Retirement income built on Indexed Universal Life.
My New Retirement uses an IUL policy funded for cash value to grow money tax-deferred and give you income you can draw on in retirement. We shape the design around your income, your timeline, and the accounts you already have.
Tax-deferred isn’t the same as income-tax-free.
A traditional 401(k) or IRA lets you skip the tax on the way in. Pre-tax contributions and their growth are then taxed as income when you take them out, at whatever rates apply then, and required minimum distributions start in your 70s whether you need the income or not.
My New Retirement adds a different kind of money to your plan: cash value you can borrow against in retirement, income-tax-free under current law while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract (MEC).
Where tax-deferred accounts stop
- Withdrawals are taxed as income at future rates
- Required minimum distributions start in your 70s
- Annual caps in 2026: $24,500 in employee contributions to a 401(k) and $7,500 to an IRA, plus catch-up amounts at 50 and older (IRS)
- Roth IRA contributions phase out at higher incomes
Fund it, let it grow, draw income.
Three mechanics of an Indexed Universal Life policy do the work.
Fund it for cash value
The policy is designed to build cash value, with flexible premiums within limits. There’s no flat IRS dollar cap like a 401(k) or IRA and no income phase-out; how much you can put in is set by the policy’s death benefit and the federal tax rules for life insurance (IRC 7702 and the MEC limits).
Grow with a floor
Cash value grows tax-deferred, credited based on an index’s performance within a cap (an upper limit the insurer sets and can change) and a 0% floor. Index credits never go below 0%, even when the index falls. Policy charges still come out every year, so cash value can decline in a 0% year.
Draw income through loans
In retirement you borrow against cash value. Under current tax law, loan proceeds aren’t taxable income as long as the policy stays in force and is not a MEC. Loans accrue interest and reduce the death benefit, and there are no required minimum distributions.
One framework, shaped to your stage.
My New Retirement has presentation versions for different starting points. Pick the one closest to you.
Early in your career
Starting young gives cash value the most years to grow.
Watch this versionRaising a family
Retirement income and a death benefit for your family, in one policy.
Watch this versionYou have a workplace plan
How a policy works alongside your 401(k) or 403(b).
Watch this versionSelf-employed or 1099
Retirement income for contractors and business owners without a big company plan.
Watch this versionThe general version
The full My New Retirement walkthrough.
Watch this versionNot sure where to start?
The Strategy Match suggests a framework and version in about a minute.
Take the Strategy MatchPresentations are hosted by Agency Rocket, which shares your name and email with us so we can follow up.
It works with your 401(k), not instead of it.
Most people keep their workplace plan, especially when there’s an employer match, which a policy can’t replicate. My New Retirement adds a different kind of money next to it.
- A different tax treatment in retirement: policy loans that are income-tax-free under current law while the policy stays in force and is not a MEC, next to taxed withdrawals from pre-tax accounts
- No required minimum distributions on cash value, so you decide when, and whether, to draw on it
- A death benefit for your family while the policy stays in force, generally income-tax-free under IRC 101(a) and reduced by any outstanding loans
- Funding beyond qualified-plan caps for people who have outgrown them
Questions we hear about My New Retirement.
Is this an investment?
No. It’s Indexed Universal Life insurance. Cash value is credited based on an index’s performance, but it isn’t invested in the stock market or the index directly.
How does the 0% floor work?
Index credits never go below 0%, even when the index falls. Policy charges still come out every year, so cash value can decline in a 0% year. In strong years, credits are limited by the cap, an upper limit the insurer sets and can change within contract limits.
How is the retirement income income-tax-free?
In retirement you borrow against cash value rather than withdrawing it. Under current tax law, loan proceeds are not taxable income as long as the policy stays in force and is not a MEC. If a policy with outstanding loans lapses or is surrendered, the gain can become taxable, which is why the design and the draw-down plan are built around keeping the policy in force. Loans accrue interest and reduce the death benefit.
Should I stop funding my 401(k)?
Usually not, especially if you get an employer match. Most people keep their workplace plan and add a policy next to it.
What if tax law changes?
The tax treatment of life insurance is written into federal law (IRC 7702, 101(a), and 72(e)), and it can change. When Congress tightened these rules in 1982, 1984, and 1988, existing policies were grandfathered. That’s history, not a promise, and we plan with that in mind.
How is this different from whole life?
IUL has flexible premiums and index-linked credits with more upside potential and more year-to-year variation. Participating whole life has a fixed premium, a guaranteed cash value schedule, and dividends that aren’t guaranteed. See the full comparison.