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Ep. 222 Rethinking Life Insurance with Anna Felix

Let’s talk life insurance but not in the way that you think. It’s actually the perfect asset for female entrepreneurs like you!

Today I’m joined by Anna Felix, a smart money strategist passionate about empowering women to become financially bulletproof. We explore how life insurance can be more than just a safety net – it’s a powerful wealth-building tool for entrepreneurs. Anna and I break down the basics of term and permanent life insurance, discuss living benefits, and share real-world ways insurance can protect and grow your business.

Whether you’re overwhelmed by options or simply unsure where to start, you’ll get practical advice and mindset shifts to help you incorporate life insurance into your financial strategy with confidence.

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Unlocking Wealth: The Transformative Power of Life Insurance for Entrepreneurs

Today we’re diving into a topic that most entrepreneurs either avoid or don’t realize they’re missing out on. Life insurance, but not in the traditional death benefit sense.

We’re talking about using life insurance as a powerful tool for wealth building, business protection, and long term legacy. Whether you’ve been avoiding this conversation, overwhelmed by all the options, or just unsure where to start, today’s episode is going to shift how you see life insurance completely.

I brought in Anna Felix, a California native and smart money strategist. Like so many of us, she wanted to become more financially savvy.

But what she found in her search didn’t feel empowering. So she turned her pain into purpose, diving into the world of wealth strategy and rewriting what financial education could look like.

Now Anna empowers her clients to become financially bulletproof, and I’m so excited to have her join me today to talk about how entrepreneurs can use life insurance not just as protection, but as a tool for building real, lasting wealth.

So let’s get to it.

Reframing Life Insurance for Female Entrepreneurs

This is Money Simplified, the podcast where I help female entrepreneurs go from stress and struggle to unstoppable with money.

Money is more than just budgeting and PNLs, and we’re going to take you through all of it here. We blend proven financial strategy with mindset work and energetic alignment so you can create unstoppable finances, build an unstoppable business, and truly enjoy your unstoppable life.

It’s time to take my wisdom, my expertise to help you simplify money and go beyond the numbers. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka.

Why Life Insurance is More than Just Protection

We’re going to talk about life insurance and life insurance is like such a — I don’t know, passion project. Like, I’m passionate about it.

So I’m kind of excited to geek out about this conversation because I think it’ll be beneficial for the audience to hear it from somebody else.

Different perspective. So to kick us off, why don’t you share a little bit about who you are and how you came to do what you do today?

Anna Felix’s Journey: From Personal Tragedy to Financial Empowerment

Yeah. Awesome. Thank you for having me, Aimee.

So I am a money strategist and I work with women and I help them figure out the best way to plan for their future financially. And I am a product. The product in that I became a widow in 2010 and we had life insurance, but we didn’t have enough.

In general, I just didn’t know how all the financial pieces fit together. And so in that space, we had had a severe car accident. Five years before that had been dealing with a ton of medical issues, brain injuries, like, you name it.

It was a really difficult time. And then after all of that, what kept coming up for me was the financial piece. And so I’m in the industry today because I experienced all of those things, and I do not feel that I was empowered enough to make great decisions before that around money.

And so that is my passion today—helping women not be in that same position.

Because if all that I went through, if the tears and the pain and all of the stress could now help other women not go through that, it would make me feel like that was all for a good purpose.

And so that is what I’m all about.

Addressing Overwhelm: How Life Insurance Fits into Your Business Strategy

I love it. And we had talked before about, you know, I’m the product of the product as well, like that, the passion here, hey, we went through this, and if we can help you be in a better position because of it, that that’s a win for me.

So for so many business owners that I meet, like, we’re already juggling so many different decisions, and then we can talk about how, like, financial decisions.

And we talk here a lot on the podcast and in my programs about, like, the bookkeeping side and the cash flow management and all of the emotional and mental. So how can life insurance and fit into their overall financial strategy without feeling like it’s just one more thing or ending up that we’re like the one day list, Right? Like, I’ll handle that one day.

Exactly. Well, that’s such a great question because as you said, you know, life insurance, it comes with a stigma. People hate to talk about it.

It’s easy to put it off because I think we associate it with death always. What I like to show is that for business owners, this is such an important piece because you are your business and you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow to you.

And chances are good you’re not going to drop dead tomorrow. But you could be in an accident. You could get sick.

