A wealth building block is a regular expense or savings goal that you already have, directed through a cash value policy before it's spent. The dollars you were going to use anyway build cash value and a death benefit along the way. I put together a list of twenty ideas, and it's a useful way to see how many places your money already moves.
Start with vehicles. If you save up and pay cash for a car, put the savings in the policy instead and make the purchase from there. If you finance, the payments can become a block too, though a smaller one. Maintenance is a third, whether that's oil changes and tires, or a sinking fund (money set aside monthly for a known future cost). Life insurance premiums are on the list as well. They're a bill you're already paying, which is why they qualify as an example.
School is the next group: tuition, whether it comes from you, your parents, or borrowed money, and textbooks. Then the monthly household services: cell phone purchase or bill, internet, cable or satellite. Each is small, and small blocks add up over years.
The home covers a lot. Major repairs like a roof, where you'd normally keep a savings account for it. Smaller items like furnace filters. Utilities for electricity, water, and gas, which you can estimate each month. And property taxes. If your lender collects them through escrow, your money sits with the lender in the meantime and earns nothing for you. If you can pay them directly, you can build the cash in a policy first.
Taxes come next. For personal taxes, some people adjust their paycheck withholding so they owe at the end of the year, and set the difference aside themselves. Be careful here. Under-withholding can cause penalties, so talk to a tax professional before changing anything. Business owners have a similar opening with money they set aside for payroll or income tax.
The last group is life: vacations, whether you take them now or need to start, and holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, which come with predictable costs. I also listed retirement account contributions, but that one needs its own conversation.
One thing to keep straight. The policy isn't a checking account. Groceries and gas stay in checking, where they belong, and a policy has to be designed so the premium fits your cash flow. If you fund it above what the design allows, it can become a modified endowment contract and lose tax treatment on loans. Loans also reduce the cash value and death benefit until they're repaid.
You can hear me read the whole list in a video on twenty wealth building blocks. The five largest recurring items in your last three months of bank statements, added up by month, give you the starting number.