midst of the recession may want to consider selling their life insurance policies, some financial advisors say.
“Your life insurance policy could be your financial lifesaver,” said Susan Bruno of Beacon Wealth in Connecticut. Bruno, a certified financial planner and accountant, wrote about the sales, called life settlements, for the Journal of Accountancy earlier this year.
The idea isn’t new, but the strategy could be particularly useful now, when policy holders may find paying insurance premiums are an expense they can’t afford or that they don’t have any other financial resources that can easily be turned into cash.
The popularity of life settlements has been growing since before the recession. According to the Insurance Studies Institute, the market grew from an estimated $2 billion in the face value of policies sold 2002 to an estimated $12 billion in 2007, and by 2017, the market is expected to reach $31 billion.
The institute is in the midst of a study on the volume of life settlement sales. Even without specific numbers, “we do …
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