Money In Motion

What Money In Motion does

Money In Motion Inc. is a privately held financial planning practice founded in 1984 by Ruthe B. Schwartz and headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, operating from a New York Life General Office at 1650 Lake Cook Road, Suite 500. The firm serves individuals, families, and business owners in the Greater Chicago area and across 21 U.S. states where the founder holds insurance licenses (AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, WI), with securities business restricted to California, Florida, Illinois, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The product portfolio spans life insurance (whole, term, universal, variable universal, survivorship), annuities (fixed deferred, lifetime income, variable deferred), mutual funds, long-term care, and long-term disability income, paired with advisory services covering retirement planning, asset protection, estate planning, charitable planning, executive benefits, key person insurance, buy-sell funding, employee benefits, succession planning, and deferred compensation. The stated differentiator is the Macro Asset Perspective (MAP) Process — a proprietary wealth accumulation and distribution methodology using vertical and horizontal diversification to maximize partially tax-free retirement income, illustrated via a one-page visual model. No proprietary technology platform, mobile app, or AI capability is disclosed; execution, underwriting, and product access are inherited from New York Life Insurance Company and NYLIFE Securities LLC, including mutual fund access from Dreyfus, BlackRock, American Funds, PIMCO, Janus, Invesco, and MFS.

Revenue is generated through insurance product commissions, securities transaction fees via NYLIFE Securities LLC, and bundled financial-planning engagements, with pricing undisclosed and customized to client circumstances. The GTM motion is sales-led and relationship-based, driven by Ruthe Schwartz as the sole licensed producer, with client acquisition through LinkedIn networking, referrals, financial-calculator content, the Mainstay Market Pulse newsletter, and the New York Life General Office network. The practice discloses no M&A, funding, product-launch, or active geographic-expansion activity, indicating a stable, single-producer operating model rather than active scaling.

Name

Money In Motion

Legal name

Money In Motion Inc.

Website

https://moneyinmotioninc.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Money In Motion Inc. is a Deerfield, Illinois-based independent financial planning practice affiliated with New York Life, offering life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, and retirement, estate, and business succession planning to individuals, families, and business owners across the Greater Chicago area and 21 licensed U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Planning and Insurance Advisory

NAICS

Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities (5242)

SIC

Life Insurance (6311), Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAIABAA

Whole Life Insurance

Financial & Insurance/Insurance — Life & Health/Whole & Universal Life Insurance

SECONDARYFSAIAAAA

Level Term Life Insurance

Financial & Insurance/Insurance — Life & Health/Term Life Insurance

SECONDARYFSAEAAAG

Estate & Legacy Planning Advisory

Financial & Insurance/Financial Advisory, Brokerage & Intermediation/Investment Advisory & Financial Planning

Keywords

• Financial planning services
• Life insurance products
• Retirement income planning
• Estate planning services
• Business succession planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Deerfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Insurance Product Sales: The firm earns commissions from selling life insurance products (whole life, term life, universal life, variable universal life, survivorship life), long-term care insurance, and disability insurance through New York Life Insurance Company.
2. Securities Products: As a Registered Representative of NYLIFE Securities LLC, the firm offers mutual funds, fixed deferred annuities, lifetime income annuities, and variable deferred annuities, earning commissions on these investment products.
3. Financial Planning Services: The firm provides holistic financial planning services including retirement planning, estate planning, asset protection, and business succession planning, integrated with product recommendations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Money In Motion Inc. is a holistic financial planning firm providing life insurance (whole, term, universal, variable universal, survivorship), annuities (fixed deferred, lifetime income, variable deferred), mutual funds, long-term care and disability insurance, along with integrated financial planning services for individuals, families, and business owners. The firm operates as an independent licensed agent of New York Life Insurance Company and a Registered Representative of NYLIFE Securities LLC, applying the proprietary Macro Asset Perspective (MAP) Process to retirement, estate, asset protection, charitable, executive benefits, key person, buy-sell, employee benefits, succession, and deferred compensation planning.

