Life Insurance
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Universal Life Insurance
Universal Life Insurance is a kind of flexible policy that lets you vary your premium payments. You can also adjust the face amount of your coverage. Increases may require proof that you qualify for the new death benefit. The premiums you pay (less expense charges) go into a policy account that earns interest. Charges are deducted from the account. If your yearly premium payment plus the interest your acount earns is less than the charges, your account value will become lower. If it keeps dropping, eventually your coverage will end. To prevent that, you may need to start making premium payments, or increase your premium payments, or lower your death benefits. Even if there is enough in your account to pay the premiums, continuing to pay premiums yourself means that you build up more cash value.
(Taken from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Life Insurance Buyers Guide)
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Term Insurance
Term Insurance covers you for a term of one or more years. It pays a death benefit only if you die in that term. Term life insurance generally offers the largest insurance protection for your premium dollar. It generally does not build up cash value. You can renew most term insurance policies for one or more terms even if your health has changed. Each time you renew the policy for a new term, premiums may be higher. Ask what the premiums will be if you continue to renew the policy. Also ask if you will lose the right to renew the policy at some age. For a higher premium, some companies will give you the right to keep the policy in force for a guaranteed period at the same price each year. At the end of that time you may need to pass a physical examination to continue coverage, and premiums may increase. You may be able to trade many term insurance policies for a cash value policy during a conversion period -- even if you are not in good health. Premiums for the new policy will be higher than you have been paying for the term life insurance.
(Taken from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Life Insurance Buyers Guide)
3
Whole Life Insurance
Whole Life Insurance covers you for as long as you live if your premiums are paid. You generally pay the same amount in premiums for as long as you live. When you first take out the policy, premiums can be several times higher than you would pay initially for the same amount of term insurance. But they are smaller than the premiums you would eventually pay if you were to keep renewing a term policy until your later years.
Some whole life policies let you pay premiums for a shorter period such as 20 years, or until age 65. Premiums for these policies are higher since the premium payments are made during a shorter period.
(Taken from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Life Insurance Buyers Guide)
