In this episode of the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily, host Mike Milligan and co‑host Gary discuss how permanent life‑insurance products—especially indexed universal life (IUL) policies—can be leveraged as a versatile retirement tool. They explain that policy cash values can be borrowed against tax‑free, providing an alternative to taxable required minimum distributions. The segment traces the historical origins of life‑insurance tax advantages to the Great Depression, when insurers secured tax‑free loan status from the federal government. They describe "living benefits" that let policyholders access part of the death benefit when diagnosed with critical or chronic illness, turning the policy into a flexible safety net. An anecdote about a rancher illustrates how life insurance can act as an "estate builder on steroids," creating liquidity for heirs and protecting assets from estate taxes. The hosts also highlight that in many states life‑insurance cash values are shielded from creditors and excluded from FAFSA calculations, offering asset‑protection benefits. A brief comparison positions life insurance as a Roth‑IRA‑like vehicle without contribution limits. Throughout, the show intersperses promotional calls‑to‑action (phone numbers, text keywords) and compliance disclosures about One Oak Financial, Advisory Alpha, and licensing. The overall message is that, when properly structured, life insurance can provide tax‑free retirement income, legacy protection, and financial resilience.
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It's Friday. Welcome to the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily with your host, Mike Milligan. We made it through another week, halfway point of January, the first month of 2026. And boy, we have a great topic for you today. And listen to after the segment of the show where I make a very special announcement about forecasting and predictions for 2026. and beyond, and how you can react when Wall Street does you wrong. So life insurance isn't just about the what-ifs. It's one of retirement's most versatile and powerful tools. From tax-free income to legacy planning and long-term care, this financial Swiss Army knife might be the retirement companion you didn't know you needed. See, life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.
John Lennon said that.
So sit back and enjoy this episode or this segment from the One of a Kind Financial Show, where Gary and I break down different types of life insurance, the benefits, and how they should be a part of your plan when you go into retirement.
And who knew, who knew that life insurance has become fun again? Yeah. And we're going to talk about that in today's 3rd segment, tax-free income streams, the coolest trick in the book, Mike.
Yeah. Did you know that certain types of permanent life insurance, like indexed universal life policies, could offer tax-free loans in retirement? While your neighbors stress over taxable required minimum distributions, you could be cruising through retirement with a tax-free income source. This works because of the contractual nature of life insurance. The way a life— when life insurance was built, many people don't realize this about life insurance, but life insurance was built by the wealthy to stay wealthy. If you just look at the history of life insurance.
Yes.
The other thing most people don't realize about life insurance is life insurance got its tax-free nature during and right after the Great Depression. Because when so many other financial institutions were failing, like banks, brokerage companies, Even individual stocks went down as much as 90% during the Great Depression. The companies that had the cash were the insurance companies. And so the insurance companies went to the federal government and asked the federal government, and they really helped bail out the federal government during that time by lending the federal government money. The only thing they asked for the federal government in return was tax-free status of loans. And that's why we have these today. And so tax-free income streams taken out as policy loans allow you to then have that loan inside of the policy paid back with the death benefit when you pass away.
Mm-hmm.
So these are right for people that have— that think they're going to be in a high income tax bracket in retirement, potentially a high tax bracket. That want to have the flexibility to access money no matter what's happened in the stock market, and for people who want to diversify just beyond the typical stocks, bonds, and annuities.
Right. What is the living benefit secret, Mike?
We think of life insurance as something our kids benefit from, but notice, folks, it's not called death insurance. It's called life insurance. Many modern policies include these living benefits for you to use during your life. So that means if you're diagnosed with critical or chronic illness that hinders your activities of daily living, you can access part of that death benefit while you're still alive. It's like turning your safety net into a trampoline to take care of you. Again, why is this available? Because life insurance is a contract. It's built into it. And so retirees use this feature to get to money that otherwise would not be present until their death, to be able to deal with those kind of end-of-life, near-death experiences.
Sure. So that you're not a burden It's also called the estate builder on steroids. Let's talk about that a little bit. What do you mean by that?
This is the one I love, the use of life insurance more than anything else. Remember earlier in the segment, I said that life insurance was built by the wealthy to stay wealthy?
Sure.
There's a story that my good friend and our good friend Tom Hegna says all the time about a rancher who he went out and visited the rancher with a life insurance agent at the time. And the rancher owned just a couple things. He owned cows, he owned land, and that's it. But the value of that was a really excessive number, like an 8-figure number. And when he was sitting there talking to them, they were offering the rancher life insurance as a way to create liquidity for the estate, like a wealth, like a cash infusion into the estate for the beneficiaries. And what they did is the farmer said, the rancher said, I don't want that life insurance. I don't want that.
