What do you need to know
about life insurance?
You need to know that there are several kinds of policies
that may be available to you, if you are healthy enough.
Term life insurance
policies provide life insurance protection for a specific period of time or term. If you die during the coverage period, the
beneficiary named in your policy receives the policy death benefit. If you don't die during the term, your beneficiary receives
nothing.
Permanent insurance
policies provide insurance protection for your entire life as long as the policy remains in force. In addition to the insurance
protection provided, this type of policy also builds internal cash values, often described as a savings account within the
policy.
Below is a list of the different
kinds of permanent insurance policies:
- Whole
life
- Ordinary
level premium whole life
- Limited-pay
whole life
- Current
assumption whole life
- Variable
life
- Adjustable
life
- Universal
life
- Variable
universal life
- Joint
life (first to die)
- Survivorship
(second to die)
You also need to know that
the cost of life insurance will depend upon the type of policy, your age, and your health.
A life insurance contract is
made up of provisions, options, and riders. Provisions describe or explain features, benefits, conditions, or requirements
of the contract. Options are features of the agreement that require you to make a choice regarding some aspect of coverage.
Riders are additional coverage (or endorsements) offered by the insurer at the time of application and added to the standard
agreement in return for an additional premium.
Finally, you need to know the
tax consequences of owning life insurance.
- Life
insurance premium payments are not tax-deductible expenses.
- In
general, the death benefit paid is income tax free to your beneficiary. You must be very careful about who owns the policy and who the beneficiaries are, in order
to avoid estate taxes on the proceeds when you die.