Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders, MBA - Interview with Russell Thompson with H&R Insurance and Financial Services-How Life

Episode Date: May 15, 2026

Russell brings a unique combination of market insight, relentless work ethic, and a passion for education to his role as a financial advisor. With a deep understanding of market cycles and a commitment to going above and beyond for his clients, he is uniquely positioned to help business owners, individuals, and families pursue and protect their financial goals with confidence. In 2014, after a 24-year career in industrial construction and professional MMA fighting, Russell made a pivotal shift into the financial services industry. is decision was driven by a personal realization: many of his business owner friends and family were unprepared for the financial risks that could erode a lifetime of hard work and asset accumulation. Since then, he has developed and refined a comprehensive planning process designed to help clients set clear goals, uncover potential risks, and implement personalized strategies to protect and grow their wealth. Russell lives in Daytona Beach, where he enjoys an active lifestyle that includes weightlifting, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, golf, and time at the beach. He’s also passionate about motorcycles and regularly attends local biking events and live music venues.Learn More: Email: [e-mail] or www.hr-ifs.comSecurities offered through Regulus Financial Group, LLC, Member FINRA /SIPC. Advisory services offered through Regal Investment Advisors, LLC an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Regal Financial Group, Regal Investment Advisors and Regulus Financial Group are affiliated entities. Registration with the SEC does not imply any level of skill or training.Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-russell-thompson-with-hr-insurance-and-financial-services-how-life-insurance-fits-into-retirement

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of influential entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have with us, Russell Thompson, with H&R Insurance and Financial Services, and we'll be talking about how life insurance fits into retirement. Russell, welcome to the program. Thank you. Hey, so I want to hear all about this because I think

when people hear the word life insurance, they cringe, and I want to hear how it fits into retirement, because that sounds like it's a plan and a strategy. But before we dive into that, give us a little bit of your story and background, and how did you get into the industry? Well, I was in construction for 24 years, and I worked in a steel mill in Northeastern Kentucky for 16 of that, and the writing was kind of on the wall that they were going to shut it down. So I'm, I decided to go ahead and start getting educated in an industry. I had a lot of passion and I had a lot of passion for the stock market. So just doing Google searches kind of led me into how do you get into that industry. And the first step was get licensed to sell oftenchairs. Yeah. So that's how I got into the

entire industry. Yeah, Nate, you know, because sometimes it is, it is just like, hey, I'm going to give it a try, I'm going to see how it goes, and then it just kind of grows on you from there. Yes, and I was fortunate because I actually did both jobs at the same time for about three years until my, I guess son graduated high school and it gave me time to get good at it and learn it without needing the money, actually. Yeah, yeah, that is good. Well, neat. So over time, I'm sure you've, you know, tried some different ways of, you know, let me help my clients accomplish this, that, and the other. And, you know, you're focusing on helping clients retire well. Let's talk about this topic. Life insurance fitting into retirement. You know, like I said in the opening, I feel like a lot of times people hear the word life insurance and they go, oh, yeah, I'm good to go, but really are they? And how does it fit into retirement? So talk a little bit about how someone when they pass away. How does that impact retirement income? Well, the way it impacts retirement income is on the surviving spouse. And I've seen it throughout my life multiple times, but now I have a really good understanding of that impact.

And people just don't think about it. So when one person passes away, there's income that will be lost. And normally the bills don't go down in direct correlation with that income gap. So you have to plan for that. You know, I would agree with that. You know, I don't know your industry, but it sounds logical that you would have to plan for that. But there seems to be like a lot of calculation that would go into that statement, plan for that. So how do you help your clients start thinking through that process of planning for that?

It's educating on that loss of income. So when I first meet with someone and they are planning for retirement, and we're going, okay, okay, who's collecting Social Security, kind of who's the breadwinner, and letting them know that when one person passes, you keep the higher of the two. One of those Social Security benefits will fall off. And it's statistics show that it's often just with Social Security,

anywhere from 25 to 35% of that household income will fall off just in Social Security benefits. this. So that's the starting point of the conversation. You know, I agree with that. And it's like you start getting down into the, you know, the weeds of, okay, how much do I need? And, and that presupposes that you actually need to know how much will you need a retirement? Because if one of the incomes goes away, now we need to close that gap even more. And many times, you can, you can comment on this too. sometimes people don't know how much they need of retirement or it's it's not exactly accurate because they just don't know how do you help them clarify that well and that's a great question

it's easy to establish walking through through someone's plan of how much they need is a household income so it's how much guaranteed income do you have coming in what's your social security and then, you know, your incoming monies, and how much debt do you have when you retire? Are you going to have a mortgage, a car payment? You know, do you plan on traveling? So you're trying to figure out what the expenses are. So when you do that, and they realize, so you're trying to determine, have we put enough back to retire? Yeah.

