There is no pension at the end of the road. So we build one.
Trucking is one of the last industries where a 30-year career can end with nothing but a worn-out body and a depreciated truck. No industry pension, spotty 401(k) coverage, Social Security credits shrunk by years of per-diem pay — and a retirement age that arrives early, because the body quits before the calendar does. The average driver doesn’t retire at 65; the DOT physical retires them first.
A trucker’s retirement plan has to respect three realities: income that swings, a career that can end overnight on a medical, and no employer building anything on your behalf. That’s why cash-value life insurance sits at the center of the designs we build — flexible funding that absorbs the swings, living benefits for the early-exit scenario, and tax-advantaged income (IRC §72(e)) with no age gate, because "59½" is a rule written for people with desks.
Retirement income with no age gate
Policy loans don’t care if you’re 52 when the medical card ends the career — no 10% early-withdrawal penalty, no waiting for 59½, no RMDs forcing income later. The plan pays when the road stops, whenever that is.
Built on swing income
Flexible-premium designs fund heavy in strong quarters and idle through slow ones — up to the 7-pay/MEC line, never past it. Your best years build the plan; your worst years don’t break it.
The early-exit insurance nobody sells you
Living-benefit riders convert part of the death benefit into cash during critical or chronic illness — the exact scenario that ends most driving careers. The same contract that builds retirement also insures the path to it.
Trucker Retirement — the honest answers.
What does a realistic retirement plan look like for a driver with no 401(k)?
Three layers, in order: a qualified plan you own (SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) for owner-operators) funded to the tax-deduction sweet spot; a max-funded cash-value policy above it with no contribution cap and tax-advantaged access at any age; and Social Security optimized by understanding how per-diem pay affects your credits. Most drivers we meet have none of the three formalized — the fix is one design session, not a finance degree.
I’m 45 with nothing saved. Is it too late?
No — but the design matters more now. Fifteen to twenty funded years is exactly the window where max-funded policies do their best work, and a 45-year-old’s premiums buy meaningfully more than a 55-year-old’s. The honest version: you won’t retire on $200/month. Strong quarters need to fund hard. We model your actual settlement history and show you the real number.
What happens to my retirement plan if I fail a DOT physical at 55?
With a 401(k)-only plan: withdrawals before 59½ take a 10% penalty plus income tax — a punishment for getting sick. With a cash-value design: living-benefit riders can accelerate part of the death benefit during qualifying illness, and policy loans access the cash value at any age with no penalty and no taxable event under current law. The early exit is the scenario this structure exists for.
Does Social Security actually cover anything for drivers?
Less than most expect — decades of per-diem-reduced taxable income mean smaller benefit checks, and claiming early (which grounded drivers often must) cuts the check up to 30% more. Treat Social Security as the floor, not the plan. Everything above the floor has to be owner-built.