Captivating Thinking

Last week, CIC Services  we attended the 2014 Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.  CICA touts itself as the only domicile-neutral captive insurance association.  We are members of CICA and attend the conference to stay abreast of legislative and regulatory changes that impact the captive insurance industry.  The CICA conference also addresses new alternative risk concepts, emerging trends and best practices in the industry.

This certainly didn’t come as a surprise, but the opening session of the conference suggested that demand and interest in alternative risk transfer solutions, like captive insurance companies (CICs) and risk retention groups (RRGs) would remain strong in the immediate future.  

There are times when we need to hit the reset button on our way of thinking.  This is often true in the area of wealth management and wealth accumulation.  For example, conventional wisdom often encourages us to only tap our savings as a last resort. 

However, for many professionals and business owners, conventional wisdom may be an impediment to wealth accumulation.  For many, a superior financial strategy is to live off savings and save income.  This approach can grow (not shrink) savings while simultaneously maintaining the same standard of living.

I remember a few years back, when a good friend of mine pulled up in a brand new, massive, American made pick-up truck.  It was black with shiny chrome and a tan leather interior – absolutely stunning. 

“It looks like someone is going through a mid-life crisis,” I quipped.

“No, I’m just being a great American.  You should thank me,” he replied. 

“OK, how does buying an over-sized, ego boosting truck make you a great American?”

Last week, we discussed why owning a captive insurance company is “THE BEST SELF-INSURANCE MONEY CAN BUY.”  A captive insurance company is the most powerful risk management and wealth accumulation tool that a business can access.  When properly employed, there is no other financial vehicle