Hypothetically, because the stock market has historically returned about 12 % per year, the expected growth in cash value is much higher than the expected growth from dividend
payments in a whole life insurance policy.
Contrasting this with investing in whole life insurance and we have another powerful example of strategizing using the tax code via the ability to grow your cash value through tax free
dividends in a whole life insurance policy from a mutual insurance company.
The cash value is guaranteed to accrue at a certain
rate in a whole life insurance policy as long as the illustrated premium payments are made, but not necessarily with a universal life or variable universal life contract.
And most are aware that they can get better returns by investing their money in an index fund based on the S&P 500 index, than anything they could
get in a whole life insurance policy.
Put basically, someone who buys term life insurance but invests the difference in cost between term and the equivalent whole life policy will end up with more money than someone who put the same amount of
money in a whole life insurance policy.
Premium
payments in a whole life insurance policy are level (will never rise during the life of a policy), but an owner may have the option of paying additional premium into the policy in order to build cash value faster.
Finally, from a taxation perspective, cashing
in a whole life insurance policy will generally result in taxation.
Plus, you'll likely average a higher rate of return investing that money on your own than
in a whole life insurance policy.
This could mean that during periods of rising interest rates, universal life insurance policy holders may see their cash values increase at a rapid rate compared to
those in whole life insurance policies.
Because the cash value is linked to underlying market - related investment accounts, the funds have the opportunity to grow more than those that are
in a whole life insurance policy, or even in a regular universal life insurance plan.
This information is then used to compare end - of - year market values of the regular (alternative) investment (less annual term costs) vs. the annual cash values
in the whole life insurance policy.
The cash value
in a whole life insurance policy will usually grow, based on an interest rate that is set by the offering insurance company.
Moreover, Guardian Life Insurance offers greater flexibility for policyholders who want to borrow against the cash value accumulated
in their whole life insurance policies.
The cash that is
in a whole life insurance policy's cash value will grow at a rate that is set by the underlying insurance company.
This could mean that during periods of rising interest rates, universal life insurance policy holders may see their cash values increase at a rapid rate compared to
those in whole life insurance policies.