The U.S. division of Sun Life Financial Inc. launched its enhanced Wealth Transfer Program and advanced markets calculators to assist producers in using life insurance for estate planning.

The company said in a statement the program covers four estate planning strategies: annuity maximization, the leveraged credit shelter trust, the muni-bond alternative and stretch IRAs.

The program is designed to help insurance agents and financial service professionals to meet the needs of the boomer and affluent markets, the company said.

“Estate planning is becoming increasingly important to the aging Baby Boomer population as they prepare to transfer their wealth to the next generation,” said Janet Whitehouse, senior vice president and general manager for individual life insurance for Sun Life Financial. “Life insurance is a key vehicle for distributing wealth. Sun Life’s program offers strategies to best address each client’s specific needs while maximizing wealth for intended heirs in the most tax efficient manner.”

The Wealth Transfer Program includes sales ideas, client guides and fact finders to assist producers as they help clients in choosing a wealth transfer plan that can make a difference to them and their heirs; avoiding wealth erosion from taxation; maintaining flexibility and control over assets; and maximize the transfer of assets to heirs through a life insurance death benefit.

In addition, Sun Life provides the following calculators for use with each planning strategy: an Annuity Max Calculator, which analyzes the income and estate tax impact on a deferred annuity versus using all or a portion of the current annuity’s values for the purchase of life insurance; a Municipal Bond Alternative Calculator to illustrate the taxation impact on municipal bonds at death and demonstrates a strategy repositioning municipal bonds to effectively maximize the transfer of wealth to heirs; a Leveraged Credit Shelter Trust Calculator that analyzes the benefit of leveraging trust assets with life insurance to maximize the amount of wealth available to heirs; and a Stretch IRA Calculator, which analyzes the estate and income tax impact of a client’s IRA at death. It also demonstrates a planning technique that extends the distribution of an IRA asset, supplemented with life insurance to offset tax consequences and pass down the remaining proceeds of the account to a child or grandchild.