Started By
Message

Kyle Busch loses $10.4m on IUL policies

Posted on 11/4/25 at 7:47 am
Posted by Shepherd88
Member since Dec 2013
4870 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 7:47 am
Have we discussed this one yet?


LINK

quote:

Kyle Busch says he and his wife Samantha lost $10.4 million in 16 months due to a financial scheme involving an insurance policy that they believed would provide them with an annual income of $800,000 after Busch retired from racing.



quote:

Only took a day for an industry insider with access to the IUL illustrations to do a deep dive as to how @KyleBusch lost $8.5m on these IUL policies... High level deets... - 4 IUL @pacificlife PDX/2 policies - Likely $75-100m of death benefit ($62m on 2 policies) - $10.9m of cash premiums paid - 12x (!!!) higher cost of insurance due to being a NASCAR driver - Policy design that didn't leave $1 of commission on the table for Agent Rod Smith - Policy that was designed to lose 90% of its value to policy charges in the first 10 years. - Crediting rate of only 1.5% for 3 years b/c the agent left the cash value in a fixed cash account. - 3 policies lapsed despite $10.9m of premiums paid and a "6.1% policy performance" through 2023 H/T to @lifeproductrev for writing this up and making it public

quote:

LINK

Posted by cgrand
HAMMOND
Member since Oct 2009
46068 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 7:56 am to
greed is undefeated
Posted by GoAwayImBaitn
On an island in the marsh
Member since Jul 2018
2807 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 8:09 am to
Posted by NewIberiaHaircut
Lafayette
Member since May 2013
12282 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 9:53 am to
In the words of Brad Keselowski "Kyle Busch is an arse!"
Posted by Maderan
Member since Feb 2005
867 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 10:32 am to
Thanks, saving this article for when my clients ask about insurance...most insurance sales people are only there to help one person, themselves.
Posted by cgrand
HAMMOND
Member since Oct 2009
46068 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 10:35 am to
quote:

most insurance sales people are only there to help one person, themselves.
no blame to the policy holder looking to arrange a "sure thing" tax advantaged income stream well in excess of market performance with zero risk?
Posted by Maderan
Member since Feb 2005
867 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 10:57 am to
No, as most insurance products are sold like its magic that comes with a guarantee. He certainly didn't go to them and say I want to "arrange a "sure thing" tax advantaged income stream well in excess of market performance with zero risk".

His job was driving cars and he had to rely on trusted advisors to vet these types of things. Turns out the folks he was relying on weren't really looking out for him. Most sophisticated investors can't decipher what is going on in those policies or how they work.

Insurance has its place and can be a tool for the right situation.
Posted by UltimaParadox
North Carolina
Member since Nov 2008
50324 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 11:00 am to
quote:

Thanks, saving this article for when my clients ask about insurance...most insurance sales people are only there to help one person, themselves.


This right here, Whole life basically is just a policy for making insurance money
Posted by GeauxTigers123
Member since Feb 2007
3048 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 11:15 am to
quote:

Whole life basically is just a policy for making insurance money


I mean, there are certain instances where rich people use whole life policies for tax planning.

But I don’t even understand what this article is entirely saying. It sounds like he got caught up in a too good to be true situation.
Posted by tigerfoot
Alexandria
Member since Sep 2006
60497 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 2:01 pm to
Wait a minute. A nascar driver only pays twice the premium?
Posted by turkish
Member since Aug 2016
2243 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 7:16 pm to
How can someone with his resources be so uninformed?
Posted by Contender54
the Enn Oh
Member since Jan 2009
1094 posts
Posted on 11/4/25 at 9:56 pm to
Alright, I'll admit - I had to look up "IUL" policy.


According to Forbes

Guaranteed Universal Life
A GUL policy has a death benefit and premium payments that don’t change over time. Cash value growth may be minimal, but it is usually the cheapest type of universal life insurance.

Indexed Universal Life Insurance
IUL offers the potential to change your death benefit and premiums within certain limits. Cash value is tied to a stock market index, like the S&P 500, or a combination of indexes. Policy fees and charges are often high.

