Not Your Average Financial Podcast™

Not Your Average Financial Podcast™


Episode 340: Get the Facts on Bank on Yourself® Policy Loans

March 08, 2024

In this episode, we ask:


  • What if you could take real control?
  • How do life insurance policy loans really work?
  • Would you like to hear even more about policy loans in Episode 32?
  • What are some of the misconceptions about policy loans?
  • What about pulling cash from a savings account?
  • Is it scary to request a policy?
  • How does one take a life insurance policy loan exactly?
  • Spoiler alert?
  • How are life insurance policy loans different than bank loans?
  • Who is in control when you take a loan?
  • How do you take your first loan?
  • Is there loan interest?
  • How is it calculated?
  • Is it annually charged?
  • Is it based on policy anniversary year or calendar year?
  • Is interest charged at the end of the year?
  • What is interest charged in arrears?
  • What is the best way to manage policy loans?
  • What about the accrual of interest?
  • When does the interest compound?
  • How about an example?
  • When are your dividends paid?
  • When is the annual premium due (if you are paying annual premiums)?
  • How much interest accrued?
  • What happens if you make no loan repayments?
  • Do you see how using a policy loan allows you to pay a policy loan down faster than another type of loan?
  • Is 5% always, exactly, 5%?
  • What happens if you pay your loan off in a responsible way?
  • What is the real (annual percentage rate) APR?
  • How about another loan example for $10,000?
    • What if you paid a $250/month loan repayment?
    • Would the interest be accruing but not compounding?
    • Would the interest be charged annually in arrears?
    • What if you paid the loan off completely within 4 years?
    • Wouldn’t the total interest be $830.23, with an APR be much less than 5%, closer to 2.08% APR?

  • Is borrowing at 2.08% APR attractive in today’s environment?
  • Is the policy’s cash value still growing, even with the policy loan outstanding (as if you never took a loan)?
  • Isn’t it nice that you’re not snowballing your interest all year long?
  • When do they compound your interest?
  • Don’t you wish that other loans would work this way?
  • Are we even scratching the surface of how cool these policy loans are?
  • What happens if you don’t pay your policy loan at the policy’s anniversary date?
  • When is the interest due?
  • What are the options?
  • What letter does the insurer send regarding the loan?
  • What happens if you ignore the letter?
  • Who is in control?
  • How could you make it so your interest would never compound… ever?
  • How about that advantage?
  • Have you noticed that interest rates are rising?
  • How predictable is life insurance?
  • What will the insurer do with the loan interest rate upon the policy anniversary date?
  • What about simple interest?
  • What about simple interest compounded annually in arrears?
  • What about red tape?
  • Are there prohibited transactions?
  • Are you able to deduct the interest?
  • What about business owned life insurance policies?
  • What are the IRS rules for business owned life insurance policy loan interest deductions?
  • What about an example?
  • Did I pay for that car twice?
  • Would you like to hear Episode 110?
  • Do we often make payments on the other side of a purchase?
  • What happens when we repay the loan?
  • What is it really like to take a policy loan?
  • Can you take a loan online?
  • Do you have to set up a loan repayment?
  • Should you repay your loan over a reasonable amount of time?
  • What would the bank require?
  • Would repaying the policy loans increase the available cash value?
  • Does the cash value grow on a guaranteed basis?
  • What about long term loans?
  • Would you like to hear Episode 87?
  • What about a case studies?
  • What did they do with the inheritance?
  • How did they self finance a construction loan?
  • What about business financing?
  • Would you like to hear Episode 75?
  • Do you understand how policy loans work?
  • What could you do with your policy?
  • Would you like to hear Episode 102?
  • Would you like to hear Episode 110?
  • Would you like to meet with Mark?
  • What about starting small?
  • What does responsible repayment look like?
  • Who needs to hear this?

For our existing clients, please contact our staff with any specific policy loan setup questions. This is what we do! We are happy to help, and we help clients with policy loans all day long. Please call or reach out to us, no question is too small.