What is Life Insurance?
Learn how Life Insurance works and what you need to understand to choose your coverage.
A life insurance policy is a contract with an insurance company. In exchange for premium payments, the insurance company provides a lump-sum payment, known as a death benefit, to beneficiaries upon the insured’s death. Typically, life insurance is chosen based on the needs and goals of the owner. Term life insurance generally provides protection for a set period of time, while permanent insurance, such as whole and universal life, provides lifetime coverage. There are many varieties of life insurance. See below to learn about the most common ones.
term life insurance
Term life insurance is designed to provide financial protection for a specific period of time, such as 10 or 20 years. With traditional term insurance, the premium payment amount stays the same for the coverage period you select. After that period, policies may offer continued coverage, usually at a substantially higher premium payment rate. Term life insurance is generally less expensive than permanent life insurance.
Needs it helps meet: Term life insurance proceeds can be used to replace lost potential income during working years. This can provide a safety net for your beneficiaries and can also help ensure the family's financial goals will still be met—goals like paying off a mortgage, keeping a business running, and paying for college.
universal life insurance
Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance designed to provide lifetime coverage. Unlike whole life insurance, universal life insurance policies are flexible and may allow you to raise or lower your premium payment or coverage amounts throughout your lifetime. Additionally, due to its lifetime coverage, universal life typically has higher premium payments than term.
Needs it helps meet: Universal life insurance is most often used as part of a flexible estate planning strategy to help preserve wealth to be transferred to beneficiaries. Another common use is long term income replacement, where the need extends beyond working years. Some universal life insurance product designs focus on providing both death benefit coverage and building cash value while others focus on providing guaranteed death benefit coverage.
whole life insurance
Whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance designed to provide lifetime coverage. Because of the lifetime coverage period, whole life usually has higher premium payments than term life. Policy premium payments are typically fixed, and, unlike term, whole life has a cash value, which functions as a savings component and may accumulate tax-deferred over time.
Needs it helps meet: Whole life can be used as an estate planning tool to help preserve the wealth you plan to transfer to your beneficiaries.
Insuring the times of your life
MARRIED OR GETTING MARRIED
Many families depend on two incomes to make ends meet. If you died suddenly, would your spouse have enough money to cover your funeral costs, credit card balances, outstanding loans and daily living expenses?
A PARENT OR ABOUT TO BECOME ONE
Raising a child is one of the most rewarding things a person can do in life. But it’s also one of the most expensive. If you died tomorrow, would your spouse have the wherewithal to provide your children with the opportunities you always dreamed they’d have? From diapers to diplomas, would there be enough income to pay for daycare, a college education and everything in between? Even parents who don’t work outside the home need life insurance because they provide services that would be expensive
to replace, such as childcare, transportation and household chores. And what about single parents? They need life insurance more than anyone because their children rely on them for everything.
A HOMEOWNER
If you’re like most people, your home is your most significant financial asset. Life insurance can be used to pay down or retire the mortgage, sparing your family from moving to a less expensive place to live. Plus, it can provide the funds needed to help family members maintain the lifestyle to which they’re accustomed.
CHANGING JOBS
If you’ve recently been promoted or changed jobs, it’s a good time to re- evaluate your life insurance coverage. Why? You may not realize it, but when your income rises, your spending tends to rise, too. Updating your life insurance coverage can help ensure that your family would be able to maintain its new and improved lifestyle if something were to happen to you.
RETIRED OR PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT
If your children are on their own and your mortgage is paid off, you might feel your need for life insurance has passed. But if you died today, your spouse could outlive you by 10, 20 or 30 years. Would your spouse have to make drastic lifestyle adjustments to make ends meet? Adequate life insurance coverage can help widows and widowers avoid financial struggles in retirement.