Two Everyday Tax-Favored Assets

Like every physician we have ever worked with, including many in aesthetic medicine, you likely want to reduce your taxes as much as legally permissible. While most physicians, in our experience, consider tax reduction as their #1 or #2 financial concern, few take full advantage of the two commonplace assets that have enjoyed the most advantageous tax treatment under our tax code for decades – real estate and permanent life insurance.

How Real Estate and Permanent Life Insurance Are Similar Tax-Wise

In our books and lectures, we discuss the similarity of real estate and cash value life insurance from a tax perspective.  Our tax code may change at any time, however, both have enjoyed superior tax treatment over recent decades.

With real estate, you can write off depreciation on business real estate, deduct interest payments on home mortgages within limits, write off local property taxes against your federal taxes, and enjoy up to a $500,000 capital gains exemption on the sale of the primary home (for a married couple filing jointly), among other benefits.

Additionally, with permanent life insurance (also called “cash value” insurance), you can enjoy tax-deferred growth of gains within the policy, and if managed correctly, access such value tax-free in retirement. In addition, policy death benefits generally pay to beneficiaries income tax-free and — for those focused on estate planning — you can even structure the death benefits to pay estate tax-free within certain types of trusts.

Further, both asset classes have enjoyed a very powerful tax benefit that few others are afforded. This is the ability to move from one piece of real estate/life policy to another using a tax-free like-kind exchange. For real estate, these exchanges are controlled under tax code section 1031; for life insurance, 1035.

How Real Estate and Permanent Life Insurance Are Similar as Investments

Interestingly, from an investment and asset class perspective, these two assets are also relatively long-term. You may have heard that, in order not to get burned by having to sell real estate in a down market cycle, you should expect to hold a property for at least ten years, as a rule of thumb.  The same time period would also apply well to cash value insurance, as that is around the time where the tax benefits begin to far outweigh the upfront costs.

Most Physicians Utilize Only One Tax-Favored Asset Well

Not surprisingly, most physicians we have worked with over the years have utilized real estate as a significant part of their balance sheet. This is not surprising, as nearly all physicians own a home and it is often one of the most valuable assets they own. Further, many practices purchase real estate to house their practice, rather than renting for years on end. Moreover, some physicians own second homes, rental properties, and even raw land.  It is typical for physicians we consult with to have anywhere from 20-50 percent of their net worth tied up in real estate. Over the years, they have taken full advantage of some real estate tax benefits – most notably the interest deductions and property tax write-offs. Fewer utilized depreciation benefits, and still fewer, the like-kind exchange tax opportunities.

Moreover, relatively few physicians have taken significant advantage of the tax benefits of cash value insurance — despite their interest in building tax-favored wealth for retirement. While we do encounter some doctors with substantial cash value policies that have become key assets for their retirement, most have relatively little, if any at all, invested in this asset class. This is too bad, as the tax-free growth and access of such an asset class fits well within a long-term “tax diversification” strategy for most high net worth clients. Let’s look at an example of how this can work.

Case Study: The Power of Tax Advantages Within Cash Value Insurance 

Dermatologist Dan is a 45-year-old in good health who wants to invest in either a taxable mutual fund or a cash value insurance policy for his retirement. Keeping rates of return equal at 6.45% annually, Dan wants to see what relative advantages the life policy will produce due to its favorable tax treatment.

Let’s assume Dan were to invest $25,000 per year for 10 years before retirement and then withdraw funds from ages 65 to 84.  Let’s also assume Dan’s tax rate on investments is 31% (half coming from long-term gains and dividends, half from short-term gains, plus 6 percent state tax).

With these assumptions, if Dan invests in mutual funds on a taxable basis, he will be able to withdraw $28,477 per year after taxes. If he invests in cash value life insurance, he will withdraw $48,343 per year (no taxes on policy withdrawals of basis and loans), and will still have over $525,000 of life insurance death benefit protection. This is a substantial difference based primarily on the tax treatment of the cash value policy.

Conclusion

Real estate and cash value life insurance are two everyday asset classes that every physician can leverage in their long-term tax planning. We encourage you to explore both and see how they may help you achieve your long-term financial goals.

SPECIAL OFFERS: To receive free hard copies of Wealth Management Made Simple and For Doctors Only: A Guide to Working Less and Building More, please call 877-656-4362. Visit www.ojmbookstore.com and enter promotional code SHORR01 for a free ebook download of these books for your Kindle or iPad.

David B. Mandell, JD, MBA, is an attorney, consultant and author of more than a dozen books for doctors, including For Doctors Only and Wealth

Management Made Simple. He is a principal of the wealth management firm OJM Group www.ojmgroup.com, along with Jason M. O’Dell, MS, CWM, who is also a principal and author. They can be reached at 877-656-4362 or mandell@ojmgroup.com.

Disclosure:

OJM Group, LLC. (“OJM”) is an SEC registered investment adviser with its principal place of business in the State of Ohio. OJM and its representatives are in compliance with the current notice filing and registration requirements imposed upon registered investment advisers by those states in which OJM maintains clients. OJM may only transact business in those states in which it is registered, or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration requirements. For information pertaining to the registration status of OJM, please contact OJM or refer to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure web site www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

For additional information about OJM, including fees and services, send for our disclosure brochure as set forth on Form ADV using the contact information herein.  Please read the disclosure statement carefully before you invest or send money.

This article contains general information that is not suitable for everyone. The information contained herein should not be construed as personalized legal or tax advice. There is no guarantee that the views and opinions expressed in this article will be appropriate for your particular circumstances. Tax law changes frequently, accordingly information presented herein is subject to change without notice. You should seek professional tax and legal advice before implementing any strategy discussed herein.



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