Ohio is the seventh most populous state in the country and home to some of the most significant private sector employers in the Midwest: Honda, Goodyear, and dozens of automotive suppliers in the industrial corridor; Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the healthcare sector; JPMorgan Chase, Huntington Bank, and Fifth Third in financial services; and a rapidly growing technology hub centered around Columbus. Ohio’s diverse economy creates a wide range of life insurance planning needs — from buy-sell agreements for manufacturing companies in Akron and Toledo to executive benefit plans for Columbus technology executives and estate planning for multi-generational agricultural families in rural Ohio.

Ohio eliminated its state estate tax in 2013, removing a significant planning burden for Ohio families. However, the federal estate tax remains relevant for high-net-worth Ohioans, and the state’s industrial legacy has created significant concentrations of business equity and real estate wealth that require careful planning to transfer efficiently.

Why Ohio Residents Choose Permanent Life Insurance

For Ohio’s manufacturing executives and business owners, permanent life insurance serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it provides a guaranteed death benefit for the family, builds tax-advantaged cash value for long-term financial security, and funds buy-sell agreements that ensure business continuity. An IUL policy funded during peak earning years provides an efficient supplement to employer-sponsored plan contributions with no IRS annual funding limits.

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Coverage Options for Ohio Residents

Ohio Business Owner Strategies

Manufacturing and Industrial Business Owners

Ohio’s manufacturing sector — centered in the industrial corridor from Cleveland through Akron to Youngstown, and extending through Dayton, Toledo, and Columbus — is home to thousands of privately held companies that supply the automotive, aerospace, rubber, and steel industries. Many of these businesses are owned by two or three principals whose relationships, expertise, and networks are the foundation of the business’s value. A funded buy-sell agreement using permanent life insurance ensures that surviving partners have the capital to complete a clean ownership transition — without borrowing against the business, bringing in outside investors, or disrupting operations during the most vulnerable period following a partner’s death.

Healthcare Practice Owners

Ohio is home to some of the most respected healthcare institutions in the world, and the state’s physician group and specialty practice market is large and growing. Physician group buy-sell agreements funded with permanent life insurance are standard in Ohio’s medical community — ensuring that surviving partners can acquire a deceased partner’s interest without disrupting patient care, clinical operations, or lender relationships.

Columbus Technology and Financial Services

Columbus has emerged as one of the most dynamic technology and financial services centers in the Midwest, home to major technology companies, financial technology startups, and significant operations of national financial institutions. Executives in this community use executive benefit plans funded with permanent life insurance to provide meaningful additional compensation outside of standard employer plan limits — creating meaningful incentives for senior talent that publicly traded competitors cannot easily replicate.

Estate Planning in Ohio

With the elimination of Ohio’s state estate tax in 2013, estate planning in Ohio focuses primarily on federal estate tax strategies for high-net-worth individuals, probate avoidance, and efficient transfer of business equity to the next generation. Permanent life insurance — particularly whole life policies held inside an ILIT — provides estate liquidity, removes the death benefit from the federal taxable estate, and can fund buyouts of business interests that would otherwise require a forced sale to provide estate liquidity.

Frequently Asked Questions