FINANCIAL EDUCATION
You’ve Maxed Out the Accounts Everyone Talks About.
Here’s the Strategy Built for What Comes Next.
For high-income households who have already maximized their 401(k) and IRA, the Kai-Zen® strategy uses a lending facility to add significantly more funding to a cash-value life insurance policy, creating additional retirement accumulation and protection beyond what your own contributions could build alone.
Once a household reaches a certain income level, the standard advice starts to run out of room. The 401(k) is maxed. The Roth IRA is phased out or maxed. The HSA is maxed. What is left is usually a taxable brokerage account — fully exposed to market risk, and taxed on growth every year it is held.
Kai-Zen® was built to fill that gap. It is a cash-value life insurance strategy that adds a lending facility on top of your own contributions, so more money is working toward your policy’s growth than you contributed alone — without you taking on that debt personally.
It is not for everyone. It is built for households with steady income, a long enough time horizon to let the structure work as designed, and a need for both additional protection and an alternative way to accumulate wealth outside the market.
UNDERSTANDING KAI-ZEN®
How the Strategy Actually Works
Kai-Zen® is an indexed universal life insurance policy — your cash value grows based on the performance of a market index, with a floor that prevents losses from a down market and a cap on the upside. What makes it different is how it is funded.
During the initial contribution period (typically five years), your payments are combined with additional funding arranged through a lending facility connected to the policy.
MORE ACCUMULATION
Lender-provided funding is designed to build meaningfully more cash value over time than a self-funded policy at the same contribution level — with the added funding illustrated for your specific numbers. In individualized program illustrations, this has translated to significantly more retirement income than a traditional 401(k), IRA, or Roth alone.*
MORE PROTECTION
Your policy includes a death benefit, plus living benefit riders that can provide access to funds if you are diagnosed with a qualifying chronic or terminal illness.
TAX-FREE ACCESS
Under IRC Sections 72(e) and 101(a), properly structured policy loans and death benefits are generally income-tax-free, provided the policy remains in force and is not classified as a Modified Endowment Contract under IRC Section 7702A.
The Smart Way to Use Leverage
You have probably used leverage before — a mortgage to buy a home, financing to buy a car. Kai-Zen® applies that same idea to your retirement strategy. Instead of relying only on what you personally contribute, a lending facility adds funding to your policy on top of your own contributions, for the potential to accumulate significantly more, without touching your current cash flow or lifestyle.
Up to 3x More Funding. Significantly More Retirement Income Than a 401(k), IRA, or Roth Alone.*
NO CREDIT CHECKS
Your eligibility is based on the policy and your contributions — not a credit review.
NO LOAN DOCUMENTS
There is no loan paperwork in your name to sign or manage.
NO PERSONAL GUARANTEES
The policy itself secures the funding arrangement, not your personal assets.
NO INTEREST PAYMENTS
You are not billed interest on the leveraged funds — the arrangement is structured through the policy and Master Trust.*
Because the lending facility is tied to the policy itself rather than to you personally, your contribution commitment is limited to the initial funding period defined in your policy illustration. Full access to your policy’s cash value, death benefit, and living benefits becomes available once the associated loan is satisfied under the terms of the Master Trust that governs the program.*
This tends to fit a specific kind of household best: high earners who have already maximized their 401(k) and IRA, business owners looking to diversify outside the market, and anyone who wants meaningfully more protection in place alongside a new way to accumulate wealth.
Kai-Zen® is generally available to applicants between 18 and 65 who are in average or good health, with household income of at least $100,000 and the ability to contribute a minimum of $22,000 a year during the initial funding period.
Is a Leveraged Strategy Right for Your Situation?
Kai-Zen® is not the right fit for every household, but for the right one, it can meaningfully change what retirement and protection look like. Janae and Tony can walk you through how it applies to your specific numbers.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATIONNot sure if you qualify? Take the Financial Safety Scorecard
For Educational Use Only. Not a substitute for professional financial, tax, legal, or insurance advice. Kai-Zen® is a strategy offered through NIW/ilia®; the funding and income comparisons shown are based on program mechanics and individualized illustrations, not guarantees, and depend on continued funding during the initial contribution period, underwriting, and index performance. The lender retains the right to discontinue funding, exit the program, or call the loan under the terms of the Master Trust governing the program. Please consult a qualified tax professional regarding your individual situation.