Indexed universal life insurance (IUL) is permanent life insurance from international insurers, with a US dollar death benefit from US$1m and a cash value that earns index linked credits within a 0% floor and a cap; policy charges still apply, so cash value can fall. Residents of Greece, Greeks living abroad and people moving to Greece can hold IUL, personally or through a trust or company, where the insurer accepts it and subject to local regulation. Greek tax residents are taxed on their worldwide income, Greek inheritance tax reaches the movable property abroad of Greek nationals, and a life policy counts towards inheritance tax where it names no beneficiaries. Capital for Life specialises in IUL and PPLI for internationally mobile families and the advisers who serve them. Information, not advice.
Can I buy IUL while living in Greece?Yes, where the insurer accepts residents of Greece. Residents, Greeks living abroad and new arrivals aged 18 to 79 can hold IUL from international insurers, with cover from US$1m.
Everything on this page is information, not advice. You can come to us directly, or through your financial adviser or private bank.
Policies are issued on the basis of your country of residence, not your nationality, subject to local regulation and insurer acceptance. We coordinate the illustrations, underwriting and medicals with the insurer.
To request an illustration, email quotes@capitalforlife.com.
Where you introduce a client, your own regulatory permissions govern the advice given to your client, and the client relationship stays with you. We provide the specialist structuring: insurer comparison, underwriting coordination and policy design.
Yes, where the insurer accepts residents of Greece. Greek residents, Greeks living abroad and people moving to Greece can hold IUL issued by international life insurers outside Greece, subject to local regulation and insurer acceptance.
Eligibility is set by your country of residence and the insurer's underwriting, not your nationality. Insurers accept applicants aged 18 to 79, and cover starts at US$1m of death benefit. There is no fixed upper limit for qualified applicants: large (jumbo) cases are structured across more than one insurer.
A policy can be owned personally, or by a trust or company. Each insurer sets its own rules on which ownership routes it accepts for residents of Greece, so the route is agreed before the application goes in. Policies are written in US dollars, while Greece uses the euro, so the euro value of the cover and cash value moves with the exchange rate.
Capital for Life specialises in IUL and PPLI for internationally mobile families and the advisers who serve them. The full guide to the product is what is indexed universal life insurance.
Cover starts at US$1m with no fixed upper limit. Cases of US$10m and more, often called jumbo life insurance, are structured across several international insurers.
A US dollar policy that stays in force wherever you live next: for Greeks abroad, Greeks returning home and families moving to Greece.
A company can own the policy on a founder, partner or key executive and receive the death benefit. See Key Person for Life.
Borrow against the cash value to fund a purchase in Athens, on the islands or abroad, or to clear property loans, through a policy loan.
| Feature | Term life | Whole of life | IUL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length of cover | A set number of years | Lifetime, while premiums are paid | Lifetime, while the policy is funded |
| Cash value | None | Depends on the contract; guaranteed protection plans often have none | Yes, earning index-linked credits within a 0% floor and a cap |
| Borrowing against the policy | No | Only where the contract builds a cash value | Yes, through policy loans from the insurer |
| Suited to | A need for a fixed period, such as a mortgage | Lifetime cover at a set cost | Lifetime US dollar cover with a cash value to borrow against |
The uses that lead are borrowing against the policy for property and business, a second retirement pool in US dollars, and a defined legacy for family across borders. Each is a structure to consider, not a recommendation.
Once cash value has built, you can borrow against it to buy property in Greece or abroad, fund a business opportunity or pay school and university fees, and keep your investments in place. The loan is a contractual right under the policy, arranged with the insurer.
The policy stays in force while the loan runs. Loan interest applies, and any outstanding loan is deducted from the death benefit. See how IUL policy loans work.
For business owners, shipowners and professionals, an IUL builds a second retirement pool in US dollars, outside any employer or state scheme and alongside euro savings and property.
You choose when to start drawing on it, at 50, 60 or later, usually through policy loans. See Income for Life.
The death benefit is set from day one and paid in US dollars to the beneficiaries you name, in the shares you choose, or to the trust that owns the policy. Families use it to leave a defined sum to children who live in different countries, or to balance an estate where one child takes over the family business.
See Family for Life and, for company owners, key person cover.