I don't need it.
And they said, and so this guy, the agent pulled out these 4 little toy cows, right? And he put 'em on the table and he said, listen, when you die, the IRS is going to come take half of this. So he took the 2 cows and said, but he's also going to take half the land. And I can't take half this table right now, but imagine leaving it. leaving your family only half the cows and half this table. He's like, but if you used some of the milk from these cows to get the life insurance, then your family could keep all the cows and the land. And the farmer's like, I get it. I could use some interest. I could use a little bit of what I produce to protect my family at the end of it. And that rancher said, it's better to give away some of the milk than it is to give away the whole cow.
Yeah.
Absolutely. And that's what's the estate builder on steroids. Use interest from your investments to create a wealth floor so that Uncle Sam does not get the inheritance that you want to leave and that is needed for the next generation.
800-748-1838. 800-748-1838. Or text the word ideas to 600, 700. Asset protection in disguise, Mike.
So in many states, life insurance cash values are protected from creditors and lawsuits. And also, by the way, life insurance is also protected against being included on a FAFSA form for those of you who are paying for college and need financial aid. So while other accounts can be exposed, your life insurance is shielded like a financial force field. For retirees specifically, this feature can protect your nest egg from a liability claim that could arise, like maybe you were out driving and you get in a car wreck and you, uh, you know, because you didn't see the stop sign. This just protects you. It protects your legacy. It protects you from financial catastrophe.
A couple of minutes left. The Roth alternative without the rules.
Yeah. Building wealth in a Roth IRA is magical.
All right. Wrap up segment 3 for us, Mike.
Guys, life insurance often gets a bad rap, but And the reason it does is because I'll be perfectly frank with all the listeners of the One of a Kind Financial Show. It's often oversold at the wrong time for the wrong purpose. And when it's really needed, it doesn't have— there's not enough there for the family left behind. See, guys, GoFundMe is not a great look for a family when you pass away. Having life insurance in place is critical to having a wealth floor, a tax strategy, retirement income, an investment, a well-diversified investment portfolio. Long-term care and legacy. Guys, it's like life insurance was built for the one-of-a-kind financial plan. Now, remember, everybody doesn't qualify for all types of insurance. And if you have life insurance in place right now and you haven't had it reviewed, this is a perfect time for you to call. Either you're underinsured and you need some help, or you're overinsured and you need to make sure you have the right insurance. Guys, the one-of-a-kind financial plan comes with a certified financial planner. Our team has over 100 years of experience helping people in the market. We want to build a one-of-a-kind financial plan, but sometimes we have to have these hard conversations about products like life insurance. And we're here to do that from a technical expert level. And at the end result is going to be, you'll have what you need when you need it so you can live a one-of-a-kind life.
800-748-1838, 800-748-1838, or text the word ideas to 600-700.
As we wrap up this week of the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily, I've teased it twice this week, and here is our announcement. I'm going live the week of January 19th multiple times, and in order for you to find out the content of that live event, I need you to text the word news, N-E-W-S, news to 600-700 for your special invitation. I'm going live to break down how Wall Street forecasts dating back to 2020 have gone astray. For instance, in 2022, going into that year, all but 2 major firms were positive on the market, with only 2 firms thinking that the market would actually go down that year. But on average, the forecasters have missed significantly on what's going to happen. So instead of living in the economy, That is forecasted incorrectly more than not, that relies on you, uh, sitting through downs in the market and ups. I want you to be able to take control in your economy. And I'm going to walk through those who are in the financial planning business, a way to, uh, spearhead that. And those who want to know a technique that shows more positive returns, less volatility, and a portfolio that helps you actually sleep at night, I'm going to need you to text NEWS to Uh, 600-700. This has been the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily with your host, Mike Milligan. Gary and I do the One of a Kind Financial Show on the weekends on 2 radio stations local in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and on our AM partner in Odessa, Midland, Texas. It's strong. It's streamed live or it's streamed on rewind on all the major media podcast networks. And the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily is your snippet of that. This is for educational use only. Should not be used to make investment decisions or financial planning decisions without first consulting a licensed financial professional. If you'd like to reach out to One Oak Financial, you have been given opportunities during this podcast to do that. Mike is an investment advisory representative with Advisory Alpha LLC. Ideas by Mike, doing business as One Oak Financial, provides coaching, education, and financial services and is unaffiliated with Advisory Alpha LLC. Mike holds license with the Securities and Exchange Commission and insurance— insurance commissions around the whole nation. For more information, visit www.oneoakfinancial.com. That's the number oneoakfinancial.com. For more information on our team at Advisory Alpha, go to advisoryalpha.com. And, uh, for more information on Mike and his affiliation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, please go to BrokerCheck.
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