FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

At Summerlin Benefits Consulting, we believe financial decisions should begin with education, not pressure. Whether you're preparing for retirement, protecting your family, or planning for the future, we take the time to help you understand your options and make informed decisions with confidence.

Our approach focuses on building long-term relationships and providing personalized guidance tailored to your goals, values, and stage of life. We believe every client deserves clear explanations, thoughtful strategies, and ongoing support from professionals who genuinely care about helping them protect what matters most.

Helping individuals and families navigate important financial decisions with greater clarity and confidence isn't just what we do—it's why we're here.

We suggest that all prospective clients either attend one of our live dinner seminars or watch our webinar. This way you know more about our Green Line Strategy and if it’s a right fit for you before you come in to meet with us.   We can occasionally accommodate smaller, private, group sessions when it makes sense to do so.  Contact Us for more information. 

If our Yulee office is too far, we have 3 other satellite offices to choose from- in Orange Park, in Jacksonville near the St John's Town Center, and in St Simon's Island GA.  All our addresses can be found on our Contact Us page.

Yes.  We encourage spouses and significant others to come together to both the seminar and the appointment. If you have a close friend or relative that you want to bring instead, just let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate you.  Additionally, we do host several Client Bring A Friend events throughout the year so that we can make ourselves available to help your friends and family as well. 

We offer a variety of annuity solutions and have found that Fixed Index Annuities and Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuities (MYGAs) are often appropriate options for many of our clients' retirement goals. We work with highly rated insurance companies and help clients understand which solutions may best align with their individual circumstances.  

We will work with you to help establish which product or products will best help you.   For the most part, we only work with A-Rated companies or better and fully credential each carrier partner to ensure only premier resources for our clients.  

We also try to avoid contracts that will have fees or charges for you.  Whenever possible, we want our clients to keep all of their money for themselves. 

Every client's goals are unique. Our team uses retirement modeling and educational tools to help identify strategies that may align with your income, growth, and legacy objectives. 

Every client receives personalized guidance based on their unique situation and priorities.

We ensure that all products we provide to our clients allow you access to at least 10% of your initial investment per year with no penalties for taking that withdrawal.  This is known as a free withdrawal and is typically granted after your first anniversary, if not sooner. 

Read this blog to learn more about the benefits of a product with a time commitment.

Yes. This is known as a Rollover or Direct Transfer of funds, which is a nontaxable event- even for qualified retirement plans like IRA's, Roth IRA's, 401k's, 403B's, Thrift Savings plans, etc.  Where appropriate, we can also help you conduct a 1035 exchange for many non-qualified retirement plans as well. 

Click here for more information on 401k's. 

In most cases, when named as the primary beneficiary, your legal spouse has the option to transfer ownership to continue the account in their own name.  But these policies can also be paid out in full as a death benefit to any beneficiaries you've named. In many cases, beneficiaries may receive the contract value or other death benefits available under the terms of the annuity contract. Specific provisions vary by product and carrier.

Today's life insurance industry offers uses beyond just a death benefit to your loved ones. Two ways you can use life insurance to enhance your retirement plans are tax-free retirement income and long-term care benefits.  Some clients utilize Indexed universal life (IUL) insurance for one or both of these purposes. Depending on policy design and individual circumstances, certain policies may provide access to accumulated cash value through policy loans or withdrawals that may offer tax advantages.

More information can be found on our Life Insurance page.

A Fixed Index Annuity (FIA) is an insurance product that offers growth potential linked to the performance of a market index without direct participation in the market. Depending on the terms of the contract, these products are designed to help provide greater stability and may include features intended to help reduce exposure to market downturns.

Fixed Index Annuities are insurance products designed to provide stability and principal protection features, subject to the terms of the contract and the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Unlike traditional market investments, Fixed Index Annuities do not directly participate in market gains or losses.

For many individuals approaching or in retirement, these products can help provide greater confidence by reducing exposure to market downturns while still offering the opportunity for growth based on the performance of a market index, subject to the terms and limitations of the contract.

Because every person's goals and circumstances are different, it's important to understand how a particular annuity works and whether it aligns with your overall retirement objectives..

Annuities can offer:

• Predictable lifetime income
• Tax-deferred growth
• Strategies designed to help provide lifetime income and greater confidence about meeting future income needs

They can complement traditional investments by providing income security when market conditions fluctuate.

Annuities can be helpful as you approach retirement or wish to shift from growth to income preservation. The right time depends on your goals, age, and financial situation. A consultation can help determine how an annuity may fit into your strategy.

IUL policies provide both a death benefit and the opportunity to build cash value. The cash value may earn interest based on the performance of a market index and is not directly invested in the market. Policy features are designed to provide downside protection subject to the terms and limitations of the policy.

Yes. Depending on policy performance and individual circumstances, IUL policies can allow you to access accumulated cash value through policy loans or withdrawals (often tax-advantaged) to supplement income in retirement. The death benefit remains in place to help protect your loved ones or transfer wealth.

Life insurance policies typically grow tax-deferred. Policy loans and withdrawals can be accessed tax-advantaged, and death benefits are generally income-tax-free to beneficiaries. Because everyone’s situation differs, we recommend reviewing these options with your tax advisor.

No. Life insurance can serve multiple purposes throughout life: protecting income, funding retirement needs, covering final expenses, or creating a legacy for heirs. Many clients use modern life insurance as part of their overall wealth and retirement strategy.

Integrating tools like Fixed Index Annuities and Indexed Universal Life can help balance growth potential with protection and flexibility. This combination may create more predictable income, and may help provide greater flexibility, support legacy goals, and offer strategies designed to address market uncertainty.