What does $1 million actually cost?
Roughly $114 a month starting at age 5, or about $625 a month starting at 30, using a 6.5% average crediting rate. The start date is doing most of the work.
Can I actually open one of these on my child?
Yes. A parent, grandparent or legal guardian can own a policy on a child. You fund it monthly, the cash value builds for decades, and later you can transfer ownership to the child with the cash value intact.
How much a month does $1 million for my kid take?
Roughly $114 a month from age 5 at a 6.5% average crediting rate. Start the same target at 25 instead and it is about $438 a month. Move the age slider and the calculator prints your figure.
What happens to the policy once they are grown?
Nothing breaks. It stays in force and keeps compounding, and you choose when to sign ownership over, often around college or their first real job. The health class and cost of insurance were locked in while they were young.
What is an IUL in plain English?
Indexed universal life insurance. It is permanent life insurance with a cash value account credited with interest linked to an index such as the S&P 500, subject to a floor and a cap. You are not invested in the market directly and you do not receive dividends.
Can I lose money in one of these?
Index crediting carries a 0% floor, so a falling index does not cut the cash value through index performance. Policy charges still come out every month, and the carrier can change caps and participation rates over time, and a policy that is funded too thinly can lapse. Underfunding is where most of the horror stories start, and that is a design failure rather than a product failure.
Is the income really tax-free?
The honest version is conditional. Income is usually taken as withdrawals up to basis and then policy loans, which are generally not taxable while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract. Let it lapse with a loan outstanding and the tax picture changes, so the design and the ongoing funding matter. Talk to your tax professional.
Can adults do this for themselves?
Yes, and plenty do. Choose Myself at the top and the age slider covers 18 to 40. The monthly figure is larger because there are fewer years left, and everything else works the same.
What happens after I use the calculator?
Whatever you decide. You can save a private link, or join free and the number lands in a dashboard that tracks your pace. From there you can message Sydney Troski, a licensed life and wealth strategist, and book a free 30-minute call. Nobody calls you unless you ask.
Is the membership genuinely free?
Yes. No card, no trial that turns into a charge, no fee. The dashboard, community, tools, courses and the 30-minute call cost nothing. Starting a policy is a separate decision you make later, in writing, with a licensed professional.
What is this website exactly?
It is the Head Start calculator and free membership from FamilyFirstPlan.org, built with Sydney Troski, an independent licensed life and wealth strategist in South Carolina. Run a number for your child or yourself, keep it, learn the mechanics, and speak to her when you are ready.
How does a child's policy work mechanically?
An adult with an insurable interest owns the policy and the child is the insured. Part of each payment covers the cost of insurance and policy charges, and the rest builds cash value credited with index-linked interest, subject to a floor and a cap. Insurance on a healthy child is cheap, so more of each dollar goes to cash value. Later the policy can be transferred, and the adult owner can borrow against it in the meantime.
What is the youngest age you can start?
Many carriers will issue a policy on a newborn within the first few weeks, which is why the age slider begins at 0. Your licensed professional confirms the exact minimum for the carrier they recommend. Earlier means a smaller monthly figure for the same target, because time is the cheapest input you have.
Is an IUL better than a 529 for my kid?
They solve different problems. A 529 is built for education and gets penalized on non-qualified withdrawals. Cash value life insurance can be accessed for any purpose at any age through loans and withdrawals, and it carries a death benefit, but it costs more to run. Plenty of families keep both, and Sydney will show the two side by side rather than talk you out of the 529.
What about a custodial account or a Roth for a child instead?
A custodial account legally becomes the child's at 18 or 21 and its growth is taxable along the way. A Roth IRA needs earned income, which most children do not have. A policy has no income requirement and the adult stays in control as owner, but it carries insurance costs a brokerage account does not. Right answer depends on the family, which is what the call is for.
What does $100 a month turn into?
At 6.5% average crediting, $100 a month from age 5 projects to about $884,000 by 65. The same $100 begun at 25 projects to about $228,000. Identical payment, twenty extra years, roughly four times the result.
What crediting rate should I put in the slider?
The default is 6.5%, which sits in the range commonly used for long-run planning. Drag to 4% if you want to see a pessimistic path and 9% if you want the flattering one. Real crediting depends on the carrier, the index strategy, the cap and the participation rate, and the carrier can change the cap and the participation rate over time. Every rate on this page is a non-guaranteed hypothetical.
What are the real risks here?
Charges come out first and hit hardest in the early years. Caps and participation rates trim the good years. Surrender charges usually apply for the first several policy years. Stop paying too early and the policy can lapse, which can create a tax bill. Any professional who lists only the upside is selling, not advising.
Does the calculator subtract policy costs?
No, and it is better to say so plainly. It compounds your monthly amount at the rate you choose until age 65 and nothing else. A carrier illustration includes cost of insurance, premium loads and rider charges, and it will show a lower number. Ask for one on the free call.
Will my child need a medical exam?
Usually not. Children's policies are normally issued on a short health questionnaire. Adult applications may require an exam depending on age, face amount and carrier rules.
Who is allowed to own the policy?
An adult with an insurable interest in the child, so a parent, grandparent or legal guardian. The owner controls payments, loans and beneficiaries, and can transfer ownership to the child later, typically once they are 18.
How many years do I have to keep paying?
That is a design choice. Many families fund heavily for 10 to 20 years and then let the accumulated cash value carry the charges. The calculator assumes payments run to 65 so every scenario is comparable, but a shorter funding window can be designed for you.
Can I change the amount later, or pause?
