If you have a term life insurance policy that you have renewed more than once, it is more than likely a good deal more
expensive than a whole life policy would have been.
The options of variable universal life insurance make it potentially much more valuable
than a whole life policy with the same amount of premiums.
Over the years, our agency has found that certain types of universal life policies can be much more affordable
than whole life policies without sacrificing stability and security.
The theory is that an investment portfolio will produce higher returns for the
owner than a whole life policy over the long term, making term the smarter choice.
Because the majority of term life policies never pay a death benefit, insurance companies can offer them much more
cheaply than whole life policies (every one of which eventually pays), and still make money.
If you think that a term policy will cover your requirements
better than a whole life policy and that you will not need to renew when the policy expires, then term life coverage may be the best choice to get the coverage you need at a price you can afford.
Buying a policy that's paid in full at your retirement age loads your life insurance costs into your earlier years, so the annual premium cost will be
higher than a whole life policy with payments spread over an entire lifetime.
Although a universal life policy can allow you to earn somewhat better rates of return in your cash - value
fund than a whole life policy, you can't transfer your cash value between possibly higher - yielding sub-accounts as you can with variable life insurance.
The result is a policy that offers permanent life insurance protection through a permanent whole life base policy, but which also has costs that are lower
than a whole life policy due to the addition of term life insurance to the base policy.
Another coverage characteristic of term life insurance is that the policy holds no cash value, a reason term life insurance polices may be more affordable for some
consumers than whole life policies.
Indexed universal life policies (IUL) are tied to a number of financial indexes and may be designed for fast accrual of cash values with greater
flexibility than a whole life policy.
While this makes variable life insurance policies a better investment
option than whole life policies — the potential for higher, tax - deferred growth makes it a «super-IRA» — you can only invest in the sub-accounts available through your policy.
Universal life policies are less
expensive than whole life policies because the guaranteed minimum interest rate is lower for universal contracts, but premiums are more expensive than term policies.
If someone does have a permanent need, which is a small percentage of the time, a guaranteed universal life policy which functions as a life long guaranteed premium term policy makes sense as it will have a lower
premium than a whole life policies.
Because the majority of term life policies never pay a death benefit, insurance companies can offer them much more
cheaply than whole life policies, every one of which eventually pays, and still make money.
Universal life insurance gives the policyholder more control over premiums, provides permanent protection for dependents and is more
flexible than a whole life policy.
These policies are guaranteed to last forever, and are significantly less expensive
than Whole Life policies.
But cash values on today's universal life policies — especially those that are less expensive
than whole life policies — tend to be much smaller.