Disclaimer: As far as I know, I’m not going to die soon. I’m asking this question in case that changes someday.
So I was just thinking about this and thought it might be a good idea to leave your family some money while fucking over the bank on your way out. The creditors would go after your worthless estate only to find the recently purchased assets are missing, but you’re already dead and can’t be charged with fraud. And if you do some decent opsec, they can’t implicate your family either.
I assume without laundering the money, your family would not be able to use it on anything big. And your available credit wouldn’t be enough to make a massive quality of life improvement for your loved ones. But even if they only spend it on groceries and hobbies for a few years, it would make a nice goodbye gift.
Am I missing anything that makes this a horrible or unacceptably risky idea?
Good point on the life insurance. The way I imagined this situation is that by the time you’d find out you’re dying, it’d be too late to get affordable life insurance that would actually pay out. Wouldn’t it be expensive as hell to try getting life insurance while you’re already dying of a terminal illness? Or god forbid the cause of death is suicide and your family is denied the claim because it’s obvious you only got life insurance for that.
My thinking is that you could buy up the gold bullion on much shorter notice than you could get a life insurance policy, then your family would just take it to various pawn shops to sell it an ounce at a time as money is needed.
I AM NOT A CERTIFIED ESTATE PLANNER OR ACCOUNTANT, THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
In the USA state where I live beneficiaries of a life insurance policy do not have to report it as income on their taxes. Do some research about this for your situation. (I’ve buried two relatives in my lifetime, I’m no expert but I’ve had to go through the process… not burying a body… just the insurance/tax stuff…)
If you’re not working on a very short timeline and have the ability to put a few hundred dollars a year into an insurance premium, your best bet would be a Term Life (meaning until you die) policy. Most of the medical stuff is a general background check on records and a simple physical, maybe blood work (if you’re even asked to do this at all).
If you’re working on a shorter time line, a Term “X” Year, might be something to look in to. The maximum benefit amount you can carry in the policy might be less than in a Term Life and the premiums might be higher but we’re still talking something like a $30,000US payout and $400.00 in premiums a year, that is probably tax exempt for the beneficiaries. Downside, once the policy has been active for “X” amount of time, it goes away and all the premiums were kinda wasted. Some companies will give you the option to extend it or roll it over into some other product or cash it out for a fraction of what you paid into it (or what the payout could have been) but that is reportable income. Read the fine print in the contract for the insurance product and talk to their customer service/sales rep. (I was being lazy and didn’t do anything with a small little 20 Year Term life insurance policy I bought into when I was 18 and I kinda wish I had been more of a proper adult and looked into what I could have done with it when it was nearing expiration instead of letting it all go away.)
If you want to play the credit card game… I’d see about finding a life insurance policy that doesn’t have a problem with you paying with a credit card instead of direct withdrawal from a bank account or mailing in a check. Pay everything as normal until you’re getting to the point where you’re pretty sure the medical situation is going downhill then start carrying the payments on the credit cards instead of paying them down every month OR filling your bank account with credit card cash advances (which tend to cost a lot in fees and %interest) to pay for the premiums.
At the very least, you’re keeping the policy paid (as far as the insurance company is concerned), your assigned beneficiaries could get a tax free payout, and if you’ve planned properly… your family can pay down the CC debit from a portion of the Insurance payout or you all know the laws well enough to know how to discharge the debit (fully or partially) without the family having to pay it.
I AM NOT A CERTIFIED ESTATE PLANNER OR ACCOUNTANT, THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE