What is whole life insurance?

Term Life Insurance is generally the least expensive and least complicated type of universal life insurance. It provides whole life insurance protection for a specified period of time, such as 10, 20 or 30 years.1 If you die within the term period and the policy is in force, a death benefit is paid to your beneficiary. If you are still living at the end of the term, protection ceases unless your whole life insurance policy is renewed. There is no "accumulation" element, or cash value with variable life insurance

Who's it for?

People with a temporary need for insurance protection.

Those who need a large amount of insurance protection but have limited budgets.

People with specific business needs (e.g., business owners who want to cover the life of a key employee who has a set number of years until retirement).

Benefits of universal life insurance

It provides insurance protection for a low cost (at least initially).

If your needs change, most whole life insurance policies allow you to convert to a permanent Term Life Insurance policy without having to take a medical exam or provide other information about your health.

whole life insurance is a good way to supplement other coverage when you have added financial responsibilities for a given period of time (e.g., mortgage, college expenses).

Death benefits are generally received free from income tax.

Things You Should Consider:

Premiums generally increase with age and they could become unaffordable later in life. There is no cash-value element with insurance, so you miss the tax-deferred growth of the cash value of permanent life insurance policies, such as whole life insurance.

Once the term period expires, unless you renew your program, the variable life insurance coverage ceases and the plan has no further value.