27% of households want life insurance, but only 12% actually purchase!

According to a 2007 LIMRA report, 27 percent of households with an income of at least $75,000 said they would buy life insurance in the coming year.* However, past data shows us that only 12 percent of households actually purchased life insurance policies. Why didn’t the other 15 percent buy? Most likely because their agents didn’t call on them to inquire about purchasing insurance. When was the last time you asked your clients to buy? Or have you asked them if they know anyone you can help?

Increasing Use of Home Care in Long-Term Care Insurance Policies

The 2007 Society of Actuaries’ examination of claim experience from 1984-2004, under long-term care insurance policies, shows a significant change in the types of services received as compared with their 2002 report (claims experience 1984-2001). Nursing home only claims dropped from 80% of all claims in the 2002 report to 55% in the current one. Home care only claims increased from 15% in the earlier report to 26% in the current one, while claims with both nursing home and home care rose from 5% to 19% of all claims.
1984-2004 Long-Term Care Intercompany Study
Society of Actuaries
November 2007
http://www.soa.org/research/long-term-care/research-ltc-study-1984.aspx

Trends in Employer-Based Retirement Plans

The number of employment based defined benefit pension plans decreased from about 170,000 with approximately 29 million active participants in 1985 to about 47,000 plans with about 21 million active participants in 2003. Conversely, the number of defined contribution plans increased from over 460,000 with about 33 million active participants in 1985 to over 650,000 with approximately 52 million active participants in 2003.
Employer-Sponsored Health and Retirement Benefits; Efforts to Control Employer Costs and the Impact on Workers
GAOGAO –07-355
March 2007
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07355.pdf

Disability Rates Steadily Declining Among Older Americans

An analysis of data from the National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCNLTCNLTCS) revealed that the prevalence of chronic disability among Americans age 65+ decreased from 26.5% in 1982 to 19% in 2004/2005. Of note is the fact that the rate of decline in the prevalence of disability steadily accelerated over the course of the 22-year study period, going from a low of 0.6% in the years 1982-1984 to a high of 2.2% in the years 1999-2004/05.
Kenneth G. Manton, XiLiang Gu and Vicki L. Lamb
Changes in Chronic Disability from 1982 to 2004/2005 as Measured
by Long-Term Changes in Function and Health in the U.S. Elderly Population
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNANAS)
November 28, 2006
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/103/48/18374

401(k) Options: Encouraging Increased Participation and Saving

Findings from Hewitt’s 2007 Trends and Experience in 401(k) Plans survey indicate that automatic enrollment is on the rise, with the percentage of respondents automatically enrolling employees in their 401(k) plan almost doubling since 2005, going from 19% to 34% in 2007. Additionally, employers offering an automatic contribution increase option went from 9% in 2005 to 35% in 2007.
Trends and Experience in 401(k) Plans 2007
Hewitt Associates LLCLLC
November 2007
http://www.hewittassociates.com/_MetaBasicCMAssetCache_/Assets/Articles/401kHI07.pdf

IRA: PLR 200802008* Inadvertently almost caused the Termination of S Corporation

Background:

An S corporation is a regular corporation that has elected a special tax status for federal income tax purposes. Rather than being taxed at the entity level, all items of income and deduction of S corporation are taxed at the shareholder level. (In effect, these items “flow through” to the shareholders.) “S” status is a privilege, and in order to maintain it, the corporation and shareholders must continue to meet stringent requirements.

In the facts of PLR 200802008*, S corp shares were issued to an individual retirement account (IRA) for the benefit of shareholder A. While certain qualified plans are permissible shareholders of S corps, an IRA is not a permissible shareholder. After a period of time, the shareholder (A) and the corporation realized this error. (The shares were subsequently distributed from the IRA to A.) Technically, the S election was inadvertently terminated at the moment the IRA acquired the shares.

However, under IRC Section 1362(f), the IRS may waive this result if the termination is truly found to be inadvertent. The IRS was willing to treat the corporation as a valid S corp from a stated date going forward, but subject to certain conditions. Two of the conditions were as follows. For the years that the corporation generated a loss, the IRA would be deemed the shareholder. For the years where the corporation generated a gain, A (the individual) would be treated as the shareholder. In short, the IRS was able to impose a kind of “heads I win, tails you lose” tax treatment. The “loss” would not be of significant use to the IRA (because of its tax exempt status) and the “gain” would be attributable to taxable individual (A)!

Significance:

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The annual exclusion is, by law, calculated based on the $10,000 exclusion amount
in 1998, then adjusted annually for inflation (based on the federal inflation rate) in
$1,000 increments. For 2007, the annual gift tax exclusion amount was $12,000, but
the true underlying amount for 2007 was $12,660.

The federal inflation rate for the 2008 values was announced at 2.3%, which makes the underlying amount for 2008 equal to $12,951. Therefore, because the underlying amount is less than $13,000 the annual gift tax exclusion for 2008 will remain $12,000.

So thanks to low inflation and a mere $9 shortfall, the entire nation loses out on the
ability to make an additional $1,000 of allowable annual exclusion gifts per donee in
2008. This is a rare occasion where a low inflation environment is not a good thing!