You could have some things come out that would really make it difficult for your business to run like you would like it to. And believe it or not, life insurance comes with something called living benefits, and that is the opposite of death, right? You’re living when you get those benefits.

Discovering Living Benefits: Protecting Yourself While Alive

So, you know, and I hate to make it sound so trite, but it. But it’s just I have this conversation so often. So if you get sick, if you have an accident, if something comes up that you’re not going to be able to be in your business for a while.

And we hope that that’s never going to be for an extended time. But it can happen and it has happened to many folks. It happened to me in 2005.

Then you have some benefits within that life insurance policy. They’re called the living benefits. And they allow you to pull from that death benefit that you have and use it while you rely.

So just because I’m like a person that needs to visualize something. So maybe others in your audience do as well.

So let’s say you had a $700,000 death benefit. And in the conversation between your physician and the insurance company, they say, hey, you know, they’re going to be out three or four months. This is the severity of this thing.

It’s worth $100,000. And the company sends you $100,000 check for you to get through that situation. As a business owner. Imagine that.

What would that do for you? If you could like really just concentrate on getting better, recovering from whatever’s happened and have this money to, to use it for whatever you want to. And then the remaining there is remaining for a future time or down the future when needed.

So as a business owner, you got to think, wow, that is huge. Like, and if I didn’t have a policy like that in place, would I be able to just write that a hundred thousand dollars check to myself to get through that? And yeah, we’d like to believe that we could, but keeping it real, probably not.

So that is a huge part of just the day to day thing.

Securing Your Business with Buy-Sell Agreements

Then there’s things like buy-sell agreements. You know, what if something happens to you and you have a business partner and you do pass away and you guys have worked on this business together, all the blood, sweat and tears, and now what are they going to do? They, they need to replace you.

They need, the business needs to continue to operate moving forward without you. That is so much easier done with money that they can use to do that, to search for the right person to figure out what they’re going to do with the business.

And so we love our businesses, they’re our babies too. And you just gotta think about what would be the best thing for everyone involved. For my clients, for my business, for my business owner.

What if you don’t? For my business partner. I mean, and here’s another thing. What if you don’t have a business partner? Some people say, oh well, my spouse will just step in.

They know my business, right? They’ll step in and, and they’ll figure it out. Maybe, maybe not. But if they have some money to help them get through that transition period. That’s going to make a big difference.

Why Modern Financial Security Is About Leverage, Not Just Savings

We could go into, like, a whole side tangent for funny the planning aspect there of, like, will and like, hey, these are other things that we need to be designating. Like, hey, this is what we want to happen with them. Because I’ve heard so many times of people have built these businesses and they pass away and then their loved ones.

Are like, that’s it. And they close the doors. And maybe it was set up that they could have, like, residual income, maybe this. Products like, that they didn’t have to be there for, and they just completely closed the doors.

So if it’s. It’s not necessarily a fun thing to talk about, but it’s something that we definitely need to be mindful of and for our audience, like, talk all the time about, like, we need to create financial security in a way that makes sense in the time that we are living in.

Like, we are in 2025. We are not just stashing six months worth of expenses in a savings account somewhere because it doesn’t make sense with the way that the economy works.

This is one of the most leveraged ways that we can do that because you have assets building, depending how, like, which policies you have and all those things.

The Unique Advantages of Living Benefits and Emotional Decision-Making

But you can have the living benefits in place as that cushion if those things happen.

Like, you’re set up and you still have that security, that peace of mind. All of those things are in place without. Because it’s not doing it out of a space of fear. I used to joke because my background’s in insurance. For the audience who doesn’t listen. I know that we talked about it, Anna, but it was like the curse of the insurance knowledge, right?

Like, you learn all of these things and it was like, oh, my goodness. Like, you go to the extreme.

You’re like, oh, I need all of this, like, to feel like I’m protected. So we gotta wait out, like, that emotional fear wave, really, essentially is what it is. And, like, purchase and make these decisions from a place of stability and security and safety, not out of the fear now.

Yeah, I know for so many people, like, life insurance itself can be, like, overwhelming. And there’s so many different policies out there. You know, term, whole universal. Do you have a quick guide to break down each type and what they might be best for?

I know, like, when I was selling insurance, it was like, okay, we only want to have, like, a hybrid here.

But I’d love to hear, like, your perspective on.