Will we have to change some things? Will we have to change our lifestyle? And once you establish that, you say, okay, now what happens when the first one of you passes away? What's that look like? Because what you're going to lose according to what you just told me, this is how much income will go away when the first person passes. And that kind of kicks into how does life insurance fit into this? Yeah, because A, do you have enough life? insurance. B, is it the right kind of life insurance? So I think that that's a big piece of that puzzle. So talk a little bit about the types of life insurance. I know that there are, you know,

term, there's permanent, you know, whole life, cash value, all that kind of thing. When you start having that conversation of saying, okay, well, if one of you is deceased before the other, you will have a gap of about X. How do you start calculating the type of insurance? Because, because you know, you got to close that gap somehow. And that's a great point. The thing is most people, when they have lock insurance, they don't really think about how much they have, what type it is. So it's a great point is, will this expire?

Will it go away before you go away? So, and there's tons of different products that fit different, you know, everyone's unique. So one plan won't fit for, everyone. So when you go in, you say, okay, they have term insurance. This will last until I'm 75. You know, that'll carry me out. I will probably pass before that age. Yeah. What if, what if it doesn't? What's that look like? So, you know, and then you have cash value life insurance policy and universal life insurance policies. Everything comes with premium. So term is the

cheapest because life insurance companies are good at evaluating life mortality. So when you get that policy, they have a good idea outside of an accident how long you're going to live. So term means it's going to expire and they think you're going to live longer than that. And premiums are based on that. And then with cash value life insurance policy, policies, those costs more because they know they're paying out the death benefit. Yeah.

As long as you make those premium payments, they're going to pay that debt benefit. And someday you will pass, and they will be on the hook for that amount of money. So that's the reason for the premium difference. And people are living so much longer now. There's tons of stats that show how much longer people are living. So it's one of those where you have to explain to them, here's your situation, what you have. More than likely, this will go away if it's a term. and then that's the part that if they do have turned,

that lasts a little bit longer in life, now maybe when that expires, you're uninsurable or it costs so much you can't afford it. So it's better to do want to have an understanding that. Yeah, and I think that goes into the conversation at a certain age, you know. Okay, you've got a term policy that is 20 years, you got it five years ago, you're this age, that means when it expires,

be that age, which means will your health be good enough? Will it will the, and then let's look at the premiums. You know, when you're now at your upper ages and getting an insurance policy, that's going to be way more expensive. So I think that when someone looks at it through that lens and goes, well, hey, why don't I do something on the younger side of things when I'm younger and get that permanent, you pick up many benefits, one of which is it can never change because it's permanent.

And then also you don't need to worry about your health. health changing because you don't need to re-up or re-qualify. So that permanent or that cash value has a few of those kind of benefits just right off the bat, right? Right. And then what about when you said cash value? Talk a little bit about that because I think that too many times people hear life insurance and they think, when I die, I get X or my heirs get X.

How does cash value work in a permanent policy? it's a it's a great question so when you build cash value so you're paying in premiums and there's some type of investment instrument inside that policy so as you're paying in premiums that money is growing inside some type of financial investment and you could go for days on what all's inside these but as that accumulates it turns into more than just a debt benefit because you can access that cash through a loan, which makes it tax-free, at some point if you need the money. So you can reach in and borrow some. So if you have an unexpected expense, maybe you need a new roof on your house or your car needs fixed, then you don't want to dip in the savings.

You can actually go to life insurance policy and say, okay, if I have $50,000 cash, I need $10,000, I want to borrow $10,000 from this life insurance policy. And then when you do that, whoever you're speaking with will explain to you the impact that that has on the policy, but that cash is there for you if you do need it. Yeah, and I think that's a lot of times people aren't really aware of, you know, you're paying higher premiums because it's permanent, but the benefits we've talked about, some of the benefits, but you're actually paying more than what the death benefit would require. So you're accumulating. And then maybe even it's tied to some type of a growth index where you're

accumulating cash and you're getting some compounding. So that's huge. And then at that point, it becomes a death benefit and a living benefit as well. Because what you just mentioned about loans, you don't need to die to access or tap into some of the benefits of this policy. Talk a little bit about some of those living benefits. So back to the term life insurance part. Term life insurance is a liability. Meaning you're always going to pay that premium and then it's going to expire. Now, if you live past expiration date of that policy, you know, it's congratulations.

You made it. And then you have no more death benefit. cash value is an asset, these cash value life insurance policies. They have to be designed correctly, for one. So you need to be working with the financial professional that understands that and knows how to design these policies because they're different than just, here's what you pay and here's what you get. There's things you can do there.

But at some point, that cash value inside that policy should be, if designed correctly, more than what you have paid in. So it's not just a bill. And, you know, you're growing a savings account over time. And when you want to access that cash, you do it as a loan, which keeps it tax-free. But there's lots of living benefits, a lot of insurance policies, it turns them into more of a hybrid vehicle for retirement. You know, and I think that, like what you said, about borrowing against that, that's huge.

That's a living benefit. because what if you needed to start a business or sedent your kid to college and you've got enough built up in there, then that could be an option. You know, maybe not every single time do it that way. But those, I think that's interesting when I hear you talk about these kind of things, death benefit versus living or in addition to living benefits. That's pretty big. But talk a little bit about, you said the word tax free.

