Types of life insurance?

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance is permanent life insurance and provides protection for life. As long as premiums are paid, a death benefit is paid to the beneficiary. The premiums for whole life insurance policies are designed to remain level over time. In addition, these policies accumulate cash values on a tax-deferred basis. The rate of return on whole life insurance cash values is dependent upon a number of factors including the results of an insurance company's investment performance. Cash values can be used for a variety of options:


The policy can be surrendered at anytime for the cash surrender value.
The policy owner can take out a loan and use the cash value as collateral.
The policy can be changed to a reduced death benefit amount that is paid up.
The cash values may be used to pay premiums for a certain period of time.
The cash surrender value can be used to supplement retirement income.

Whole life insurance policies are valuable because they provide permanent protection and accumulate cash values that can be used for emergencies or to meet specific objectives.

The cash values of whole life insurance policies may be affected by a life insurance company's future performance. Some factors that influence a life insurance company's performance are expenses, mortality experience, and investment performance.
 

Universal Life Insurance

Universal life insurance is permanent life insurance. As long as premiums are paid, a death benefit is paid to the beneficiary. These policies are different from whole life insurance policies because they offer the policy owner some flexibility to change the premium payments and death benefit. The death benefit may be increased subject to insurability or decreased, and the premiums can also be increased and decreased as well as skipped. Universal life insurance policies may be purchased with one of two different death benefit options. One is a level death benefit and the second is an increasing death benefit. Although premium payments are flexible, a universal life policy will usually have a target premium which is the suggested annual premium payment. The target premium for some companies is sufficient to keep the policy in-force to age 100; however, this is not guaranteed. Universal life insurance policies also accumulate cash values on a tax-deferred basis. These cash values tend to be interest-sensitive and can be used for a variety of options:


The policy can be surrendered at anytime for the cash surrender value.
The policy owner can take out a loan and use the cash value as collateral.
The policy can be changed to a reduced amount paid-up whole life policy.
The cash values may be used to pay premiums for a certain period of time.
The cash surrender value can be used to supplement retirement income.

Universal life insurance policies are valuable because they can provide permanent protection and accumulate cash values that can be used for emergencies or for meeting specific objectives. For those who prefer flexibility, universal life insurance provides more options than whole life insurance.

The cash values of universal life insurance policies may be affected by a life insurance company's future performance. Some factors that influence a life insurance company's performance are expenses, mortality experience, and investment performance.
 

Variable Life Insurance

Variable life insurance is permanent life insurance and provides protection for life. As long as premiums are paid, a death benefit is paid to the beneficiary. The premiums for variable life insurance policies are designed to remain level over time. In addition, these policies accumulate cash values on a tax-deferred basis with the potential for higher rates of return than traditional whole life policies. Variable life insurance policies' cash values vary with the investment results of funds chosen by the policy owner. The policy owner is given a choice of investment options which are usually stock, bond and money market funds. Unlike whole life insurance policies which have guaranteed cash values, the cash values of variable life insurance policies are not guaranteed. The cash values of variable life insurance policies can be used for a variety of options:


The policy can be surrendered at anytime for the cash surrender value.
The policy owner can take out a loan and use the cash value as collateral.
The cash values may be used to pay premiums for a certain period of time.
The cash surrender value can be used to supplement retirement income.

Variable life insurance policies are valuable because they provide permanent protection and may accumulate cash values; however, these policies carry more risk than traditional whole life insurance policies. Individuals considering purchasing a variable life insurance policy should be experienced investors in equity investments.

The cash values of variable life insurance policies may also be affected by a life insurance company's future performance. Some factors that influence a life insurance company's performance are expenses and mortality experience.
 

Variable Universal Life Insurance

Variable universal life insurance is permanent life insurance. As long as premiums are paid, a death benefit is paid to the beneficiary. These policies are different from variable life insurance policies because they offer the policy owner some flexibility to change the premium payments and death benefit. The death benefit may be increased or decreased, and the premiums can also be increased and decreased as well as skipped. Variable universal life insurance policies may be purchased with one of two different death benefit options. One is a level death benefit and the second is an increasing death benefit. In addition, these policies accumulate cash values on a tax-deferred basis with the potential for higher rates of return than traditional whole life policies. The cash values of variable universal life insurance policies vary with the investment results of funds chosen by the policy owner. The policy owner is given a choice of investment options which are usually stock, bond and money market funds. Unlike universal life insurance policies which have guaranteed cash values, the cash values of variable universal life insurance policies are not guaranteed. The cash values of variable universal life insurance policies can be used for a variety of options:


The policy can be surrendered at anytime for the cash surrender value.
The policy owner can take out a loan and use the cash value as collateral.
The cash values may be used to pay premiums for a certain period of time.
The cash surrender value can be used for retirement income.


Variable universal life insurance policies are valuable because they can provide permanent protection and may accumulate cash values; however, these policies carry more risk than traditional universal life insurance policies. Individuals considering purchasing a variable universal life insurance policy should be experienced investors in equity investments.

The cash values of variable universal life insurance policies may also be affected by a life insurance company's future performance. Some factors that influence a life insurance company's performance are expenses and mortality experience.
 

 
Second-to-Die or Survivorship Life Insurance

A second-to-die life insurance policy insures the lives of two people, typically a husband and a wife. The death benefit is not paid to the beneficiary until the death of the second insured. These life insurance policies are generally available as either whole life insurance or universal life insurance policies, and premiums are often less expensive than buying two life insurance policies.

Second-to-die life insurance policies are effective tools often used by wealthy individuals in estate planning. They can be used to pay for estate taxes. By removing the proceeds of a life insurance policy through the use of gifting policies and third party ownership, a life insurance policy can be used to pay for estate taxes. Careful planning by your tax and legal counsel, coupled with a properly structured second-to-die life insurance policy, can help you preserve your net worth.

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