Buy-sell funding, key person coverage, SBA loan collateral, executive retention — the business owner's life insurance toolkit.

If you own a business, life insurance isn't one product — it's a toolkit. After 30+ years working with Houston-area owners, these are the four tools I see change outcomes.

  1. Buy-sell funding: keep the business in the right hands. When a co-owner dies, their share usually passes to their family. A buy-sell agreement funded by life insurance gives the surviving owners cash to buy the share at a pre-agreed price.
  2. Key person coverage: insure the irreplaceable. Some businesses have one person whose loss would stagger revenue. Key person coverage pays the business itself, buying time and money to recruit, retrain, and reassure lenders and clients.
  3. Loan collateral: the policy that helps you borrow. SBA lenders frequently require life insurance on the owner as a loan condition, assigned to the lender.
  4. Reward and keep your best people. Executive bonus arrangements use life insurance to reward key employees — golden handcuffs get a friendlier name.

Owner to owner: these tools interact with taxes and agreements, so they're built with your CPA and attorney at the table. If your current coverage was set up as "just a death benefit," a 30-minute review may surprise you: 713-498-6800.