Understanding Term vs. Permanent Life Insurance

Yeah, well, I do try to keep it super simple. And, and you’re right, there’s a ton of different kinds. I have a favorite one that I’ll talk about.

But first of all, for, for the, the sake of just super keeping it simple, there’s two types of insurance. There’s term and there’s permanent. Right? So term is exactly that. If, if you’re trying to figure out how ways to remember this, it’s for a period of time, a term. So it’s 10, 20, 30 years, whatever it is.

So that kind of insurance is, it’s great for you to have. You can get a lot of coverage for a lot less money. Right. And so I like to use it, if we’re not just using it as the sole thing to start off with, as a combination with any other type of insurance, because it does give you, you know, for the next 20 years when I still owe, you know, on my home and I’ve got college education or they’d be nice to have an extra million dollars sitting aside and you know, it’s 120 bucks a month or whatever it is based on your age and your health.

So that’s what that’s about. When it, when that term is over, the insurance company says, congratulations, you outlived your policy. Now you no longer have an insurance coverage. So you either go without at that point or you purchase more at a considerable higher rate.

On the, the other side of that, we have permanent insurance. And as we mentioned, there’s a variety of kinds of them. What I love about permanent insurance is it doesn’t have that go away factor. Right.

So you’re not going to have to worry about, okay, in 20 years, I’m not going to have this coverage anymore. Even though, Austin, 20 years down the line, you’re going to have different responsibilities, children will be older, those type of things. That’s true.

But then there’s other things that you might want to be doing and have that coverage for. So it’s always good if you can. And again, I like to say sometimes a good option is to have a little of both, just depending on the situation.

Indexed Universal Life: A Powerful Tool for Entrepreneurs

But what’s awesome about permanent insurance, aside from the fact that the coverage never goes away and you’ll never have to re qualify, so it doesn’t matter if your health, you know, takes a detour, you’re not going to have to worry about that.

But what I love, and my favorite one, is indexed universal life. And the reason for that is they’re all permanent in the sense that the coverage doesn’t go away.

What really changes is whether you have flexibility of premium and how much and how quickly you can grow money in it. Because here’s the really fun thing that a lot of people don’t know is that you can grow money tax free within a permanent life insurance policy. And you’re smiling because I know you know all this stuff, but I’m also.

Smiling because it’s my best performing asset. Like, it makes me laugh, like people don’t know this, but my life insurance is my best, most consistent performing asset.

Awesome.

Well, thank you for that endorsement. A lot of people don’t realize that that is in fact the case. So that’s what I love about it. As a business owner, you’re putting money away that, you know, like when Covid happened, I had a restaurant owner that had some cash value in his policy that he took out. Instead of waiting for a PPE loan, he built an outside space and by October he paid himself and everybody else was still waiting for the PPE loan.

Like, that’s just a quick example of. As a business owner, it’s amazing to have money over here growing at a good clip. I mean, you know, somewhere between 6 and 8% generally. And then if you need it, don’t have to apply for a loan.

You don’t have to beg and plead. You don’t have to give reasons for why you want to do it. And you just call them up and say, hey, can you send me this amount of money? It’s my money.

That’s why I call it your pay. And it’s a tax free event and it’s amazing.

Customizing Your Financial Plan: Starting Small and Scaling Up

So that is what it. And I, I really like the index because you can use indexes that are tied to the stock market, but you, while you get the growth of those indexes, you never get any of the losses. So that’s another thing. It’s not a zero floor is what we call it.

So unlike a 401k, you cannot lose money in it. Right. So it just makes so much sense.

And what I love to do for business owners is really meet them where they are. Like, you know, if you’re a new business owner and you really like this idea, but you can’t, you know, put a ton towards it. We want to make sure that it makes sense, that it’s, that it’s covering more than the cost of insurance and that there’s actually room to grow.

Because if there isn’t, I’ll tell you, you know, you’re not ready yet. Let’s, let’s get the term and we’ll come back and get this when you’re ready. So it’s all about when you’re ready, when you’re comfortable.

But it also, there’s room for growth and there’s, you know, you can have a second one or a third one later on in your life when your business is doing really good and you can really do something like max funding that we talk about now, you have even greater opportunity.

You don’t have limits like, you know, other plans or like Roth. Roth IRAs are amazing because they’re also tax free, but you can only put so much in a year. And so it’s just another tool in the tool belt to be an amazing business owner and have all these little options available to you when you need them.

