What is an insurance review? An insurance review is an independent assessment of your existing life, disability, long-term care, key-person, and liability coverage — evaluating whether your policies are properly structured, adequately funded, and aligned with your current estate plan, business interests, and risk profile.
Insurance is one of the most important — and most frequently mismanaged — parts of a high-net-worth financial plan. Too much coverage wastes money. Too little creates catastrophic risk. The wrong structure can undermine your estate strategy entirely.
We take a plan-first approach: every recommendation starts with your existing coverage and the rest of your plan, so your coverage is right-sized, properly structured, and aligned with everything else we’re doing for you. If we can provide a policy, we tell you how we would be paid before you decide.
How this connects to the rest of your plan
Life insurance interacts with your estate plan. Disability coverage affects your retirement timeline. Long-term care decisions shape how your assets are preserved. We model these interactions together — not in isolation.
What we review
Questions we help you answer
Am I paying for coverage I no longer need?
Would my family or business be protected if something happened tomorrow?
Does my insurance actually work with my estate plan — or against it?
Related Services
Every review starts with the plan, not a product. These are the gaps we find most often:
| Coverage | What we check | Common gaps |
|---|---|---|
| Life insurance | Amount vs. need, term length, ownership, beneficiaries, policy performance | Coverage set years ago; estate named as beneficiary; permanent policies underfunded |
| Disability income | Benefit amount, definition of disability, benefit period, taxability | Group coverage capped well below a high earner’s income; employer-paid benefits are taxable |
| Long-term care | Whether to insure, use a hybrid policy, or self-fund | No plan at all, or a policy whose premiums keep rising |
| Umbrella liability | Limits relative to net worth, rental properties, teen drivers, boards | Limits far below what a lawsuit could reach |
| Home and high-value property | Replacement cost, vacation homes, valuables, ownership by a trust | Second home or trust-owned property not properly listed |
| Key-person and buy-sell | Funding vs. the buy-sell agreement and current business value | Policy amounts that no longer match the business’s worth |
| Term | Permanent (whole, universal) | |
|---|---|---|
| How long it lasts | A set period, such as 10, 20, or 30 years | For life, if properly funded |
| Relative cost | Lowest cost per dollar of coverage | Much higher premiums |
| Cash value | None | Builds cash value that grows tax-deferred |
| Typical use | Replacing income while children are young and debts are high | Estate liquidity, business succession, or lifelong needs |
Most families’ largest need is temporary: income replacement until children are grown and the mortgage is paid. Permanent insurance earns its higher cost when the need is permanent, such as providing cash to pay estate costs or to equalize an inheritance when one child takes over the family business.
A 45-year-old Pennsylvania executive earning $400,000 is married with two young children. A simple needs analysis:
| Need | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pay off the mortgage | $700,000 |
| Fund two children’s college | $300,000 |
| Replace $200,000 a year of family spending for 20 years (present value at 3%) | $2,975,000 |
| Total need | $3,975,000 |
| Less: liquid investments | −$1,200,000 |
| Less: group life insurance through work (2× salary) | −$800,000 |
| Coverage gap | about $2,000,000 |
A 20-year term policy of about $2 million would close the gap through the years the family is most exposed. Two cautions: group coverage usually ends when you leave the employer, and this example ignores Social Security survivor benefits and investment growth. Hypothetical and simplified for illustration.
Disability is the risk high earners most often underinsure. Group policies commonly replace a percentage of salary up to a monthly cap, may exclude bonuses and equity pay, and, when the employer pays the premium, the benefits are taxable. An individual policy with an “own-occupation” definition can fill the gap.
Long-term care can be planned three ways: traditional insurance, a hybrid life or annuity policy with long-term care benefits, or setting aside assets to self-insure. Wealthier families often self-insure, but that choice should be deliberate and modeled against the rest of the plan. Our annuities guide covers hybrid options, and our retirement planning work shows how care costs affect your income plan.
Yes. When a review shows a real need, our advisors can help you obtain coverage through LPL Financial, and they may earn a commission if you buy a policy through them. Every review starts with your existing coverage and your plan, any compensation is disclosed before you decide, and you are free to buy coverage from any agent you choose.
We review life insurance (term and permanent), disability income insurance, long-term care coverage, umbrella and excess liability policies, key-person insurance, and insurance structures tied to buy-sell agreements. Each is evaluated in the context of your broader wealth plan, tax situation, and estate goals.
Insurance needs change at every major milestone — marriage, children, business growth, property acquisition, retirement, and estate changes. At minimum, coverage should be reviewed annually and whenever a significant life or financial event occurs. We build this review into our ongoing planning process.
A common approach is to add up what your family would need, such as paying off debts, funding education, and replacing your contribution to household spending for a set number of years, then subtract the assets and existing coverage already available. For a high earner with young children, the gap can easily run into the millions, which is why term insurance is often used to cover it at a lower cost.
No. Life insurance proceeds paid because of the insured’s death are generally exempt from Pennsylvania inheritance tax. Proceeds can still count toward the federal taxable estate if the insured owned the policy, which is why very large estates sometimes hold policies in an irrevocable life insurance trust.