Whole Life Insurance Explanation

by: Donald Lusan

A whole life insurance explanation should be required reading for anyone about to purchase life insurance. Whole life, in my humble opinion, has in recent years got a bad rap. People tend to buy term life insurance because it is cheaper. Although I believe that a good term insurance can take care of the insurance needs of most people, a good whole life insurance policy is worth looking at.

Guaranteed Death Benefit

The death benefit of a whole life insurance policy is guaranteed to stay level for the duration of the policy. If you think about it, that means a lifetime. That type of guarantee cannot be sneezed at. The premiums of your whole life insurance policy is also guaranteed never to increase. This is also a very important feature. The policy can never be cancelled by the insurance company.

Cash Value Accumulation

A whole life insurance policy has cash values, that cash available to you,if you should need it, at any time. You can surrender your policy and get the cash that the policy has accumulated, or you can take the cash in the form of a loan and still keep your policy. The cash values of your policy accumulate tax-deferred, which means that while the cash is accumulating interest you pay no taxes on the interest. Whenever you take out the cash you pay the taxes then. You also borrow on a tax free basis.

Dividends

As most whole life insurance policies are participating policies you earn dividends on your policy. Each year the life insurance company declares a dividend, a portion of which goes to policy owners who own a whole life policy. You can take your dividend in cash, the company will send you a check each year, you can leave the dividend to accumulate interest, or you can elect to purchase paid up additions with your dividends. Paid up additions are single premium policies of the same type, that is whole life insurance.

Waiver Of Premium Disability Rider

You can add a waiver of premium rider to your policy, which states, in a nutshell, that if you should become disabled, anytime after six months of disability, the life insurance company will pay the premiums for you. It does not matter how long you are disabled, they will pay the premiums even if it is for the rest of your life.

Accidental Death Benefit

To your whole life policy, you can add an accidental death benefit rider which states that if you should die in an accident the insurance company will pay your benefit twice the amount of life insurance you applied for.

There are a myriad of other benefits to the whole life insurance policy click the link below to get the details.


About The Author
Donald Lusan
For more than 40 years Donald has been known for his extensive knowledge of the life insurance business. He has represented some of the largest and best life insurance companies in the United States as well as Canada. His advice is invaluable. Donald's website is: http://www.lifeinsurancehub.net.

Term Life Insurance. What Is It All About?

by: Donald Lusan

What is term life insurance? You have an interest in buying term life insurance, that is why you are reading this article, and you want to know how it really works. Right? Well, there are many types of term life insurance and I am going to give you a brief explanation as to how each one works.

Decreasing Term Life Insurance

Decreasing term life insurance is very popular with home owners and mortgage companies. The homeowners want to know that the mortgage is paid off if they should prematurely die, and the mortgage company want to be assured that they are repaid the money loaned to the homeowner. The face amount of these policies decrease in a uniformed manner each year as the balance owed on the mortgage decreases, and the premium remains level. This is very inexpensive life insurance.

Increasing Premium Term Life Insurance

This is initially the cheapest term life insurance you can buy. The death benefit remains level for the duration, however, the premiums increase every year and as a result this may turn out to be the most expensive term life insurance you can buy. If you should purchase this policy it would be wise to convert to a level plan as quickly as possible.

5 Year Level Term Insurance

The face amount of this policy remains level for the entire 5 year period and so does the premium. Upon death the face amount is paid either in one lump sum or in the form of an income. If you have a short term need for life insurance, like covering a bank loan, then this may be the plan for you.

10 Year Term Life Insurance

Like the 5 year term life insurance policy, the ten year term life policy can be used to cover a bank loan, but it can do considerably more. It can be used for family protection and a myriad of other needs. The face amount of the policy remains level for the duration and so does the premium. Some companies allow you to continue the policy after 10 years with an increase in premium.

20 Year Term Life Insurance

The 20 year term life insurance policy is probably the most popular of term life policies. The death benefit remains level for the duration and in some cases so does the premium. With some companies, however, the premiums increase after the first 10 years to reflect the cost of the additional risk to which the insurance company is exposed as the insured gets older. All in all, the 20 tear term life insurance policy is fairly inexpensive and does the job it is intended to do.

Unlike whole life insurance, universal life insurance or variable life insurance, term life insurance does not have cash values or earn dividends. There is a fairly new type of term life insurance policy, however, called a return of premium policy which returns all your premiums at the end of the term period, if you do not die. The premiums are so high it may not be worth your while to buy this type of term policy.


About The Author
Donald Lusan
For more than 40 years Donald has been known for his extensive knowledge of the life insurance business. He has represented some of the largest and best life insurance companies in the United States as well as Canada. His advice is invaluable. Donald's website is: http://www.lifeinsurancehub.net.

Do You Need Life Insurance

by: Joseph Kenny

It can be very difficult to decide if you need life insurance. Life insurance can be an extremely onerous financial commitment and investment, and it will also last for a considerable period of time, so you should take careful consideration in deciding if it is the best way of achieving the financial and other goals you and your loved ones may have.

Life Insurance Policy

Basically, a life insurance policy will cause a sum to be paid to the named beneficiary upon the death of the insured. This sum will generally be paid to the beneficiary, free of income tax. So in which instances is life insurance generally used above its alternatives? Well its primary function is to provide death benefit protection in a tax efficient way. For example, if you would like to transfer wealth from your estate to your beneficiaries you can do it through life insurance.

You should now that it may still be liable to federal estate taxes. It can also be used to ensure the continuation or protection of a business and to provide financial benefits to your partners or employees who may otherwise be at risk financially. It may also be used to support your family or other dependents that rely on your income during life. It can replace this income and support them in your place for a period. It can also be used to supplement retirement income in various instances when other contributions are not possible.

Be Aware

You can access the money in your policy unless it is a Modified Endowment Contract. What’s more, it will be federal income tax free so long as you make the withdrawal by borrowing against the policy and do not exceed what you have paid into the policy. Withdrawals from an MEC are subject to federal income tax on the gains they have made. There is an additional 10% tax in certain situations.

You should be aware that all withdrawals and loans against a permanent life insurance policy would reduce the policy’s value and the amount of any pay out upon death of the insured. There may also be various fees and penalties associated with accessing the money early so you should be aware of these and if they are very onerous, you may wish to look for an alternative source of funds so that you don’t have to fall prey to these. Also, if your policy is invested on your behalf, the amount available for withdrawal or loans may be less or more than what you have paid in, depending on how your investments perform.


About The Author
Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the insurance site http://www.insure121.com/ where you will find information, news and links to the leading providers of insurance in the UK. If you found this article interesting you may find more articles of the same nature in the insurance guide located on site.