The carrier’s 401(k) is a start. It was never the whole plan.
Company drivers get the paperwork version of a retirement plan: a 401(k) with a match, a group life certificate worth a year’s pay, and a total-rewards PDF nobody reads at 2 a.m. in a sleeper cab. Take the match — always, first, every dollar of it. That part is free money and we will never tell you otherwise.
The gaps are what nobody mentions: group life that vanishes when you change carriers (and drivers change carriers), a 401(k) that taxes every withdrawal as ordinary income and forces them at 73, and zero protection for the scenario that actually ends driving careers — the medical one. That’s the layer CentraLife designs.
Capture the match, then structure the rest
Dollars above the match don’t have to follow the same tax-deferred path. Routed into a cash-value design, they grow with a 0% floor and come back tax-advantaged under IRC §72(e) — retirement income the IRS isn’t waiting on. Run the comparison yourself on our IUL vs 401(k) calculator.
Own your coverage — carriers change
Group life dies at the terminal gate when you switch carriers, and re-upping at 45 costs what it costs. A personally-owned policy is carrier-proof: same coverage, same premium, whoever’s name is on the truck.
Protect the house against the real risk
Mortgage protection designed right guarantees the house is paid off — and its living benefits pay during the injury or illness that takes you off the road, which is far more common than the worst case.
Company Drivers — the honest answers.
Should I put money in an IUL instead of my carrier’s 401(k)?
Not instead — after. The employer match is an instant 50–100% return; nothing we sell beats it and we’ll say so in writing. The question is where dollars above the match go: more tax-deferral stacked on tax-deferral, or a second structure with tax-advantaged access, no RMDs, and a floor. That’s a math question — our IUL vs 401(k) page lets you run it.
I have group life through the carrier. Why buy my own?
Because it isn’t yours. Group coverage typically ends when employment does, converts at steep rates if at all, and 1x–2x salary rarely covers a mortgage plus a family’s earning-years gap. Own the base layer personally — young and healthy is when it’s cheapest — and treat group as a bonus.
What does mortgage protection cost for a driver?
It prices like life insurance, not like the lender’s "MPI" mailers — often less than drivers expect, with no-exam options from A-rated carriers, and unlike the lender’s version your family (not the bank) is the beneficiary. Run the mortgage-protection comparison on our learn page for the design difference.
Per diem lowers my taxable income. Does that hurt my planning?
It cuts both ways: lower taxable income means lower current taxes but also lower Social Security credits and smaller qualified-plan room. Cash-value funding isn’t tied to compensation the way plan contributions are — which makes it a natural fit for per-diem-heavy pay structures.