Talk up a little bit about some of those benefits for the tax-free growth while it's growing. as well as when you pass on and pass it to your errors, what are the ramifications of those distributions in that respect? So life insurance, the death benefit is always tax free. And the distributions, because they are a long. So if you go take a loan out, personal loan at the bank, you don't pay taxes on that loan. You know, it wouldn't make sense.

So life insurance companies are authorized to letting you take, a loan from the policy. And there'll either be an interest rate, which may be a net zero or 0.5%, or some type of design. Different companies offer different things for the loan aspect of it. So as you get into retirement, and if you start this early enough, because it is a long-term play, it takes a while for this cash to accumulate. And like I said, there's different types of policies. policies. But as that accumulates, and you get to a certain point where there's enough cash in it,

you can do what's called an M-Force illustration. And all that means is they're going to say, okay, over the past 15 years since you've had this policy and you paid these premiums, and here's where your cash value is, and here is the performance of the underlying investments inside the policy. You can stop making payments and the performance based off historicals of what you pay and the return will carry the policy, it'll pay for it internally. Or if you want to take 30% of the cash out based off how the policy has historically performed, you never is a loan, but you don't have to pay it back. The performance of the cash just left in there will support that policy with those premiums being paid.

So again, it's one of those where you can pay it back. But when you take, say you have a, hypothetically, a $100,000 death benefit and $30,000 cash, and you pull $10,000 that cash out, it will more than likely drop the death benefit by that $10,000. So there's a lot of things in there you need to understand if you're going to access that cash. But again, it goes back to the original design. Some people design these and pay money. more than what they're supposed to pay into it, more premium, so that the cash grows better and they can actually take more money out later life for retirement purposes or business of ventures. There's all kinds of things people use that cash for.

You know, and again, I think we're circling all around the comparison between a typical what people think of as life insurance like the death benefit. And now we're shining the light on some of the living benefits and how that actually impacts and benefits retirement. Another big hit to retirement is long-term care because I've heard statistically a huge percentage of people will need some type of long-term care and that tends to be pretty expensive. How does a properly structured life insurance contract benefit in that way? Well, there's riders you add on to life insurance policies.

And again, it all depends on the policy, the company, and all that stuff. The rider is like when you buy a car and you start adding things on to it, upgrades. So you're upgrading your life insurance policy so that it does more than just have a debt benefit. So long-term care is probably the most, if not one of the most, overlooked aspects of retirement plan. And there's tons of statistics that go into this as far as how many people will go into long-term care. It's a very high percentage, and the cost is just unbelievable.

It's one of those where you add this rider onto the life insurance policy. And the way it's done is they pull from the death benefit, not the cash value. So if you go into long-term care, the chances are you're going to pass soon. So within like six, six months to a year. Not everyone, but the studies show that that most people do pass within six

months to a year or going in, but the average state for a man in long-term care is two and a half years, and the average stay for a woman is three and a half years. And that's just a broad range outside of the people who do not pass within the first six months to a year. And the cost for long-term care could be upward of $200,000 a year. It just all depends on the facility you go into. So if you fell so many of the activity daily living at ADLs, you qualify. So the same thing for a long-term care policy. You have to qualify for that to pay so that you can't just go into a long-term care facility won't accept you.

But if you meet the qualifications to go into a long-term care facility, after a certain period of time, usually six months, they will start giving you 2 to 4% a month of that death benefit tax free to pay for or help offset or pay for those long-term care needs. So that you're not dipping into savings, IRAs, whatever, that could disrupt the living spouse's income even more. So, like I said, there's a 70% chance of all of us at some point needing long-term care. 70% is a big chance. Wow. And as people are living longer, that number, I can't speak in that close, but, no, it looks like that number is going to go up as people are living longer. people get medications and treatments that have gotten so much better that people are living

way longer than what they did 20 years ago. Life expects he's quite a bit higher. So if you're not prepared for that and you have a spouse that needs long-term care, it has to be paid for somehow. Yeah. So that could drain the rest of your retirement and savings. Sure. So it's, and all you're doing is adding it on as a router to life insurance policy.

And yes, it's lessening the death benefit because it's pulling that monthly. And the way that, and it's also tax for it when they, when this happens, long term care policies are very expensive and if someone passes away, there's no benefit to it at all. And there's not a lot of companies that even write long term care policies anymore. So this is a way. it cover that. So when you look at it, you have help with long-term care, cash value you can access, and then you're offsetting an income gap when someone passes. So it becomes very, very multipurpose and retirement planning. It covers a lot of areas there. Yeah, amazing. Well,

obviously, this is not something you can navigate on your own and someone can't just go Google, it or ask AI, this needs to be something where a professional sits down and structures everything the right way. So if someone is interested in learning a little bit more and reaching out and connecting with you, Russell, what's the best way they can do that? You can email me at Russell at HR-I-F-S.com. As I as in N-M, Frank, F as in Frank, S is in Sierra, or just go to HR-W-H-R-H-R-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-EFFAS. Excellent. Excellent.

Well, Russell, thank you so much for coming on today. It's been a real pleasure chatting with you. Thank you. I appreciate your help. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, visit www. www.

www. Influential EntrepreneursRadroenter.com. You know,