PPLI

PPLI (private placement life insurance) — investments held inside a life-insurance wrapper grow income-tax-free, can be borrowed against, and pass at death outside the taxable estate. Practical minimums: ~$1–2M offshore, $5M+ US domestic; the US Senate Finance Committee calls it “a tax shelter for the ultra-wealthy,” which is the honest signal of what it does. Not to be confused with retail VUL despite the shared insurance license: PPLI’s economics only invert the 0.4 verdict at institutional minimums and institutional pricing. At sub-threshold scale it is strictly a word to recognize in pitches.

First used in: 5.5 · Structures of the rich: banking tiers, trusts, PPLI, debt