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Calcimator

Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) Calculator

Calculate ILIT premium obligations and estate tax savings from removing life insurance from your estate.

Inputs

$
$
years
%
$

Results

Estate Tax Saved

$800,000.00

≈ 19 Teslas

Net Savings

$470,000.00

≈ 11 Teslas

Total ILIT Cost$330,000.00
Total Premiums$300,000.00
Total Trustee Fees$30,000.00
Per Beneficiary$1,000,000.00
Savings-to-Cost Ratio2.42x

Figures current as of 2026. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32

How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter Death Benefit of the policy to be held in the ILIT.
  2. Set Annual Premium and Years Remaining of premium payments.
  3. Enter Estate Tax Rate — the ILIT keeps life insurance proceeds out of your taxable estate.
  4. Set Number of Beneficiaries and Trustee Annual Fee.
  5. Review Estate Tax Saved — the key benefit of an ILIT is removing the death benefit from your gross estate.
  6. Premiums paid into an ILIT use your annual gift tax exclusion ($19,000/beneficiary in 2026).

How the result changes with Death Benefit

Death BenefitEstate Tax SavedNet Savings
$5,000,000.00$2,000,000.00$1,670,000.00
$17,500,000.00$7,000,000.00$6,670,000.00
$32,500,000.00$13,000,000.00$12,670,000.00
$45,000,000.00$18,000,000.00$17,670,000.00

What each input means

Death Benefit
Face value of the life insurance policy.
Annual Premium
Annual premium for the life insurance policy.
Years Remaining
Expected years of premium payments.
Estate Tax Rate
Expected estate tax rate on your estate.
Number of Beneficiaries
Number of ILIT beneficiaries.
Trustee Annual Fee
Annual trustee administration fee.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Death Benefit = 2000000, Annual Premium = 15000, Years Remaining = 20, Estate Tax Rate = 40 = 6 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Estate Tax Saved
    Estate Tax Saved
    800000 = $800,000
  3. Calculate Net Savings
    Net Savings
    470000 = $470,000
  4. Calculate Total ILIT Cost
    Total ILIT Cost
    330000 = $330,000
  5. Calculate Total Premiums
    Total Premiums
    300000 = $300,000

Figures and sources

Engine last updated .

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