What happens if you can't afford your whole life insurance premium anymore? It's the most common concern when people design large policies for Infinite Banking: "I don't want to pay this huge premium until I'm 95 years old." The truth is, once you understand what premium is doing for you—building momentum, creating guaranteed growth, and establishing your family banking system—you won't want to stop.
But life happens. Income disruptions, career changes, or simply changing priorities might make you reconsider. That's why understanding your contractual rights matters. There are five distinct options when you can't or won't continue paying premiums, and most people only know about the worst one: surrendering for cash. This episode breaks down all five options, from the contractual non-forfeiture provisions required by state law to the optimal strategy that lets your policy sustain itself. We explain extended term insurance, reduced paid-up insurance, automatic premium loans, and the dividend payment strategy—plus why working with an authorized IBC practitioner ensures you actually have access to these options. The goal isn't to plan your exit from day one, but to understand the full contract you're entering and know you have control no matter what happens.
Chapters:
00:00 - Opening segment
07:00 - Introduction to non-forfeiture options and PUA
10:00 - Four contractual non-forfeiture options overview
11:20 - Cash value refresher
13:00 - Net present value
14:40 - Dave Ramsey's misrepresentation
17:50 - Company exposure and why cash value grows over time
18:55 - Option 1: Cash surrender value (closing the policy)
20:30 - Option 2: Extended term insurance explained
25:45 - Option 3: Automatic premium loan (APL)
27:00 - When APL makes sense: income disruption scenarios
32:00 - Base premium vs. total premium: What you actually need to sustain
35:00 - Option 4: Reduced paid-up insurance (RPU)
36:25 - Why you can't RPU before year seven (MEC rules)
42:15 - How using dividends changes projections
44:50 - Option 5: Using dividends to pay premiums (the optimal strategy)
48:05 - Keeping premium door open
52:00 - Protection and savings before speculation
54:10 - Keeping the wall between savings and investments
56:30 - Final thoughts
Key Takeaways:
- Cash surrender value is not separate from death benefit—it's your equity in the future payment at present value
- There are 5 total options when you can't pay premium: 4 contractual non-forfeiture options plus the dividend strategy
- Cash surrender (Option 1): Walk away with equity, lose all coverage—least recommended option
- Extended term insurance (Option 2): Same death benefit dollar amount, reduced timeframe based on cash value
- Reduced paid-up insurance (Option 3): Same timeframe (whole life), reduced death benefit, no future premiums required
- Automatic premium loan (Option 4): Company loans against cash value to pay base premium automatically
- Dividend payment (Option 5): Use policy dividends to pay base premium—the optimal approach for mature policies
- Not all whole life companies support optimal IBC design—must have PUA riders available
- Work only with Nelson Nash Institute authorized practitioners to ensure proper policy structure
- Goal is never to stop paying premium once you understand what it's doing for your family banking system
- Your whole life policy should be the asset you understand most completely before signing
Got Questions?
Reach out to us at info@remnantfinance.com or book a call at https://remnantfinance.com/calendar !
Visit https://remnantfinance.com for more information
Low Stress Trading: https://remnantfinance.com/options
FOLLOW REMNANT FINANCE
Youtube: @RemnantFinance (https://www.youtube.com/@RemnantFinance )
Facebook: @remnantfinance (https://www.facebook.com/profile.id=61560694316588 )
Twitter: @remnantfinance (https://x.com/remnantfinance )
TikTok: @RemnantFinance
Don't forget to hit LIKE and SUBSCRIBE