LEG

Life insurance is primarily designed to provide a financial benefit to your family or loved ones in the case of your death. The financial benefit can help with everything from raising your children to paying off your house or replacing your income. However, many people are intimidated by the process of buying life insurance and all of the options available to them. This is why working with an independent agent who specializes in life insurance can be helpful. There are two main categories of life insurance available Term Life Insurance and Permanent Life Insurance, but even within those categories, there are many options. Let’s start with a definition of Term and Permanent Life Insurance.

Term Life Insurance

Term Life provides coverage for a specific amount of time (term), usually between 15 and 30 years. If the policy owner passes away during the term, the policy will pay the beneficiary the amount defined in the policy. These policies are usually very affordable because if you do not die during the term, the policy ends and pays out nothing.

Permanent Life Insurance

These life insurance types do not expire like a term life policy does and typically have two components to them, a death benefit and cash value. There are two main types of permanent life insurance Whole Life and Universal Life. A whole life policy provides a death benefit for your entire life and has a savings or cash value component that grows at a guaranteed rate determined by the policy. A Universal Life policy also has a death benefit that covers you your whole life, but the savings or cash value component grows based on market performance, and how the premiums are structured can vary by policy.