US$10m of cover against the planned premiums
$324,225 × 10 = $3,242,250, for a male non-smoker aged 50 to 59 with US$10m of cover, from the indicative premium table.
This is an illustrative example, not a client. A 55-year-old shipowner, resident in Athens and a non-smoker, plans for his eldest child to take over the family's ship-owning company. He wants his two younger children, one in London and one in Athens, to receive an equal value in cash.
An IUL policy with US$10m of cover names the two younger children as beneficiaries in equal shares. On the indicative premium table, the planned premium is US$324,225 a year on a 10-pay basis, US$3,242,250 in total. The figures assume the planned premiums are paid in full; actual premiums are set by underwriting, and policy charges apply. How the proceeds are taxed in each child's hands, in Greece and in the UK, is confirmed with the family's tax advisers.
Share of selections, multiple selections allowed · 1,800 verified enquiries, June 2024 to June 2025
Many internationally mobile investors already hold an offshore bond. An international IUL is also a life insurance policy issued outside the investor's home country, and for UK tax it is treated in the same way as an offshore bond. The difference is what sits inside: an offshore bond holds an investment portfolio, while an IUL holds a death benefit and a cash value that earns index linked credits. Offshore bonds and IUL compared.
IUL is a life insurance policy first, with credits earned inside the insurer's index accounts. Families who want open investment choice use private placement life insurance (PPLI) or an offshore bond instead, and some hold both for different jobs.
An IUL policy has two parts: a death benefit and a cash value. Premiums, after charges, build the cash value, which earns credits linked to an index such as the S&P 500, within a cap and a 0% floor.
The cap rate limits the credit in a strong year. The floor means a negative index year produces a nil credit instead of an index loss. Policy charges are deducted regardless, which is why cash value can still fall in a flat or negative year.
Once sufficient cash value has built, you can borrow against it. Fixed and participating loans behave differently in different index conditions. The death benefit is paid to your beneficiaries under the policy terms.
Hypothetical S&P 500 returns · 9.3% annual cap · 0% floor
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 return | +13.7% | -9.1% | +5.5% | +19.4% | -14.2% | +7.8% | -3.5% | +14.0% |
| IUL credit | 9.3% | 0% | 5.5% | 9.3% | 0% | 7.8% | 0% | 9.3% |
Greece offers three optional regimes to people who move their tax residence there: a €100,000 annual lump sum on income arising abroad (Article 5A), a 7% rate on all foreign income for pension recipients (Article 5B), and a 50% exemption on Greek employment and business income for seven tax years (Article 5C). [2]
For people who were not tax resident in Greece in seven of the previous eight years, and who invest at least €500,000 in Greek property, businesses or securities within three years. Holders of a Greek investor residence permit (the Golden Visa) do not need to meet the investment condition.
The lump sum settles the tax on income arising abroad, whatever its amount, and the application is made by 31 March of the tax year. [2]
For people receiving a pension from abroad who were not tax resident in Greece in five of the previous six years, and who move from a country with a tax cooperation agreement with Greece.
All income arising abroad is taxed at 7% a year, for up to 15 tax years. A person taxed under Article 5A cannot also use Article 5B. [2]
For people, including Greeks returning home, who were not tax resident in Greece in five of the previous six years, move from the EU, the EEA or a cooperating country, take up employment or business activity in Greece and stay at least two years.
Half of their Greek employment and business income is exempt from income tax for seven tax years. [2]
Planned premiums for US$1m of cover start from about US$11,000 a year on a 10-pay basis, for a non-smoker aged 30 to 39. The premium for your cover depends on your age, gender, health, smoker status, the death benefit and how the policy is funded.
Many clients pay US$100,000 or more a year to build more cash value. Premiums can be paid as a lump sum or over a set number of years, often 5 to 10. Paying over several years (multi-pay) is Carlton Crabbe's preferred route. Capital for Life can also arrange premium financing, where a lender advances part of the premium against the policy; interest costs and lender criteria apply. See premium financing for IUL.
An insurer policy illustration shows the premium, cover and cash value for your own profile before any decision.
