Surprising ways business owners use life insurance.

You know your business inside and out, but do you know all the ways you can use a permanent policy to protect or grow your business? Most think insurance is a policy that pays a death benefit to your loved ones when you die. And they’d be right. But life insurance can also be useful for business owners in ways you may not have considered.

These are a few ways a life policy has proven to help business owners meet challenges and work toward building their business:

Protecting your business against loss

Many business owners know life insurance can protect families if a primary breadwinner dies, but it can also help protect your business if a key employee dies. You may have employees who help drive your organization or bring in crucial sales. What if suddenly they were gone?

Many employers use a life policy to protect their businesses from the loss of a key employee. Key person insurance is a policy where your business is the beneficiary of a death benefit to provide needed income as you make a very difficult transition after losing an important employee.

Securing a loan

One way a business owner can utilize life insurance is to help secure a business loan. Certain banks and lenders may allow you to list life insurance as an asset when being considered for a loan. Other lenders may allow a collateral assignment, where a business owner with a llife policy collaterally assigns the policy to the bank/lender.

If you die, the bank receives the death benefit, potentially covering some, or all, of your loan amount. This can reduce your risk as a borrower and play a role in securing a potentially lower loan interest rate.

Saving for a rainy day

Permanent life insurance policies allow you to build cash value within your policy as you pay premiums. This cash value can serve as a rainy day fund in lean times for your business because you can take out loans from the life insurance policy against that cash value.

There are no credit score worries for your business to qualify for a loan, because the life insurance company will use your cash value as collateral. The loan will likely have a significantly lower interest rate than what you can secure from a bank.

Sweetening the pot for your employees

Many business owners use life insurance as an excellent benefit to offer valuable employees. From Executive Bonus Plans to Split-Dollar Plans, life insurance can be used to recruit, retain and reward valuable employees crucial to the success of your business. And because it’s not a qualified benefit (like a 401k plan), you can determine who is eligible without having to offer to all employees.

Leverage to meet challenges ahead

Many business owners like you have been able to leverage the features and flexibility of life insurance to meet challenges head-on and keep their businesses moving in the right direction. This isn’t a solution you should work out on your own though. Your financial professional can help you determine which life insurance policy could help you meet your specific needs, budget, and circumstances.

  

Life insurance is issued by The Ohio National Life Insurance Company and Ohio National Life Assurance Corporation. Guarantees are based on the claims-paying ability of the issuer. Withdrawals may reduce the death benefit, cash surrender value and any living benefit amount.

Products, product features, and rider availability vary by state. Issuer not licensed to conduct business in NY.

Withdrawals may reduce the death benefit, cash surrender value and any living benefit amount.