Sometimes a survivor benefit or executive life insurance program can be an attractive benefit. This can be through the outright purchase of an insurance policy to benefit the executives dependents, or it can be funded with a split dollar program.

Under a split dollar funding program, the business agrees to pay most or all of the insurance premium. The business can then reflect the security interest in the cash value of the plan as an asset. When the policy pays benefits, the company recovers what it paid in premiums from the life insurance distribution. The down side to this is that the longer the policy is in force, the larger the portion that will go to the company rather than for the intended use. In some circumstances, the remaining amount may not be sufficient to make the designated purchase. This can be avoided through use of an adjustable or scheduled term rider or similar features that allow the policy amount to increase with time.