Whole Life Insurance

Since the original life insurance product only provided temporary coverage for the term of an agreement, some consumers were critical of the lost opportunity to use their money for other things. After all, term insurance only pays a claim for death benefits if the insured dies during the period when the policy is active. Once the termination date of contract is reached, the policy expires and you are left with nothing to show for contributions made to the plan. Consumer demand led insurance actuaries to develop a new product that would allow a cash reserve to build up over a lifetime. That way if the insured died, the beneficiaries would receive the death benefit and the insurance carrier would claim the existing cash value. In cases where the insured out lives the term of the contract, the accumulated cash (minus specific costs for expenses) is paid out when the insured reaches a predetermined age.

Over time, variations of the earliest permanent life insurance products have continued to evolve producing offerings, such as universal life insurance, survivorship life insurance and variable universal life insurance. These policy types differ in investment options, flexibility and emphasis on the growth of cash value. If you need advice on how to use any life insurance product to protect your family from lost income, or to provide cash for payment of debt or future expenses like yours children’s education.