Supreme Court Ruling: The Hidden Risks in Life-Insurance Buy-Sell Agreements
Big Picture Retirement®
Devin Carroll
4.7 • 546 Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A recent Supreme Court decision in Connelly v. United States has sent shockwaves through closely held businesses employing life-insurance-funded redemption-type buy-sell agreements. In this episode, we break down the case, the tax implications, and why the IRS may not respect your agreed-upon valuation. Discover why it's critical to review and, if necessary, restructure your buy-sell agreements to avoid unexpected estate tax burdens. We'll explore alternatives like cross-purchase agreements and address key considerations for life insurance ownership. Don't miss this discussion for business owners and advisors alike!
If you're thinking, "I love the Big Picture Retirement podcast!" please consider rating and reviewing this show! This helps us support more people -- just like you -- move toward a confident retirement. Just scroll down to the "ratings and reviews" section, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let us know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. We add new content every week, and if you're not following, you'll likely miss out. Follow now!
Don't miss the Big Picture Retirement Planning Cheat Sheet. We've distilled the essential brackets, thresholds, and rules of retirement into an easy-to-digest, three-page summary. https://www.carrolladvisory.com/pl/2148282517
Want to ask Devin or John your question? Just visit https://www.bigpictureretirement.com/ and click on the "Ask A Question" menu selection.
Although this show does not provide specific tax, legal, or financial advice, you can engage Devin or John through their individual firms.
Contact Devin's team at https://carrolladvisory.co/podcast1
Contact John's team at https://www.rossandshoalmire.com/
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Big Picture Retirement Show does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. |
| 0:04.3 | Listeners are encouraged to seek out their own advisors in these areas. |
| 0:10.5 | Hey, everyone, welcome to the Big Picture Retirement Show. |
| 0:13.2 | I'm your host, Devin, joined by my co-host, John K. Ross. |
| 0:17.3 | Howdy. |
| 0:24.9 | Okay. Ross. Howdy. John, we've got a lot of clients, |
| 0:26.8 | are a lot of listeners that are business owners. |
| 0:29.4 | And clients. |
| 0:30.0 | Sorry, that goes. |
| 0:30.8 | Oh, yeah, for sure. |
| 0:31.8 | But we've got a lot of listeners who are business owners. |
| 0:33.5 | And even if you're not necessarily a business owner today. |
| 0:38.2 | I mean, for example, |
| 0:45.8 | some recent clients and one of their kids, husband, so their son-in-law, had started a successful business, but, or he was going to start a successful business and he asked |
| 0:52.5 | the, he asked his in-laws if they would be interested in making an initial |
| 0:56.9 | capital contribution in return for some equity in this company. And they did. And they put in, |
| 1:02.6 | I don't know, they put in a hundred thousand bucks and two or three years later. And just their |
| 1:09.4 | share of it is kicking off a million dollars in revenue. |
| 1:13.6 | Oh, wow. Sounds like that was a success. It was. You know, when hospitals, you know, hospitals have |
| 1:19.4 | MRI machines, right? You tried to get an MRI recently? I have not. I've never had an MRI. |
| 1:24.2 | Well, I've had a couple. And getting all of that through with your insurance and everything is, you'd generally rather |
| 1:30.7 | have smallpox than try to navigate through that system. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Devin Carroll, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Devin Carroll and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.