Yes, within the limits written into the policy and the IRS funding rules. Pay more in a strong year and less in a tight one. The line you cannot cross is leaving too little in the policy to cover its charges.
What is the death benefit actually for?
It pays the beneficiary if the insured dies, generally free of income tax under current law (estate tax can apply to larger estates), which is the protection half of the contract. On a child's policy it also helps protect future insurability: coverage is in place before any later health issue, and some policies let it be increased later without new medical questions.
What do I get with the free membership?
A dashboard holding your plan and your monthly pace, a members-only community, short courses with certificates, a set of money tools, badges and levels, direct messages with a licensed professional, and a free 30-minute strategy call. No card and no fee at any point.
Who is this for, honestly?
Parents and grandparents who want a modest monthly amount to become a real head start, adults starting their own plan, and business owners adding a tax-advantaged bucket alongside what they already have. If you have no emergency fund or you are carrying high-interest debt, say so on the call and Sydney will tell you to fix that first.
Which states can you work in?
Sydney Troski is a licensed life insurance agent, NPN 20887332, licensed in South Carolina, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Virginia. Outside those states she can talk, use the tools with you, and point you to a licensed agent for your state.
Why go with an independent agency?
Independent means she can compare designs across ten carriers instead of fitting you to the one product on the shelf. Different carriers price children, health classes and funding patterns differently, and the gap between them is real money over sixty years.
Are you captive to one insurance company?
No. Sydney Troski is an independent broker with access to ten carriers. If a product does not suit your situation she is free to say so, because her income does not depend on one company's shelf.
How do you get paid?
Through commission from the insurance carrier when a policy is issued, built into the product's pricing rather than billed to you. The calculator, the membership and the strategy call are free and stay free whether or not you buy anything. Ask her what a design pays and she will tell you.
Is this a scam? The internet hates IULs.
The criticism is mostly aimed at how these policies get sold, and a lot of it is fair. Illustrations at flattering rates, thin funding, and buyers who never understood the caps or surrender charges produce the horror stories you have read. The product is legitimate and regulated, and it is wrong for plenty of people. Sydney shows the costs, the caps and the downside before anything else, because a strategy you do not understand is a strategy you will abandon in the first bad year.
I already have a policy. Is it worth reviewing?
Bring the annual statement and the original illustration to the call. Sydney reads what you are actually credited, what the charges are doing and whether the funding still matches the design. Sometimes the answer is that your existing policy is fine and you need nothing new.
Do you meet people in person?
Sydney Troski is based in Boiling Springs, South Carolina, and works with families by phone and video in every state where she is licensed. Book from your dashboard or at her calendar link and pick the time that suits you.
How do I reach an actual human?
Join free and request a call from your dashboard, call or text (740) 424-6884, or email sydneytroski@gmail.com. The first call is thirty minutes, free, with no obligation.
Is 45 too late to start one of these?
It is late, not too late, and the honest trade is a bigger monthly number for a shorter runway. Twenty years of compounding still does real work, and the design matters more at 45 than it does at 25 because you have less time to recover from a thin funding year. If your only goal is income in ten years, say that on the call and Sydney will tell you whether this fits or whether something else does.
IUL or my 401(k) if I want to retire early?
They are not rivals. A 401(k) gives you a deduction now and taxable income later, and pulling from it before 59 and a half normally costs you a 10% penalty on top of the tax. Cash value in a policy is reached through withdrawals to basis and then loans, which are generally not taxable while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract, and there is no age gate. The cost is policy charges and a slower start. Most people who retire early use both, in that order.
How does an IUL compare with a Roth IRA?
A Roth is cheaper to run, simple, and capped by an annual contribution limit and an income limit. A policy has no contribution limit set by the IRS in the same way, adds a death benefit and living benefits, and stays open to you before 59 and a half, but it carries insurance costs and surrender charges in the early years. If you are eligible for a Roth and not funding it, fund it. This is the bucket after that.
How do I actually take income out before 65?
Usually withdrawals up to what you have paid in, then policy loans against the cash value. There is no 59 and a half penalty on that, and loans are generally not taxable while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract. The condition is real: the policy has to keep enough value to cover its charges, so pulling too much too early can lapse it and create a tax bill. That is why the withdrawal schedule gets designed up front, not improvised.
What monthly amount reaches $1 million if I start now?
At a 6.5% average crediting rate to age 65, about $625 a month starting at 30 and about $1,335 a month starting at 40. Same target, ten years, roughly double the payment. Choose Myself, move the age and budget sliders, and the calculator prints your figure rather than ours.
Do I need a medical exam as an adult?
Often yes, and it depends on your age, the face amount and the carrier's rules. Some designs qualify for accelerated underwriting with no exam, others need labs and a paramedical visit. Health class drives the cost of insurance, which drives how much of every payment reaches cash value, so it is worth doing properly.
What are living benefits and do I get them?
Riders that let you access part of the death benefit while you are alive if you are diagnosed with a qualifying chronic, critical or terminal illness. Availability, cost and the exact triggers vary by carrier and by state, and some riders reduce the death benefit when used. Ask for the rider language, not the brochure summary.
What if my employer already matches my 401(k)?
Take the match first. It is an immediate return you will not beat anywhere else, and skipping it to fund a policy is a bad trade Sydney will talk you out of. This belongs to the money left after the match, after your emergency fund, and after any high interest debt is gone.
How much of my monthly budget should go into this?
An amount you can keep paying through a bad year, because consistency is what makes the design work. Many people land somewhere between 10% and 20% of what they save each month, but the right number is whatever survives a job change or a rough quarter. Underfunding is the single most common way these policies fail, so it is better to start smaller and increase later.
