You deserve a bright future. Your belief in yourself and your passion to build a legacy of happiness and success that will echo through generations are powerful motivators. And it’s all paying off. You’re making more money, and, even more importantly, you’re thinking about ways to grow that money into lasting wealth. And that process can require you to think outside the box.

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Perhaps you haven’t thought of life insurance as a way to build wealth. After all, isn’t it there to protect your loved ones in case you pass away — especially suddenly? Well, yes. But it can be much more than that.

Used strategically, life insurance can be a powerful wealth-building tool. You just have to know when it’s time to add it to your overall financial plan.

Some changes to your life are incredibly joyful — like getting married or welcoming a child to the family. Naturally, you want to make sure your loved ones are protected if anything happens to you. A solid life insurance policy can help ensure they can maintain their lifestyle or at least cover essential expenses in your absence.

But life insurance can do more than provide a death benefit. With a whole or universal life insurance policy, you can build cash value on a tax-deferred basis and potentially borrow against that cash value to help fund major goals, such as buying a family home or covering your children’s college tuition.

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Whether you’ve dreamed of opening a comic book store since you were a kid or recently launched a handmade soap company, building a business takes serious commitment — and protection.

That includes getting adequate life insurance coverage for yourself and any partners. With proper life insurance, you can not only protect against the loss of a major stakeholder; you can also help repay any business debts or taxes.

Life insurance can also be used to fund a buy-sell agreement — a legal contract between co-owners that outlines how ownership interests will be transferred in the wake of a major event such as death, disability, or even one owner simply walking away. This kind of planning is essential to ensure business continuity and can prevent disputes among surviving owners or heirs.

You don’t have to be nearing retirement to start your estate planning in earnest. In fact, the sooner you incorporate estate planning into your wealth strategy, the better positioned you’ll be in the long run.