Life Insurance Protects Your Family’s Future

Life insurance is one of the pillars of personal finance, deserving of consideration by every household. I would even go so far as to say it’s vital for most. Yet, despite its nearly universal applicability, there remains a great deal of confusion, and even skepticism, regarding life insurance.

If anyone relies on you financially, you need life insurance. It’s virtually obligatory if you are a spouse or the parent of dependent children. But you may also require life insurance if you are someone’s ex-spouse, life partner, a child of dependent parents, the sibling of a dependent adult, an employee, an employer or a business partner. If you are stably retired or financially independent, and no one would suffer financially if you were to be no more, then you don’t need life insurance. You may, however, consider using life insurance as a strategic financial tool.

Life insurance does not simply apply a monetary value to someone’s life. Instead, it helps compensate for the inevitable financial consequences that accompany the loss of life. Strategically, it helps those left behind to cover the costs of final expenses, outstanding debts and mortgages, planned educational expenses, and lost income. But most importantly, in the aftermath of an unexpected death, life insurance can lessen financial burdens at a time when surviving family members are dealing with the loss of a loved one. In addition, life insurance can provide valuable peace of mind for the policyholder. That is why life insurance is vital for the breadwinner of a single-income household, but still important for a stay-at-home spouse.

Perhaps this is due to life insurance’s complexity, the posture of those who sell it or merely our preference for avoiding the topic of our own demise. But armed with the proper information, you can simplify the decision-making process and arrive at the right choice for you and your family.

Common Types of Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance or term assurance is life insurance which provides coverage at a fixed rate of payments for a limited period of time, the relevant term. After that period expires, coverage at the previous rate of premiums is no longer guaranteed and the client must either forgo coverage or potentially obtain further coverage with different payments or conditions. If the life insured dies during the term, the death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary. Term insurance is the least expensive way to purchase a substantial death benefit on a coverage amount per premium dollar basis over a specific period of time.

Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance, or whole of life assurance, is a life insurance policy that remains in force for the insured's whole life and requires (in most cases) premiums to be paid every year into the policy.

Universal Life Insurance
A type of permanent life insurance. Under the terms of the policy, the excess of premium payments above the current cost of insurance is credited to the cash value of the policy. The cash value is credited each month with interest, and the policy is debited each month by a cost of insurance (COI) charge, as well as any other policy charges and fees which are drawn from the cash value, even if no premium payment is made that month. Interest credited to the account is determined by the insurer but has a contractual minimum rate of 2%. When an earnings rate is pegged to a financial index such as a stock, bond or other interest rate index, the policy is an "Equity Indexed Universal Life" contract.

Variable Universal Life (VUL) Insurance
Variable Universal Life Insurance is a type of life insurance that builds a cash value. In a VUL, the cash value can be invested in a wide variety of separate accounts, similar to mutual funds, and the choice of which of the available separate accounts to use is entirely up to the contract owner. The 'variable' component in the name refers to this ability to invest in separate accounts whose values vary - they vary because they are invested in stock and/or bond markets. The 'universal' component in the name refers to the flexibility the owner has in making premium payments. The premiums can vary from nothing in a given month up to maximums defined by the Internal Revenue Code for life insurance.

Life insurance covers the financial needs of your loved ones in the event that something unfortunate should happen to you. Obtaining life insurance is one of the most important things you can do to create financial security for your dependents. Life insurance pays out a sum of money either on the death of the insured person or after a set period of time.
 
I work with you to calculate how much life insurance you need to protect your family and help you decide which type of policy is best for you. No matter which type of policy you choose, having life insurance assures that your family will have financial support should the unexpected occur.
 
Don’t wait – request your personalized life insurance quotes now.