You’ve crossed the proverbial finish line and are now in retirement. The time you’ve been told you can finally enjoy your savings that you have accumulated. But you also have a goal to leave an inheritance to your descendants and potentially other plans for the estate you have accrued. You can use life insurance as a tool that allows you to both spend more in retirement and leave an inheritance to your descendants, charity, or another priority. Here are two ways you can do this:

1. You can purchase a permanent life insurance policy to leave a fixed amount as a tax-free inheritance.

Purchase a life insurance policy with either a lump sum or a fixed monthly payment and then you have given yourself permission to spend your savings rather than trying to project the amount you will be able to leave as an inheritance without limiting your lifestyle.

2. You can use a life insurance policy to pay estate taxes when you pass away to enable your estate to retain sizable assets instead of having to sell them.

With a potential lowering of the estate tax threshold your estate may owe more taxes. By using life insurance to pay that tax bill, rather than forcing the sale of valuable assets or real estate, you can save a considerable amount of money and pass on more of your assets to the people you want.

In short, when purchasing life insurance, you are really just purchasing future money at a discount. So, when you are planning to leave an inheritance, would you rather pay the full price of that inheritance amount, or a discounted price? Life insurance allows you to leave a large inheritance for a relatively small price, allowing you to spend more money in your retirement without reducing the amount you will leave to your loved ones.