At one of my workplace seminars, I met an executive who said he really liked the presentation and would like to meet with me personally. That was five years ago, when he was 58 years old.

At our first meeting, he said he was going to retire in a couple years. I went through his pension and other financial documents and created a plan for him. He alerted his company to his plans to retire at the age of 60 but was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor two weeks later, before his official last day.

Before the diagnosis, thankfully, we had put some life insurance in place but not all of it, because we were still working through the process. He came back after being diagnosed and said, “Change of plans — they’re giving me two years.”

The client brought in his son, and we worked on estate planning, delving into what we needed to do to take care of his wife. He bought long-term care insurance for her to cover all contingencies. Because she wouldn’t be able to take care of their house, we recommended they sell it and move into a condominium so they could spend more time together instead of mowing the lawn. He also sold his truck, since he wasn’t able to drive anymore.

His son was running an HVAC company and owed his parents $90,000, which they had loaned him to help with the business. They referred their son to me; I got him on a budget and a financial plan, and he has since paid them back completely.

In addition to the long-term care insurance, we’ve placed another, larger whole-life policy for the client’s wife. She’s going to be inheriting a large sum of money from his employer’s life insurance, since it turned out that he was able to continue his life insurance coverage at work as he had not yet officially retired. Eventually, we were able transition the death benefit into this new whole life policy, creating a lasting legacy for the next two generations of the family. These turned out to be just the right strategies.

The couple came by later asking to look at the plan one more time. I brought it up on the screen, which showed they had checked off everything on their checklist. The client asked, “Can you explain to me one more time where this $25,000 life insurance premium payment is coming from?” I explained, “Well, when you’re gone, we’re going to take an extra amount out of your pension, allocate it to your wife, pay the tax in a lower bracket and pay the premium.” He said, “Great, I knew you had a plan. I just needed you to tell it to me one more time.”

The client also asked if there was anything else they could possibly do. I told him I thought we had covered all the bases and asked his wife if I had missed anything. She said no, adding, “I don’t know what we would have done without you; I’m so thankful.”

He got permission to take more money out of his pension at work by officially retiring: $200,000 to deposit into the account. It’s amazing to see a client doing the work — a client for whom I expected to deliver a death-claim check in six months. During a meeting in spring 2024, we all had a big cry and a laugh, and there were big hugs all around. I told them this had better not be the last time I saw them. For the rest of the day, I was on cloud nine because our team did the job that we were supposed to do. And because the clients listened to us, they’re going to be taken care of.

The next call from the family was not a happy one. He passed away last July. Since then, we have been able to capitalize on his group life insurance from work and transition his work pension and holdings into his wife’s name and accounts. Their oldest son and his fiancé are expecting their first child in May, and he has become his mom’s advocate.

Throughout the ordeal, we were able to ensure that his surviving spouse will never be left wanting. Her holdings now exceed $2 million thanks to life insurance proceeds, his pension and our planning. Her income from all sources now is double what she ever expected, and we are now working to establish a family foundation to support various charities in perpetuity and all with the support of her three adult children.

Darren Ulmer is a 16-year MDRT member. Contact him at darren.ulmer@sunlife.com.