Sorry, I get excited, so no apologies needed. That was perfect.

The First Step: Conversation and Information (Not Overwhelm)

So somebody just getting started. This conversation has been, you know, like, mind blowing for them. They’re like, I had no idea. Or maybe they’re not super confident with it yet.

Which, hey, we’ve all been there. No judgment, right. What is the first step that you recommend when it comes to incorporating life insurance really into their financial plan?

Well, I like to just recommend a conversation, a starter conversation where, you know, get your specific questions answered. Because, you know, the thing about today is we have so much information available to us that we just get information overload. And so we might open book, like, let’s have a conversation, get your specific questions answered.

If you’re a reader, I have some books that I recommend that you can go read. If you’re someone that likes to do a lot of research, I can send you there to too.

So I really like to meet people where they’re at because some people, like, they just really need a lot of research and do all that.

We can do that. If you want to read a book about it or several books about it because you’ve never heard of it. And you’re like, how is this possible? Like, this sounds true. I get that all the time.

Like, I’ve never heard about this. You know, I’m. I’m 52. I’m a great business owner that I make great money. How come nobody’s told me this?

Well, I don’t know, but there’s some things out there that, that I can send you to that are not just me telling you that. So kind of meet people where they’re at and get them the type of information that they want, answer those questions, and then we can, you know, dive into, do you want some? And how much do you want? And how can we make it work for you where you’re at.

Moving Forward: Taking Action Beyond Information Overload

Yep. That analysis paralysis with the information overwhelm. That is so true.

Like I had to I chose to redo my framework a couple years ago because I realized I was like there’s a missing piece here. Like this is the integration. This is where we get into momentum.

Like the coaching aspect. We need this part because otherwise we don’t actually do anything with it. We just get stuck in the researching and the information. I will and all those things.

So for that conversation, of course we’ll always have links to if somebody wants to reach out to me, you know my handle is always in there. But how can they connect with you to have that conversation?

So the easiest way is just go to my website. It’s my name annafelix.com you might want to look on LinkedIn as well. Find me there. I post a lot of things. I have some videos. Sometimes people want to just see what you look like when you’re talking and just the type of your personality. So that’s there.

I always have earrings on on my videos. So that’s my thing. And yeah, that would be the two best ways to reach out.

Sounds perfect. I’ll make sure we have the links for both of those in the show.

Notes this conversation is such an important.

Lasting Impact: Elevate Your Financial Power and Mindset

Reminder that true financial power isn’t just about what you earn.

It’s how you protect it, grow it.

And position yourself to create lasting impact. So if the idea of using life insurance as a wealth building tool feels new, intimidating, or maybe a little bit out of reach, you’re not alone.

So often it’s not the strategy that’s missing, it’s it’s the mindset behind it. That’s exactly why I created the Money Mindset Playbook to help you uncover and shift the shift the beliefs that are quietly running your financial decision. It’s your go to resource for rewiring.

Your money story and stepping into your role as a powerful financial leader in your life and business. Grab it now aimeecerka.com/mindset of course that link is hanging out in the show notes for you.

As always, if this episode sparked something for you, take a screenshot, share it on social. Tag me. I’d love to hear what hit home for you at @AimeeCerka on Instagram.

Until next time. You’ve got this. Bye for now.

Thank you so much for listening to Money Simplified. My favorite place to hang out is on Instagram.

You can find me at @AimeeCerka to catch all the behind the scenes of my stories. Send me a message to share your biggest takeaway or just to say hi. I love hearing from podcast listeners.

When you’re ready to take action on your mindset, your money, or the systems behind it all, I’m here for you. Whether you’re snagging a free resource, exploring a mini course, diving into the fundamentals with Money Mastery Academy, getting in depth support inside the Unstoppable Experience, or scheduling a complimentary bookkeeping console to finally get hands on help with your books, your next step is waiting for you.

aimeecerka.com/podcastlinks has all the information, and of course that link is hanging out in the show notes for you.

We’ll see you next time.

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Aimee Cerka
Aimee Cerka

Money Confidence Coach - I make money simple for female business owners. By blending together simple strategies, and mindset work to simplify your money so that you can step into your unstoppable life. It's time to go beyond the numbers, so you can finally embody your ideal life. Click Here to Learn More

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