I-134 and disability

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You did not misunderstand. He can use the CASH value of his Whole Life policy as an asset, it must be verified by the insurance company with a statement of cash value. CASH value accumulates on WHOLE LIFE policies over the life of the policy. A $50,000 (benefit) life insurance policy does NOT have a CASH VALUE of $50,000 unless he has had it a VERY long time and paid VERY high premiums. The CASH value is then divided by 3 to arrive at the income equivilent, just like any other asset.

For example, my parents bought for me a Whole Life policy with a benefit of $10,000 in 1956. In 1980, after 24 years of paymetts it had a CASH value of $800. It would not have had a CASH value of $10,000 until 2006...fourty years to maturity. Many people now have TERM life insurance policies which never have cash value

You only need to include 2008 tax information with the I-134

[pushbrk 12,903]

You did not misunderstand. He can use the CASH value of his Whole Life policy as an asset, it must be verified by the insurance company with a statement of cash value. CASH value accumulates on WHOLE LIFE policies over the life of the policy. A $50,000 (benefit) life insurance policy does NOT have a CASH VALUE of $50,000 unless he has had it a VERY long time and paid VERY high premiums. The CASH value is then divided by 3 to arrive at the income equivilent, just like any other asset.

For example, my parents bought for me a Whole Life policy with a benefit of $10,000 in 1956. In 1980, after 24 years of paymetts it had a CASH value of $800. It would not have had a CASH value of $10,000 until 2006...fourty years to maturity. Many people now have TERM life insurance policies which never have cash value

You only need to include 2008 tax information with the I-134

Now that I understand the OP has other income besides disability, I would ammend my advise to include the 2008 tax return. It will be needed to substantiate the full gross income.

It doesn't hurt to mention life insurance even with a negative cash value, as long as you're disclosing assets anyway. For people who clearly qualify based on income alone, there's no need to fill in any asset information.