Each rule carries the date it was checked. Tax rules change; confirm the position with your tax adviser before acting.
| Tax residence | You are tax resident in Greece if your permanent or principal residence, habitual abode or centre of vital interests is there, or if you are in Greece for more than 183 days in any 12-month period (Article 4, Income Tax Code). As at November 2026. [1] |
|---|---|
| Income tax | Tax residence is the key criterion for which country may tax an individual's worldwide income. A Greek tax resident outside a special regime is taxed on worldwide income under the general rules of the Income Tax Code. As at November 2026. [1] [2] |
| New residents | Article 5A: €100,000 a year on income arising abroad, for up to 15 tax years, plus €20,000 for each relative. Article 5B: 7% on foreign income for pension recipients. Article 5C: 50% of Greek employment and business income exempt for seven tax years. AADE guide of 12 November 2025; checked November 2026. [2] |
| Golden Visa | Minimum real estate investment of €800,000 in Attica, the Thessaloniki regional unit, Mykonos, Santorini and islands of more than 3,100 inhabitants, and €400,000 elsewhere (Article 64, Law 5100/2024). For non-EU nationals. Page updated 4 June 2025; checked November 2026. [4] |
| Inheritance tax reach | Property in Greece, plus movable property abroad belonging to a Greek national wherever they live, or to a foreign national resident in Greece (Article 55, Property Tax Code). Code in force from 18 July 2025; checked November 2026. [3] |
| Life insurance and inheritance tax | A life insurance contract of the deceased counts as an acquisition on death where the policy does not name beneficiaries (Article 54). As at November 2026. [3] |
| Inheritance tax rates | Category A heirs (spouse or partner, children, grandchildren and parents): first €150,000 at nil, next €150,000 at 1%, next €300,000 at 5%, and 10% above €600,000. Category C heirs pay up to 40% (Articles 78 and 79). As at November 2026. [3] |
| Inheritance tax exemptions | Movable property abroad of a Greek national established abroad for at least ten consecutive years; ships of more than 1,500 gross registered tons under any flag, and shares in the companies and holding companies that own them (Article 75). As at November 2026. [3] |
| Currency | IUL policies are issued in US dollars. Greece uses the euro, so euro values move with the exchange rate. As at November 2026. |
| Cover, premium and ages | Cover from US$1m for applicants aged 18 to 79, subject to underwriting. Planned premiums from about US$11,000 a year (10-pay, non-smoker aged 30 to 39). As at November 2026. |
| Medical underwriting | Non-medical terms for up to US$3m of cover for healthy applicants under 55. Otherwise a medical is needed, at a clinic approved by the insurer. As at November 2026. |
| Ownership and timing | Personal, or a trust or company where the insurer accepts it for residents of Greece. 8 to 12 weeks from application to policy issue. As at November 2026. |
Greek tax residents are taxed on their worldwide income, unless they have opted into a regime such as Article 5A, so the Greek treatment of a policy's growth, loans, withdrawals and death benefit is settled with your Greek tax adviser before the policy is written. [1] [2]
Outcomes depend on residence, citizenship, ownership and what you do with the policy over its life. Tax in a country of citizenship, a former home country or a future country of residence can still apply.
Capital for Life does not provide legal or tax advice. We prepare the policy facts your tax adviser needs and work alongside specialist tax advisers on cross border cases.
The policy is portable. It stays in force and in US dollars wherever you live, and you keep access to its cash value and cover.
Your income tax position follows your residence, so the rules of your new country decide how growth, loans and withdrawals are taxed there. An Article 5C exemption ends from the tax year you move your tax residence abroad. [2]
Greek inheritance tax follows nationality as well as residence: it reaches the movable property abroad of a Greek national wherever they live, with an exemption once they have been established abroad for at least ten consecutive years. [3]
The death benefit is paid in US dollars to the beneficiaries named in the policy, or to the trust or company that owns it. Greek inheritance tax counts a life insurance contract as part of the acquisition on death where the policy names no beneficiaries, so beneficiaries are set when the policy is written. [3]
Greek inheritance tax · Category A heirs (spouse, children, grandchildren, parents)
You choose who receives the death benefit and in what shares, and the policy records them by name.
A policy held in trust supports planning across jurisdictions, where the insurer accepts trust ownership for residents of Greece. How Greece treats the trust is a question for your tax adviser.
Each heir is liable for the inheritance tax on what they receive. [3] A US dollar death benefit gives them cash without selling property or company shares.
Ships of more than 1,500 gross registered tons, and shares in the companies that own them, are exempt from Greek inheritance tax. [3] The policy balances the estate between the children who take the business and those who do not.