Product overview

Money In Motion Inc. is a holistic financial planning firm offering a comprehensive suite of insurance, investment, and advisory services. Their product portfolio centers on life insurance products (Whole Life, Term Life, Universal Life, Variable Universal Life, Survivorship Life), annuity products (Fixed Interest Deferred, Lifetime Income, Variable Deferred), investment products (Mutual Funds), and specialized insurance (Long Term Care, Disability). On the service side, they provide personal solutions including Retirement Planning, Asset Protection, Estate Planning, and Charitable Planning, as well as business solutions covering Executive Benefits, Key Person Insurance, Buy-Sell Agreements, Employee Benefits, Succession Planning, and Deferred Compensation. Central to their offering is the proprietary Macro Asset Perspective (MAP) Process—a strategic methodology combining Vertical and Horizontal Diversification to optimize retirement income positioning. The firm operates as a New York Life agent, leveraging NYLIFE Securities for investment products and services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Whole Life Insurance Permanent life insurance providing coverage for the entire life of the insured, with premiums that accumulate cash value tax-deferred. Sold as a New York Life agent offering for individuals and business owners.
• Term Life Insurance Life insurance providing coverage for a specific time period (5, 10, or 20 years) with lower premiums but no cash value accumulation, offered to individuals seeking temporary protection.
• Universal Life Insurance Permanent insurance offering flexibility to change premiums and death benefit as needs change, covering the insured for their entire life.
• Variable Universal Life Insurance Combines premium and death benefit flexibility of universal life with investment opportunities, allowing premium allocation among professionally managed investment divisions plus a fixed account.
• Survivorship Life Insurance Covers two people and provides payment of proceeds when the second insured individual dies, often used for estate planning or business continuation goals.
• Long Term Care Insurance Insurance designed to help offset potentially high costs of long-term care services and protect families from acting as primary caregivers.
• Long Term Individual Disability Insurance Coverage supplementing employer-provided disability benefits, typically paying 50-60% of base income for extended periods of disability.
• Fixed Interest Deferred Annuity Annuity with a guaranteed interest rate that will never fall below a specified amount, providing security for retirement accumulation.
• Lifetime Income Annuity Income annuity providing predictable income payments monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually for life regardless of market performance.
• Variable Deferred Annuity Tax-deferred annuity allowing accumulation for retirement with accumulated value fluctuating based on investment account performance.
• Mutual Funds Investment company products pooling money from individuals and institutions to invest in stocks, bonds, options, futures, currencies, money markets, and other securities, offered through NYLIFE Securities LLC.
• Retirement Planning Financial strategies and retirement income planning to help clients accumulate assets, shield assets from liabilities, and safeguard asset transfer to heirs.
• Estate Planning Estate conservation planning to minimize tax liability and ensure loved ones are protected, addressing state and federal taxes on estates.
• Asset Protection Planning Strategies to protect personal and business assets from liabilities.
• Charitable Planning Strategies allowing clients to support charitable causes while often providing immediate income streams and reducing tax burden.
• Executive Benefits Benefit packages designed to attract, motivate, and retain high-caliber employees including non-qualified plans, supplemental employee retirement plans, and split dollar plans.
• Key Person Insurance Life insurance providing a death benefit to indemnify an employer for the loss of a key employee, helping assure business continuity and protect against losses in sales, momentum, and credit.
• Buy-Sell Agreement Funding Life insurance-funded arrangements that ensure co-owners have money available when a buy-sell agreement is triggered upon a co-owner's death or departure.
• Employee Benefits Custom-designed group benefits, qualified retirement plans, and voluntary benefits to address employee needs while helping employers retain talent.
• Business Succession Planning Strategies enabling business owners to exit on their own timeline while preparing companies for transfer to family members, key employees, outside parties, or charities.
• Funding Deferred Compensation Written agreements allowing employees to defer compensation, which is invested on their behalf and distributed at a predetermined future date.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• New York Life Insurance CompanycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMoney In Motion Inc. operates as a licensed insurance agency representing New York Life Insurance Company. Ruthe Schwartz is an agent authorized to sell insurance through New York Life and is licensed in multiple states including AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, and WI. The firm operates from New York Life's Deerfield General Office location.
• NYLIFE Securities LLCcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNYLIFE Securities LLC is a Member of FINRA/SIPC and a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company. Ruthe Schwartz is a Registered Representative authorized to offer securities products through NYLIFE Securities LLC. The firm provides access to mutual funds, variable annuities, and other securities products through this channel.
• Asset Management Partners (Various)minorOthersThe firm offers access to mutual funds from a variety of well-respected asset managers when working with clients. Specific partners referenced include Dreyfus, BlackRock, American Funds, PIMCO, Janus, Invesco, MFS, and other major asset management firms available through the client portal.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Principal Financial Group: Principal distributes life insurance, retirement, and group benefits through advisors and broker-dealer relationships targeting individuals and small/mid businesses. The dual personal-lines and group/business-lines focus parallels Money In Motion's individual and business-owner segments.
• Securian Financial: Securian Financial provides life insurance, annuities, and retirement solutions distributed through financial professionals, with strong focus on the middle market. Its career-financial-professional distribution and product mix make it a structural parallel to Money In Motion's NYL-affiliated practice.
• Edward Jones: Edward Jones runs a national branch-based advisor model focused on individual investors, retirement, education savings, and small-business planning. Although it leans more toward brokerage than life insurance, the local-advisor, holistic-planning orientation places it in the same competitive set as Money In Motion for individual and family wealth planning prospects.
• MassMutual: MassMutual's General Agency and MassMutual Strategic Partnerships distribute whole life, universal life, disability, and retirement income products through independent financial professionals. The advisor-led, planning-driven distribution mirrors Money In Motion's NYL-affiliated model.
• Northwestern Mutual: Northwestern Mutual operates a captive agent/advisor model combining life insurance, disability income insurance, annuities, and holistic financial planning, structurally very similar to Money In Motion's relationship with New York Life. Both compete for the same individuals, families, and business-owner segments with comparable planning-led sales motion.
• Ameriprise Financial: Ameriprise operates a large captive advisor channel delivering holistic financial planning, retirement, and insurance products to individuals and small-business owners. The planning-led, advisor-distributed wealth model is directly comparable to Money In Motion's approach.
• Guardian Life Insurance Company of America: Guardian works through a network of financial representatives offering life insurance, disability, dental, and retirement solutions to individuals and business owners. The product mix and individual-producer distribution model align closely with Money In Motion's offering.

Others

• Cetera Financial Group: Cetera is an independent broker-dealer and RIA platform hosting insurance, annuity, and wealth management practices. Although Money In Motion uses NYLIFE Securities rather than Cetera, the underlying independent-advisor-with-broker-dealer-support model is comparable.

Broad incumbents

• New York Life Insurance Company: New York Life is the parent/affiliated carrier and platform that Money In Motion represents as a licensed agent. As a Fortune 100 mutual life insurer with a much broader product, investment management, and group benefits portfolio, it is the broader incumbent against which the practice operates within the NYL ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/money-in-motion
• Facebookfacebook.com/RutheSchwartzAgent

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Money In Motion