What kind of person will buy a house in America? The first category is ordinary families with mortgages. These people are generally ordinary people who came to work in the United States earlier. They may be engaged in small businesses, and some of them are ordinary wage earners. It may take them a long time to collect enough down payment and repay the loan with part of their salary every month. If the only pillar of the house in the family has an accident and cannot repay the loan as scheduled, then the family will not only face the confiscation of the house by the bank, but also have more difficulties in daily life.
The second category is new/old immigrants with certain savings and assets. These old immigrants may have come to the United States in the 1980s and 1990s and accumulated some capital to invest in real estate. For example, they live on Eighth Avenue in Flushing and Brooklyn. They invested in American real estate in the early days, and with the appreciation of the real estate market in new york, they already own several properties worth millions. Then what risks will they have?
Let me give you an example. A grandmother in her sixties, with three children, owns three properties in the United States, with total assets of100000. So what are the problems facing this family? As I'm sure you've guessed, this is the inheritance tax. In 20 17, the personal inheritance tax exemption is 5.49 million, so the old lady has 45 1000 assets to pay inheritance tax, and the federal inheritance tax rate is as high as 40%. After calculation, the old lady is expected to pay 6.5438+0.804 million inheritance tax. After paying high taxes, there is another problem. How to divide three houses with different values among three children?
In the Chinese community, there are many contradictions and disputes caused by the distribution of real estate, and some even fight between relatives. At this time, life insurance can play a greater role. Take the old lady's house as an example. If he can buy a guarantee of 5.5 million yuan, he can plan 5.5 million yuan outside the inheritance. After the old lady 100 years old, 2 million of the insurance claims can be used to pay the inheritance tax, and the remaining 3.5 million plus 6,543,800,000 can be divided equally among the three children.
The third category is foreigners who buy real estate in the United States (without American identity). Many wealthy foreigners have valuable real estate and other assets in the United States, while foreigners in the United States only enjoy an exemption of $60,000 from inheritance tax. The personal inheritance tax allowance for Americans mentioned earlier is 5.49 million, which is not a little worse.
If domestic parents own a $2 million property in the United States, in case of misfortune, the part of their children studying in the United States that needs to pay inheritance tax is $6.5438 +0.94 million. According to the tax rate of 40%, they have to pay nearly 800,000 inheritance tax. In addition, please note that the estate tax must be paid within a certain period of time, within 9 months. In order to prevent accidental injuries from affecting the future life of family members, life insurance, as a hedging product, is very necessary for families with real estate.
Several basic types of American life insurance
Sally gave us a general introduction to several basic types of life insurance in the United States, and people who don't know anything about insurance can also take this opportunity to sweep their eyes.
$ Term (term life insurance):
The earliest and simplest kind of insurance. As the name implies, this kind of insurance only covers a certain period, such as 10 years, 15 years, 20 years and 30 years. For example, you took out an insurance policy for 10 years, and there was no accident in 10 years. Simply put, people are still alive, and you can't get back the money you paid. If the insured dies within the validity period, the insurance company will pay the insured amount. After the insurance contract expires, the older the insured is, the more expensive the insured amount is.
Advantages: the premium is cheap, but there is no cash value.
Disadvantages: there is no function of saving and investing.
Whole life insurance:
Compared with traditional insurance, it is a classic permanent life insurance. If you buy this insurance, you can guarantee it for life. After paying a fixed insurance premium, the rest of the premium you paid will be converted into cash value. Insurance companies will regularly distribute dividends according to the company's profitability, but the distribution and amount of dividends are not guaranteed. With the extension of time, the cash value in insurance will increase, and it may reach a return of about 3%-4% in a few decades. If the insured wants to surrender early in the first few years, there will be losses.
Advantages: lifetime guarantee, cash value can be used.
Disadvantages: low rate of return and the most expensive premium.
Universal life insurance (universal insurance):
The biggest feature of universal insurance is that the premium can be changed. You can adjust the premium according to your own situation, which is a more flexible insurance. Similar to whole life insurance, both are life-long guarantees. After paying the insurance premium, the premium will be put into another account. Most universal insurance has cash value, that is, payment plus profit MINUS insurance fees and handling fees is cash value. The income of universal insurance is generally linked to the interest rate market.
Advantages: the premium is variable and flexible.
Disadvantages: the income is uncontrollable and uncertain.
Variable universal life insurance (investment universal life insurance):
Investment universal insurance evolved from universal life insurance. The insured has some independent investment accounts and can invest in different funds. Simply put, it is the insured's own investment, in his own hands. Therefore, this product requires a higher investment level for the insured. If you are an investment expert, investment-oriented universal insurance may be a good choice.
Advantages: the investment project is mastered by itself, and the initiative is strong, and the income does not need to be taxed.
Disadvantages: there is no guarantee and a high level of investment is needed.
Indexing universal life insurance:
Exponential universal insurance can be said to be the latest insurance. Using the index of the stock as a reference is not a direct investment in the index. The whole investment is still the responsibility of the insurance company, and the upside of this policy is related to the rise of the index. The investment income of indexed life insurance is linked to the trend of several major indexes-Standard & Poor's 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index; Germany 30DAX index, etc.
Advantages: the cash value is guaranteed and the income is relatively high.
Disadvantages: index trend prediction, uncertain income and high risk.
The above are the basic types of American life insurance, so what kind of insurance is suitable for whom?
focus
For ordinary families with mortgages
If you have a mortgage that needs to be repaid in 30 years, you need to buy at least 30-year $ term, that is, term life insurance. If some people feel that they can't afford the high premium, they can gradually reduce the premium according to the loan amount of the house. This is the cheapest way of life insurance, which can guarantee property ownership. For families with relatively well-off budgets, I hope to accumulate some cash value. In this case, whole life insurance can be considered. Then for some young people with high risk tolerance, it is also a good choice to choose universal insurance and index universal insurance.
For immigrants with multiple properties
Sally Mak suggested that the older people are, the more conservative they should be when investing in insurance. Just like the old lady we mentioned earlier, whole life insurance is a good choice for her. But the premium in whole life insurance is too high, and many people are unwilling to spend so much money. Here, I would like to introduce you to a universal insurance that will not expire. The advantage is that the premium is very low, and the disadvantage is that the cash value is small.
For foreign investors with high net worth income
The assets of these high-income people may be relatively high, and insurance only accounts for a relatively small part of their assets. Therefore, for these people who can bear high risks, index universal insurance is a better choice, and its investment function is also very powerful, which is a very novel form of insurance.
Configuring life insurance is a wealth and life plan that owners can consider. Buy and choose the insurance that suits you reasonably, and the earlier you plan, the more significant the benefits will be. Of course, every family needs to consult a professional wealth planner for more detailed planning.