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Hedging Your Bets 2011Hedging Your Bets 2011

Life insurance is unique among types of insurance in that it insures against an event (death) that will occur as opposed to an event that may occur. But, although death is a certainty, individuals buy life insurance to hedge against the time when death will occur. It's this focus on timing that makes the death benefit provided by life insurance different from other asset classes. That is, the timing

Richard L. Harris

January 1, 2011

10 Min Read
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Richard L. Harris

Life insurance is unique among types of insurance in that it insures against an event (death) that will occur as opposed to an event that may occur. But, although death is a certainty, individuals buy life insurance to hedge against the time when death will occur. It's this focus on timing that makes the death benefit provided by life insurance different from other asset classes. That is, the timing of death is unrelated to the ups and downs of the economic market and helps to stabilize an individual's portfolio of assets. Given the economic uncertainty we saw in 2010, more and more people are incorporating life insurance into their investment portfolio. But careful management of these policies is required to maximize th...

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About the Author

Richard L. Harris

Greenberg & Rapp Financial Group

Richard L. Harris is the managing member of Richard L. Harris LLC, a life insurance sales and consulting firm devoted to helping the very wealthy and their professional advisors deal with issues regarding life insurance. He works as a back office life insurance expert for many accountants, attorneys, and trust officers. With 40 years experience, Richard is a nationally recognized expert in the very advanced areas of life insurance. He brings together expertise and cutting edge ideas in designing and implementing solutions incorporating life insurance that integrate and address the issues at hand. Apart from acting as a life insurance strategist and purchasing agent for life insurance for the very wealthy, he is often consulted about fixing or improving advanced strategies using life insurance that have become problematic because of legislation, poor performance, or change in circumstances. Richard consults on proposed advanced strategies using life insurance providing second opinions on the viability of the transactions. He also provides litigation support both forensically and strategically and serves as an expert witness regarding sophisticated life insurance transactions. Richard is a graduate of Long Island University where he majored in Accounting and Literature. He holds the professional designations of Chartered Life Underwriter, Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner, and Accredited Estate Planner. He is Chair of the Insurance Committee of Trusts & Estates Magazine, on the Editorial Advisory Board of Wealth Strategies Journal, a Contributing Editor to Private Wealth Magazine and is listed in Who's Who in Finance and Industry. He also serves on the Board of the Northern New Jersey Society of Financial Services Professionals and the Advisory Board of HighCap Financial.