Variable Universal Life Insurance
A VUL policy allows you to change your death benefit and premiums within certain limits. You’ll select sub-accounts for cash value investments, which means you’ll need to actively manage this type of policy.


Can anyone give us more input and discussion on this?
This post was edited on 11/4/25 at 9:58 pm
Posted by BestBanker
Member since Nov 2011
18862 posts
Posted on 11/5/25 at 8:15 am to
My $.02 worth:

GUL is long "term" insurance, with actuarial costs baked in for the life of the contract. It is solely death benefit.

All other UL is garbage. Costs are highly adjustable causing premium increases at later policy ages. There is no reasonable mathematical calculation proof of a UL paying income for life as illustrated; maybe a small distribution figure, but increasing cost of the policies must be adhered and premium must be paid.

(I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.)
Posted by La Place Mike
West Florida Republic
Member since Jan 2004
30834 posts
Posted on 11/5/25 at 4:03 pm to
The article isn't very informative I would like to know more but it sounds like the agent ginned up an illustration and straight up committed fraud.
Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
23248 posts
Posted on 11/6/25 at 6:51 am to
quote:

Wait a minute. A nascar driver only pays twice the premium?


I’m seeing 12x?

If I’m reading that right, the agent didn’t pay his premiums? Is that correct? So what did the agent take the money and run? Is that not theft? What am I missing here?

I’m going to assume this is 10% or less of his net worth? So he was basically just diversifying?

ETA: lol, of course he did. This actually is fairly low I believe in regards to % commission

“The lawsuit also names Pacific Life agent Rodney A. Smith for steering the Buschs into an unsustainable, high-risk product, along with charging an up-front 35% commission they were unaware of.“
This post was edited on 11/6/25 at 7:01 am
Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
23248 posts
Posted on 11/6/25 at 6:57 am to
“Busch said he was told that if he paid a million dollars for five years, he would be able to take out $800,000 a year once he turned 52. “

I’m confused on where the 10.4 mil came from? He originally paid $5 mil, 5 installments of $1 mil.

Posted by SquatchDawg
Cohutta Wilderness
Member since Sep 2012
18842 posts
Posted on 11/6/25 at 6:58 am to
IIrC the whole concept is to overpay the premium to juice the cash value (money in excess of what’s needed for the life benefit) and that can be invested in an index fund to grow. Future premiums can come out of that so you don’t have to pay annually.

I’ve looked at this from a few different directions and the math never works out vs just investing yourself in an index other than the tax advantages. Sounds like agent did his math wrong and is now staring down the barrel of a big E&O suit.
Posted by SquatchDawg
Cohutta Wilderness
Member since Sep 2012
18842 posts
Posted on 11/6/25 at 7:00 am to
The agent probably used some aggressive return percentage on the cash value that never materialized after all of the front loaded fees.
Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
23248 posts
Posted on 11/6/25 at 7:12 am to
quote:

The agent probably used some aggressive return percentage on the cash value that never materialized after all of the front loaded fees.


The insurance companies probably assume what like a 4% return to payout ? I wouldn’t doubt the agent showed an 8-10% return.

So they take out their 35% commission and another probably 10-20% in fees and ‘expenses’. Oh yeah there is the insurance aspect here. Then likely run the numbers on basically 50% of his money?

So there’s 0% chance if he thought he could invest $3 mil or so he would ever get $800k return anytime soon, that would have taken 30 years to accumulate enough value.

Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
23248 posts
Posted on 11/6/25 at 7:13 am to
quote:

IIrC the whole concept is to overpay the premium to juice the cash value (money in excess of what’s needed for the life benefit) and that can be invested in an index fund to grow. Future premiums can come out of that so you don’t have to pay annually.


Correct, and you also get the “insurance” value which at death is tax free.
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 2Next pagelast page

Back to top
logoFollow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News
Follow us on X, Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates on LSU Football and Recruiting.

FacebookXInstagram