One of the benefits of being a commercial, office and warehouse developer and landlord in Palm Beach County is that we at Danburg Properties of Boca Raton get to meet thought-leaders in various industries. One such innovator is Ted Bernstein, CEO with Life Insurance Concepts.

A career spent working closely with clients in his insurance business have lent Bernstein key insights into those clients’ life insurance needs.

Most buy life insurance to financially protect their loved ones in the event of early demise. Yet, some policy holders are cautious – even worried. They know a single payout could be spent unwisely, encourage significant – even detrimental – lifestyle changes, and may eventually leave the beneficiary with no long-term financial protection.

So in 2011, Bernstein had an epiphany. The financial markets, stung by the recent recession, were pushing annuities – investments that pay out over time. Meanwhile, families – especially those, like a client with a special needs child – needed more structure in their life insurance benefit needs to ensure long-term sustainability of the death benefits.

Why not design life insurance benefits and give the owner the control to have the proceeds paid like an annuity, he wondered.

So Bernstein and his team drafted a plan, hired an actuarial consulting firm, and then took the product to his major underwriting partners. All embraced the idea of “flexibility” in their life insurance.

The Installment Life Insurance payout now offers an alternative to what historically has been a lump-sum, tax-free payout to beneficiaries. Instead, the policy holder at the time of policy purchase can designate how the money is to be dispersed to beneficiaries. Payouts can vary, from several large payments, to annual installments from five to 30 years.

It’s akin to how some parents may structure estate plans for their children or heirs. If the parents pass away, minor children may receive some money at 18. Graduate college or turn 21, and they get a little more. Complete graduate school or turn 25, and receive another payment.  The advantage Installment Life offers these families is not only principle protection, but either reduced premium costs or increased insurance amounts for the same premiums as a lump-sum payout.

Installment Life Insurance policy benefits can be structured similarly. They also can be designated to pay the policy holder’s family mortgage, or other financial commitments. If the policy owner’s health is good today, he or she can upgrade existing coverage and reduce premium – or increase the amount with the installment option. While many people feel that because they purchased in the past, they missed out. That is never the case, unless their health has changed materially.

“These ‘hybrid’ solutions are only limited by imagination of consumer and company,” Bernstein says. “So policy holders go from being completely handcuffed on one end, to the other end of the spectrum where you have 100 different death benefit structures.”  “We insure nearly every other aspect of our lives:  our health, our homes, our vehicles. Why not protect your life insurance policy from the risks you can’t predict and can’t afford to recover from, especially after you’re gone?”

Installment Life Insurance, which recently was profiled in the Chicago Sun-Times, is only one innovation Bernstein has created since founding Life Insurance Concepts in 2000. The firm since has become a nationally recognized, life insurance practice that provides cutting-edge expertise, such as premium financing and no-load life insurance policies to a clientele who understand and appreciate the value of life insurance in their estate protection and wealth transfer objectives.

In fact, the move to fee-based insurance services is another innovation Bernstein introduced to an industry long tied to commission-based compensation. To him, fee-based compensation is more transparent for the client, resulting in lower premiums, superior cash value growth and no surrender charges.

Bernstein’s team provides counsel and guidance to his clients and their advisors with the inherent challenges they face in designing and monitoring their insurance portfolios. His expertise extends to strategies involving life insurance as well as product selection and construction.

Over the past 40 years, the principals of Life Insurance Concepts have consistently delivered remarkable results to high net worth individuals, families and businesses across the country. These affluent clients demand informed advice concerning their entire insurance portfolio from an organization that strives for client-advisor collaboration. The result is a focus on complex issues involving asset protection, wealth transference and estate planning.

Ever since Bernstein arrived in South Florida in 1996 from Chicago, the Northwestern University graduate has called Danburg Properties of Boca Raton’s Peninsula Corporate Center home. It’s a decades-long relationship between two entrepreneurs where Bernstein appreciates creativity and flexibility.

“We’re a small business, he’s a bigger small business,” Bernstein says. “We like doing business with people like that.”