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Lansing, Michigan · Ingham County

Lansing has pensions. Pensions have decisions.

Lansing is state-government country — households with actual pensions, 457 deferred-comp plans, and retiree health provisions the private sector abandoned decades ago. Good bones. But pension households face decisions most advisors never model: survivor-benefit elections that permanently reduce income, lump-sum versus annuity options, and 457 balances that will all be taxed as ordinary income.

CentraLife advisors model those decisions before they’re locked: whether a life insurance policy can replace the survivor benefit at lower lifetime cost (pension maximization), how staged Roth conversions of deferred-comp money manage brackets, and where a 0%-floor policy fits alongside a pension’s fixed income.

Asked in Lansing

Local questions, straight answers.

When you retire, choosing a survivor benefit typically reduces your pension 10–15% for life. Pension max takes the full single-life pension and uses part of the difference to fund a life insurance policy on you — if the numbers work, your spouse gets equal or better protection and you keep more monthly income. Whether it works depends on age, health, and rates: it’s a calculation, not a slogan.

Talk to an advisor who works where you live.

  • Free 30-minute assessment — in person or by phone
  • Review of existing policies, 401(k)s, and pensions included
  • Headquartered at 290 Town Center Dr, Dearborn, MI 48126
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