April 2015

The woman, in her early 60s, suffered from dementia and was receiving home care. But her condition was deteriorating and the time for moving her to a nursing home was drawing near.

Her husband was paying the home-care costs out of pocket, but worried that the expense of a nursing home would quickly deplete the $700,000 in joint savings they held outside of qualified retirement accounts. He sought guidance from Carlos Dias, Jr. of Orlando, Fla.-based Excel Tax & Wealth Group, which manages $25 million for 150 clients.

Once their child is born, parents are often bombarded with literature and advertisements touting different methods to save for college. And with the promise of guaranteed rates of return, cash-value life insurance policies are often pushed to eager, college-planning parents.