How much do you love your family? Are they prepared for the expenses and changes to come when you pass on?
Life insurance is about more than providing a means to bury you. It is about making sure your loved ones are cared for in the event of your untimely death. For everyone, the amount of coverage needed is different. It can vary based on whether you are married or not, how many children you have and how old they are, how much debt you have, how much you earn in a year, whether you want to leave a legacy behind or just provide peace of mind for your survivors.
Income replacement, payoff debt, provide for college, burial expense, and cover a tax burden are the main reasons people get life insurance. Life insurance is TAX-FREE to the beneficiary when structured properly. It will bypass probate as long as a living beneficiary is named and is usually paid within 48-72 hours of receipt of the required documentation.
Our Retirement Planners offer a free consultation and review of current life policies as part of our worry-free retirement planning.
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance provides coverage for a certain period of time and usually for a specific purpose such as to cover debt, college for young children, or income replacement. It’s often called “pure life insurance” because it’s designed only to protect your dependents in case you die prematurely. You choose the term when you buy the policy. Common terms are 10, 20, and 30 years. With most policies, the death benefit and the cost, or premium, stay the same throughout the term.
Ideally, your purpose for the term life insurance will end around the time the policy expires: Your kids will be on their own, you’ll have paid off your house and you’ll have plenty of money in savings to serve as a financial safety net.
Whole Life Insurance
Whole Life insurance provides permanent coverage that includes an investment component known as the policy’s cash value. The cash value will grow slowly in a tax-deferred account. You can borrow money against the cash value or surrender the policy for cash. However, if you don’t repay policy loans with interest, you’ll reduce your death benefit, and if you surrender the policy, you’ll no longer have coverage.
Whole life is the most straightforward form of permanent life insurance. The premium remains the same for as long as you live, the death benefit is guaranteed and the cash value grows at a guaranteed rate.
Some whole life policies can also earn annual dividends, which pay you back with a bit of the insurer’s profit. You can take the dividends in cash, leave them in your account to earn interest or use them to decrease your premium payments, repay policy loans or buy additional coverage. Dividends aren’t guaranteed and are essentially a return of an overpayment of premium.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal Life (UL) insurance is a flexible life insurance product. It can provide coverage and fixed premiums to a specific age or year. Some types will also provide for some or all return of premium at certain intervals during the life of the policy.
Utilized and managed properly, an Indexed Universal Life policy could provide you with a nice tax free retirement. An IUL should be a significant part of retirement planning for young entrepreneurs and business owners.
Guaranteed Issue
Certain health conditions such as living with cancer or a recent heart attack, will not get approved under other types of policies. Guaranteed Issue life insurance policies do not ask health questions on their applications. It is 100% guaranteed to be issued for up to a limited amount of coverage. Therefore, this type of life insurance is perfect for people with not-so-perfect health. The premium with this type of life insurance policy is typically higher than a level benefit whole life policy and the full death benefit will not be available in the first 2 – 3 years.
There is coverage available for everyone and we have relationships with the finest carriers across the nation who offer top-notch solutions for your retirement needs.