Applying runs from a first consultation to policy issue and typically takes 8 to 12 weeks.
Your objectives, age, health, residence and the cover you want.
Illustrations from the insurers available for your profile, with premium and cover options side by side.
Application forms, ownership documents and financial disclosure on source of wealth, assets and income.
Non-medical terms up to US$3m for healthy applicants under 55. Above that, blood tests, an ECG, a treadmill test and health history at a clinic approved by the insurer, booked at your convenience.
The underwriting decision, the first premium and the policy documents.
IUL for residents of Greece, Greeks abroad and people moving to Greece
Yes, where the insurer accepts residents of Greece. IUL is issued by international life insurers outside Greece, with cover from US$1m, and availability is subject to local regulation and insurer acceptance. Eligibility is set by your country of residence and the insurer's underwriting, not your nationality, and insurers accept applicants aged 18 to 79.
Planned premiums for US$1m of cover start from about US$11,000 a year on a 10-pay basis, for a non-smoker aged 30 to 39. Many clients pay US$100,000 or more a year to build more cash value. The premium for your profile depends on your age, gender, health, smoker status, the death benefit and how the policy is funded, and a policy illustration shows the exact figures.
It depends on your age and the cover. Healthy applicants under 55 can be offered non-medical terms for up to US$3m of cover. Otherwise a medical is needed, which can include blood tests, an ECG, a treadmill test and a review of health history, at a clinic approved by the insurer. Insurers also ask for financial disclosure on source of wealth, assets and income.
Greek inheritance tax counts a life insurance contract of the deceased as part of the acquisition on death where the policy does not name beneficiaries, under Article 54 of the Property Tax Code (Law 5219/2025). For Category A heirs, such as a spouse or children, the first €150,000 is taxed at nil, then 1%, 5% and 10% above €600,000. How a policy issued outside Greece is treated, and whether to name beneficiaries or use trust ownership, is confirmed with your Greek tax adviser.
It depends on the job the cover has to do. For lifetime US dollar cover from US$1m with a cash value that can be borrowed against, indexed universal life from an international insurer is built for that purpose. Term cover suits a need for a fixed number of years, such as a mortgage or a business loan, at a lower cost. A policy illustration compares the options on your own age, health and cover.
Yes, once sufficient cash value has built. A policy loan is a contractual right under the policy, arranged with the insurer, and the policy stays in force while the loan runs. Loan interest applies, and any outstanding loan is deducted from the death benefit. Fixed and participating loans behave differently in different index conditions.
Under Article 5A of the Income Tax Code, a new resident who opts in pays a lump sum of €100,000 a year on income arising abroad, whatever its amount, for up to 15 tax years, plus €20,000 for each relative included. Movable property located abroad that passes on death or by gift is exempt from Greek inheritance and gift tax. Whether a policy issued by an insurer outside Greece falls within both rules is confirmed with your Greek tax adviser before the policy is set up.
Yes. Eligibility is set by your country of residence, not your nationality, so a Greek national living in London or Singapore applies on the basis of that country. Greek inheritance tax reaches the movable property abroad of a Greek national wherever they live, with an exemption once they have been established abroad for at least ten consecutive years, so ownership and beneficiaries are set with both countries in mind.
Yes. A company can own an IUL policy on a founder, partner or key executive, pay the premiums and receive the death benefit. The payout funds the business through the loss or a buy-sell agreement between shareholders, and the cash value builds as a company asset. Cover starts at US$1m, and healthy applicants under 55 can be offered non-medical terms up to US$3m.
The policy stays in force and in US dollars wherever you live, and you keep access to its cash value and cover. Your income tax position follows your residence, so the rules of your new country decide how growth, loans and withdrawals are taxed there. For a Greek national, Greek inheritance tax can still reach movable property abroad until they have been established abroad for ten consecutive years. Ownership and structure are best reviewed before you move.
Capital for Life specialises in IUL and PPLI for internationally mobile families and the advisers who serve them. Tell us your age, residence and the cover you want, and we send illustrations from the insurers available to you.
To request an illustration, email quotes@capitalforlife.com.
Each insurer sets its own caps, charges, underwriting terms and ownership rules. A policy illustration shows the figures for a specific policy.
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