Educational services providing on-line instruction in the field of financial planning, insurance, and wealth management, delivered via this website.
The LIFT WEALTH STRATEGIES℠ eGuide Library delivers written instruction through this website as thirteen downloadable guides, 142 pages in total. Each guide covers the mechanics of a specific planning problem in plain language. The guides are organized below by who they are written for. Instruction is educational. It is not individualized advice, and no guide recommends a specific product, account, or transaction for any individual reader.
Read this one first. It is the foundation the rest of the library builds on, and it downloads immediately with nothing asked of you.
How life insurance death benefits are structured and how to calculate the coverage a household actually needs, using the DIME framework rather than a rule of thumb.
For federal and state government employees approaching retirement, and anyone facing a pension election. Written by a FAA retiree with over 30 years of service who made these decisions himself.
My own account of what I did with my federal retirement savings after over 30 years with the FAA, and the mechanics of the tools I used. This is a personal narrative describing my own decisions. It is not a recommendation for your situation.
How the joint-and-survivor pension election works, what the reduced payout actually costs over a retirement, and the risks that make this strategy inappropriate for many households.
For business owners, self-employed professionals, and real estate investors who need access to capital without asking a bank for permission.
How business owners use policy cash value as a working capital reserve, what a policy loan costs against a commercial line of credit, and the discipline the approach requires.
How real estate investors finance acquisitions, what each financing tool costs, and how policy cash value functions as a deal fund alongside conventional options.
For anyone who has heard the phrase and wants the actual arithmetic, including where the strategy fails. Also for anyone sitting on a lump sum and deciding where to put it.
The mechanics of borrowing against a max-funded policy: how loans are collateralized, how interest accrues, and the honest arithmetic on what the spread is and is not.
What to understand before deploying a large lump sum, whether from a pension buyout, a property sale, or an inheritance, and how permanent life insurance handles single-premium capital.
For anyone within fifteen years of retirement who wants to understand how retirement income gets taxed, and what an income floor actually costs to build.
Five ways retirement income creates a tax problem, and the three conditions that must hold before any life insurance distribution can be described as tax-free.
How fixed indexed annuities and single premium immediate annuities build a contractual income floor, how each is priced, and where the tradeoffs sit. Annuity guarantees rest on the claims-paying ability of the issuing carrier.
For families thinking about what happens to the people they leave behind, and about what happens if something goes wrong while they are still here.
How wealth transfers to heirs, where traditional plans create tax friction, and how a death benefit changes the transfer equation. Includes inheritance equalization.
How the 2026 tax landscape affects family wealth transfer and where life insurance sits within a broader legacy plan. Structural questions belong with a licensed estate attorney, and this guide says so throughout.
How emergency reserves lose purchasing power in cash, and how policy cash value compares as a liquidity layer, including the real limitations on early access.
For parents and grandparents who have been told a 529 is the only option, and want to see the comparison honestly, including where the 529 is the better tool.
How 529 plans are structured, where their restrictions bite, and how permanent life insurance compares as a college funding vehicle. Includes an honest look at juvenile policies.
These guides are educational. They explain how life insurance and annuity products function. They are written by a licensed life insurance agent within the scope of that license.
They are not individualized advice. No guide in this library recommends a specific product, policy, account, or transaction for any individual reader. Nothing here should be acted on without a personal review of your own circumstances.
They are not legal or tax advice. Carl G. Bullard is not an attorney and not a tax professional. Questions involving trusts, wills, estate structure, or tax filing should be directed to a licensed attorney or CPA in your state.
They are not securities advice. Carl G. Bullard is not a registered investment adviser or registered representative. Nothing in this library is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold, liquidate, or transfer any security, retirement account, or investment, including any 529 plan, IRA, 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or brokerage account. Content describing personal experience with a federal retirement account is a personal account only.
No government affiliation. LIFT Wealth Strategies is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, the Thrift Savings Plan, the Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Aviation Administration, or any U.S. government agency. References to federal service describe the author's own career.
All case studies are hypothetical. Every case study in this library is a hypothetical illustration. Not an actual client. Not a guarantee of results.
Carl G. Bullard spent over 30 years as an FAA Air Traffic Controller. He personally owns nine indexed universal life policies and an annuity, and writes only about strategies he uses himself. He is a licensed life insurance agent, Florida License #W838079, licensed in multiple states, and an independent agent affiliated with Global Financial Impact (GFI).
The library explains how these tools work. A consultation is where we look at whether any of them fit your situation. No cost, no obligation.
BOOK A CONSULTATIONThis is an advertisement. LIFT WEALTH STRATEGIES℠ is a service mark of Carl Bullard; no claim is made to the exclusive right to use WEALTH STRATEGIES apart from the mark as shown.
Carl G. Bullard is a licensed life insurance agent (FL #W838079), licensed in multiple states, and an independent agent with Global Financial Impact (GFI). He is not an attorney, a CPA, or a registered investment adviser. All content is educational, is not individualized financial, legal, tax, or investment advice, and is not a recommendation to transfer any security or retirement account, including a TSP or 401(k).
Life insurance and annuity products are not FDIC insured, not bank guaranteed, and may lose value. Guarantees rest solely on the issuing carrier's claims-paying ability. Coverage is subject to underwriting and is available only where the agent is licensed. Death benefits apply only while the policy is in force and are reduced by any outstanding loan. Tax-free distribution treatment requires that the contract not be a modified endowment contract, that the policy stay in force, and that loans be managed; tax law may change, so consult your own CPA. Caps, participation rates, and spreads are declared by the carrier and may change, and surrender charges apply in the early policy years. Replacing an existing policy or annuity may not be in your best interest and is subject to state replacement regulations. Individual results vary.